Famous quotes from *Cai Gen Tan*:
1. The wind blows through the sparse bamboo, but the bamboo does not retain the sound; the wild geese cross the cold pond, but the pond does not retain their image. Therefore, a gentleman's mind only manifests when things happen, and empties when things are over.
2. Unperturbed by favor or disgrace, calmly watch the flowers bloom and fade in the courtyard; indifferent to coming or going, idly watch the clouds drift and gather in the sky.
3. True integrity has no reputation for integrity; those who seek fame are precisely those who are greedy. Great skill has no artifice; those who use artifice are precisely those who are clumsy.
4. A vessel tilted over will be overturned when full, and a full vessel will remain intact when empty; therefore, a gentleman would rather live in poverty than in abundance, and rather be in deficiency than in perfection.
5. A person of simple tastes is suspected by those who are flamboyant; a person of self-restraint is often resented by those who are unrestrained. A gentleman, in such circumstances, must not change his conduct, nor should he reveal his sharpness!
6. A gentleman who feigns goodness is no different from a petty person who commits evil; a gentleman who changes his principles is not as good as a petty person who reforms himself.
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