Human nature and deliberate effort must unite, and then the reputation of the sage and the work of unifying all under Heaven are thereupon brought to completion.

I say that human nature is the original beginning and the raw material, and deliberate effort is what makes it patterned, ordered, and exalted.

Human nature refers to what is in people but which they cannot study or work at achieving.

Human nature is evil, and goodness is caused by intentional activity.

Human nature is such that people are born with a love of profit If they follow these inclinations, they will struggle and snatch from each other, and inclinations to defer or yield will die.

In antiquity the sage kings recognized that men's nature is bad and that their tendencies were not being corrected and their lawlessness controlled.