It is the man that is able to develop his virtue, not virtue that develops the man.[20]
The real fault is to have faults and not try to amend them.
Where there is education, there is no distinction of class.
Men who differ in their principles cannot help each other in their plans.
If language is lucid, that is enough.
There are three errors to be avoided in the presence of a great man. The first is precipitancy—speaking before it is your turn to speak; the second is bashfulness—not speaking when your turn comes; and the third is heedlessness—speaking without observing the countenance of the listener.
There are three impulses against which the nobler sort of man is on his guard. In the period of youth, when the heyday in the blood has not yet subsided, he guards against lustfulness; in the prime of life, when the physical frame is vigorous and strong, he guards against pugnacity; in old age, when the vital forces are in their decline, he guards against the greed of gain.[21]
The highest class of men are they whose knowledge is innate; next to these are they whose knowledge is acquired by study[22]; after them come those who are dull-witted, yet strive to learn; while those who are dull-witted and will make no effort to learn are the lowest of the people.
"When you see the good, act as though you could never quite come up with it; when you are brought face to face with evil, act as though you were trying the heat of boiling water":— I have heard some such saying as this, and I have seen men live up to it. "Dwell in retirement, in order to work out your aims; practise righteousness, in order to apprehend the Truth":—such a saying I have heard, but I have never seen a man live up to it.[23]