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The superior man is intelligently, not blindly, faithful.
Sep 30, 2025
The superior man is never in anyone's way.
The superior man governs men, according to their nature, with what is proper to them, and as soon as they change what is wrong, he stops.
The superior man limits his achievements.
It is unfortunate that superior talent and superior men are so seldom united.
The superior man sets his person at rest before he moves; he composes his mind before he speaks.
The superior man, extensively studying all learning, and keeping himself under the restraint of the rules of propriety, may thus likewise not overstep what is right.
A superior man in dealing with the world is not for anything or against anything. He follows righteousness as the standard.
Your only real choices are to open fully and receive their gifts or crucify them and be relieved of their force...But you must be willing to feel your heart's terrors and wounds or else you will close and protect yourself, striking back at the source of openness you most yearn to become.
I do not know if the people of the United States would vote for superior men if they ran for office, but there can be no doubt that such men do not run.
Possessed of courage but devoid of morality, a superior man will make trouble while a small man will be a brigand.
The superior man undergoes three changes. Looked at from a distance, he appears stern; when approached, he is mild; when he is heard to speak, his language is firm and decided.
When one cultivates to the utmost the principles of his nature, and exercises them on the principle of reciprocity, he is not far from the path.
While under precapitalistic conditions superior men were the masters on whom the masses of the inferior had to attend, under capitalism the more gifted and more able have no means to profit from their superiority other than to serve to the best of their abilities the wishes of the majority of the less gifted.
Men who have lived significant lives are men who never waited: not for money, security, ease, or women.
There is the love of knowing without the love of learning; the beclouding here leads to dissipation of mind.
Never let your love for your profession overshadow your religious feeling. Depend on it that religion will strengthen, not weaken, your energies, and will not only make you a better sailor, but a superior man. Professional studies are not to be neglected; but, on the other hand, take care how you fall into the common error of believing they are the remedy for all the ills of life.
Every one who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe-a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble.
The superior man cannot be known in little matters, but he may be entrusted with great concerns. The small man may not be entrusted with great concerns, but he may be known in little matters.
Therefore the superior man is watchful over himself, when he is alone.
Those who know the TRUTH are not equal to those who love it.
When the Superior Man eats he does not try to stuff himself; at rest he does not seek perfect comfort; he is diligent in his work and careful in speech. He avails himself to people of the Tao and thereby corrects himself. This is the kind of person of whom you can say, "he loves learning."
Look at the means which a man employs, consider his motives, observe his pleasures. A man simply cannot conceal himself!
The Superior Man is all-embracing and not partial. The inferior man is partial and not all-embracing.
Great as heaven and earth are, men still find some things in them with which to be dissatisfied. Thus it is that, were the superior man to speak of his way in all its greatness, nothing in the world would be found able to embrace it, and were he to speak of it in its minuteness, nothing in the world would be found able to split it.
Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles.
The superior man... does not set his mind either for or against anything, he will pursue whatever is right. The superior man thinks of virtue, the common man of comfort.
The virtues of a superior man are like the wind; the virtues of a common man are like the grass; the grass, when the wind passes over it, bends.
Civilization, in fact, grows more maudlin and hysterical; especially under democracy it tends to degenerate into a mere combat of crazes; the whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary. Wars are no longer waged by the will of superior men, capable of judging dispassionately and intelligently the causes behind them and the effects flowing out of them. The are now begun by first throwing a mob into a panic; they are ended only when it has spent its ferine fury.
He who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make his words good.
Happiness exist when you don't know a thing
What the superior man seeks is in himself; what the small man seeks is in others.
When you know a thing, to hold that you know it, and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it - this is knowledge.
The superior man thinks always of virtue; the common man thinks of comfort.
Everything you do right now ripples outward and affects everyone. Your posture can shine your heart or transmit anxiety. Your breath can radiate love or muddy the room in depression. Your glance can awaken joy. Your words can inspire freedom. Your every act can open hearts and minds.
...you have the opportunity to free fall in this moment between birth and death, right through the hole of your fear, into the unthreatenable openess which is the source of your gifts. The superior man lives as this spontaneous sacrifice of love.
The superior man is the providence of the inferior. He is eyes for the blind, strength for the weak, and a shield for the defenseless. He stands erect by bending above the fallen. He rises by lifting others.
He stands erect by bending over the fallen. He rises by lifting others.
In times of widespread chaos and confusion, it has been the duty of more advanced human beings--artists, scientists, clowns and philosophers--to create order. In times such as ours, however, when there is too much order, too much management, too much programming and control, it becomes the duty of superior men and women to fling their favorite monkey wrenches into the machinery. To relive the repression of the human spirit, they must sow doubt and disruption.
It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.
In archery we have something like the way of the superior man. When the archer misses the center of the target, he turns round and seeks for the cause of his failure in himself.
The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.
The superior man, when resting in safety, does not forget that danger may come.
An oppressive government is more to be feared than a tiger.
A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.
Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance.
The superior man accords with the course of the Mean. Though he may be all unknown, unregarded by the world, he feels no regret - It is only the sage who is able for this.
Do not be desirous of having things done quickly. Do not look at small advantages. Desire to have things done quickly prevents their being done thoroughly. Looking at small advantages prevents great affairs from being accomplished.
Desire to have things done quickly prevents their being done thoroughly.
Looking at small advantages prevents great affairs from being accomplished.