The worthy hold positions of power, and the capable hold posts of responsibility.
Honor the worthy and employ the capable, so that outstanding talents occupy their proper places.
The people are the most important, the spirits of the land and grain are next, and the ruler is the least.
Even the easiest things to grow in the world will not thrive if exposed to the sun for one day and frozen for ten.
Those who advance too sharply tend to retreat just as quickly.
The function of the mind is to think; if you think, you will find what you seek; if you do not think, you will not find it.
Hardship brings life, while ease and comfort lead to death.
Only the benevolent should hold high positions. If the unkind occupy high ranks, they spread their evil to the masses.
If the Son of Heaven is not benevolent, he cannot secure the Four Seas; if a feudal lord is not benevolent, he cannot secure his state; if a minister is not benevolent, he cannot secure his ancestral temple; if a scholar or commoner is not benevolent, he cannot even secure his own body.
If the ruler loves benevolence, there is no one in the world who can oppose him.
Reduce punishments, lighten taxes, and encourage deep plowing and careful weeding.
The benevolent have no enemies.
Plant mulberry trees in the five-mu residential plots, and those over fifty can wear silk. Raise chickens, pigs, and pigs without missing their breeding seasons, and those over seventy can eat meat. Do not take away the farming time for the hundred-mu fields, and families of several mouths will not go hungry. Carefully manage the schools and emphasize the principles of filial piety and fraternal respect, and the elderly will not have to carry heavy burdens on the roads.
Improve the fields, lighten the taxes, and the people can be made wealthy.
If the ruler is benevolent, none will fail to be benevolent; if the ruler is righteous, none will fail to be righteous; if the ruler is upright, none will fail to be upright.
Those who rejoice in the people's joys will have the people rejoice in their joys; those who worry about the people's worries will have the people worry about their worries.
Benevolence brings glory; lack of benevolence brings disgrace.
Those with stable property have stable minds; those without stable property do not have stable minds. If they lack stable minds, they will indulge in licentiousness and excess, doing whatever evil they can.