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The Way Of Heaven And Earth May Be Completely Declared In One Sentence: They Are Without Any Doubleness, And So They Produce Things In A Manner That Is Unfathomable.

-Confucius

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The Way Of Heaven

Confucius

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The Way Of Heaven And Earth May Be Completely Declared In One Sentence: They Are Without Any Doubleness, And So They Produce Things In A Manner That Is Unfathomable.

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Without Goodness A Man Cannot Endure Adversity For Long, Nor Can He Enjoy Prosperity For Long. The Good Man Is Naturally At Ease With Goodness. The Wise Man Cultivates Goodness For Its Advantage.

When I Am With Others, They Are My Teachers. I Can Select Their Good Points And Follow Them, And Select Their Bad Points And Avoid Them.

If You Try To Do Too Much, You Will Not Achieve Anything.

If A Superior Man Abandon Virtue, How Can He Fulfil The Requirements Of That Name?

When Prosperity Comes, Do Not Use All Of It.

Never Give A Sword To A Man Who Can't Dance.

Justice Is Like The North Star, Which Is Fixed, And All The Rest Revolve About It.

To Go Beyond Is As Wrong As To Fall Short.

Ah, Music, Sacred Tongue Of God! I Hear Thee Calling And I Come.

As In The Case Of Making A Mound, If, Before The Very Last Basketful, I Stop, Then I Shall Have Stopped. As In The Case Of Leveling The Ground, If, Though Tipping Only One Basketful, I Am Going Forward, Then I Shall Be Making Progress.

Some May Study Side By Side, And Yet Be Asunder When They Come To The Logic Of Things.

It Is Better To Live In Peace Than In Bitterness And Strife

Knowledge Without Practice Is Useless. Practice Without Knowledge Is Dangerous.

The Wise Are Free From Perplexities; The Virtuous From Anxiety; And The Bold From Fear.

If You Want Happiness For A Year, Inherit A Fortune. If You Want Happiness For A Lifetime, Help Someone Else.

A Gentleman Can Withstand Hardships; It Is Only The Small Man Who, When Submitted To Them, Is Swept Off His Feet.

First There Must Be Order And Harmony Within Your Own Mind. Then This Order Will Spread To Your Family, Then To The Community, And Finally To Your Entire Kingdom. Only Then Can You Have Peace And Harmony.

When Frying Small Fish, Disturb Them Little.

There Are Three Friendships Which Are Advantageous, And Three Which Are Injurious. Friendship With The Upright; Friendship With The Sincere; And Friendship With The Man Of Much Observation: These Are Advantageous. Friendship With The Man Of Specious Airs; Friendship With The Insinuatingly Soft; And Friendship With The Glib-tongued: These Are Injurious.

The Proper Man Understands Equity, The Small Man Profits.

A Good Man Will Certainly Also Possess Courage; But A Brave Man Is Not Necessarily Good.

Big Head, Target For Enemy; Big Heart, Target For Friend.

If A Man Is Not Good, What Has He To Do With The Rules Of Propriety? If He Is Not Good, What Has He To Do With Music?

A Superior Man Is One Who Is Free From Fear And Anxieties

Study Without Reflection Is A Waste Of Time; Reflection Without Study Is Dangerous.

If An Urn Lacks The Characteristics Of An Urn, How Can We Call It An Urn?

Characteristics

Study As Though You Cannot Catch Up To It, And As Though You Fear You Are Going To Lose It.

The Failure To Cultivate Virtue, The Failure To Examine And Analyze What I Have Learned, The Inability To Move Toward Righteousness After Being Shown The Way, The Inability To Correct My Faults-these Are The Causes Of My Grief.

It's Only In Winter That The Pine And Cypress Are Known To Be Evergreens.

Is Virtue A Thing Remote? I Wish To Be Virtuous, And Lo! Virtue Is At Hand.

The One Who Was Born A Genius Can't Win Against The One Who Tries, And The One Who Tries Can't Win Against The One Who Enjoys.

Let The States Of Equilibrium And Harmony Exist In Perfection, And A Happy Order Will Prevail Throughout Heaven And Earth, And All Things Will Be Nourished And Flourish.

Base Yourself In Loyalty And Trust. Don't Be Companion With Those Who Are Not Your Moral Equal. When You Make A Mistake, Don't Hesitate To Correct It.

The Path Is Not Far From Man. When Men Try To Pursue A Course, Which Is Far From The Common Indications Of Consciousness, This Course Cannot Be Considered The Path.

You Will Never Know How Sharp A Sword Is Unless It's Drawn From Its Sheath

Does Heaven Ever Speak? The Four Seasons Come And Go, And All Creatures Thrive And Grow. Does Heaven Ever Speak!

The Superior Man Understands What Is Right; The Inferior Man Understands What Will Sell.

The Most Beautiful Sight In The World Is A Little Child Going Confidently Down The Road Of Life After You Have Shown Him The Way.

If Names Are Not Correct, Then Language Is Not In Accord With The Truth Of Things. If Language Is Not In Accord With The Truth Of Things, Then Affairs Cannot Be Carried Out Successfully.

Man Is Born For Uprightness. If A Man Lose His Uprightness And Yet Live, His Escape From Death Is Mere Good Fortune.

Looking At Small Advantages Prevents Great Affairs From Being Accomplished.

Behave When Away From Home As Though You Were In The Presence Of An Honored Guest. Employ The People As Though You Were Assisting At An Important Sacrifice. Do Not Do To Others What You Would Not Like Yourself. Then There Will Be No Feelings Of Opposition To You, Whether It Is The Affairs Of A State That You Are Handling Or The Affairs Of A Family.

He Who Remembers From Day To Day What He Has Yet To Learn, And From Month To Month What He Has Learned Already, May Be Said To Have A Love Of Learning.

The Gods Should Certainly Be Revered, But Kept At A Distance... . The Way Is Not Beyond Man; He Who Creates A Way Outside Of Man Cannot Make It A True Way. A Good Man Is Content With Changing Man, And That Is Enough For Him.

Therefore Only Through Education Does One Come To Be Dissatisfied With His Own Knowledge, And Only Through Teaching Others Does One Come To Realize The Uncomfortable Inadequacy Of His Knowledge. Being Dissatisfied With His Own Knowledge, One Then Realizes That The Trouble Lies With Himself, And Realizing The Uncomfortable Inadequacy Of His Knowledger.

To Know That One Knows What One Knows, And To Know That One Doesn't Know What One Doesn't Know, There Lies True Wisdom.

The Superior Man Sets His Person At Rest Before He Moves; He Composes His Mind Before He Speaks.

Future Generation Is The Most Important Thing.

Future Generation

He Who Requires Much From Himself And Little From Others, Will Keep Himself From Being The Object Of Resentment.

The Vices Come As Passengers, Visit Us As Guest And Stay As Masters.

The Superior Man, When Resting In Safety, Does Not Forget That Danger May Come.

If A Man Be Under The Influence Of Anger His Conduct Will Not Be Correct.

Is Any One Able For One Day To Apply His Strength To Virtue? I Have Not Seen The Case In Which His Strength Would Be Sufficient.

A Disciple Having Asked For A Definition Of Charity, The Master Said Love One Another.

What You Dislike In Your Superiors, Avoid Doing To Your Inferiors. What You Dislike In Your Inferiors, Avoid Doing When Working For Your Superiors. What You Hate In Those Who Are In Front Of You, Do Not Do To Those Behind You.

He Who Rules By Moral Force Is Like The Pole Star, Which Remains In Place While All The Lesser Stars Do Homage To It.

Humankind Differs From The Animals Only By A Little And Most People Throw That Away.

These Are The Four Abuses: Desire To Succeed In Order To Make Oneself Famous; Taking Credit For The Labors Of Others; Refusal To Correct One's Errors Despite Advice; Refusal To Change One's Ideas Despite Warnings.

Things Being Investigated, Knowledge Became Complete. Their Knowledge Being Complete, Their Thoughts Were Sincere. Their Thoughts Being Sincere, Their Hearts Were Then Rectified. Their Hearts Being Rectified, Their Persons Were Cultivated. Their Persons Being Cultivated, Their Families Were Regulated. Their Families Being Regulated, Their States Were Rightly Governed. Their States Being Rightly Governed, The Whole Kingdom Was Made Tranquil And Happy.

The Determined Scholar And The Man Of Virtue Will Not Seek To Live At The Expense Of Injuring Their Virtue. They Will Even Sacrifice Their Lives To Preserve Their Virtue Complete.

A Man Who Does Not Forget An Agreement Is Resolved And Honorable Man.

A Man May Not Transgress The Bounds Of Major Morals, But May Make Errors In Minor Morals.

To Study And Not Think Is A Waste. To Think And Not Study Is Dangerous.

By The Ruler's Cultivation Of His Own Character There Is Set Up The Example Of The Course Which All Should Pursue.

I Have Not Seen A Person Who Loved Virtue, Or One Who Hated What Was Not Virtuous. He Who Loved Virtue Would Esteem Nothing Above It.

Excess Weakens The Spirits.

If A Man Sets His Heart On Benevolence He Will Be Free From Evil.

Whatever Heaven Ordains Is Best.

All Wisdom Is Rooted In Learning To Call Things By The Right Name. When Things Are Properly Identified, They Fall Into Natural Categories And Understanding Becomes Orderly.

If A Man Takes No Thought About What Is Distant, He Will Find Sorrow Near At Hand.

The Gentleman Has Nine Cares. In Seeing He Is Careful To See Clearly; In Hearing He Is Careful To Hear Distinctly; In His Looks He Is Careful To Be Kind, In His Manner To Be Respectful, In His Words To Be Sincere, In His Work To Be Diligent. When In Doubt He Is Careful To Ask For Information; When Angry He Has A Care For The Consequences; And When He Sees A Chance For Gain, He Thinks Carefully Whether The Pursuits Of It Would Be Right.

Bird In Hand Makes It Harder To Blow Nose.

To Know It Is Not As Good As To Love It, And To Love It Is Not As Good As To Take Delight In It.

We Can Know A Person By Observing His Behaviour, Understanding The Reasons For His Actions And Ascertaining His Intentions. If We Do This, How Can We Not Know Him?

Don't Worry About Being Acknowledged By Others; Worry About Failing To Acknowledge Them.

Those Who Make Virtue Their Profession Are The Ruin Of Virtue.

Choose A Job You Love, And You Will Never Have To Work A Day In Your Life.

Only By Perfect Virtue Can The Perfect Path, In All Its Courses, Be Made A Fact.

From A Grain Of Sand In The Pearl Comes.

Great Is The Man Who Can Overcome The World, But Greater Still Is The Man Who Can Overcome Himself, For He Will Have The World Spinning On The Palm Of His Hand.

A Gentleman Considers What Is Right; The Vulgar Consider What Will Pay.

If I Am Building A Mountain And Stop Before The Last Basketful Of Earth Is Placed On The Summit, I Have Failed.

The Master Said, 'quietly To Store Up Knowledge In My Mind, To Learn Without Flagging, To Teach Without Growing Weary, These Present Me With No Difficulties.'

A Man Without A Mustache Is A Man Without A Soul.

Learning Without Thought Is Labor Lost; Thought Without Learning Is Perilous.

He Who Knows And Knows That He Knows Is A Wise Man - Follow Him; He Who Knows Not And Knows Not That He Knows Not Is A Fool - Shun Him

The Chase Of Gain Is Rich In Hate

He Who Conquers Himself Is The Mightiest Warrior.

Men Do Not Stumble Over Mountains, But Over Mole Hills.

Famous Inspirational

Words Are The Voice Of The Heart.

A Gentleman Is Ashamed To Let His Words Outrun His Deeds.

Man Who Want Pretty Nurse, Must Be Patient.

By Nature, Men Are Nearly Alike; By Practice, They Get To Be Wide Apart.

Go Before The People With Your Example, And Be Laborious In Their Affairs.

You Turn The Handle The Way It Goes, Not The Way It Ought To Go

The Superior Man Does What Is Proper To The Station In Which He Is; He Does Not Desire To Go Beyond This. In A Position Of Wealth And Honor, He Does What Is Proper To A Position Of Wealth And Honor. In A Poor And Low Position, He Does What Is Proper To A Poor And Low Position.

Without That Innate Sense Of Human Worth, A Man Cannot Long Endure Adversity, Nor Can He Long Enjoy Prosperity.

When There Are Duties To Perform [true] Servants And Sons Serve Their Labors.

The Essence Of Knowledge Is, Having It, To Use It.

I Want You To Be Everything That's You, Deep At The Center Of Your Being.

He Is The Truly Courageous Man Who Never Desponds.

Study As If You Have Not Reached Your Goal - Hold It As If You Were Afraid Of Losing What You Have.

Is There Any One Maxim Which Ought To Be Acted Upon Throughout One's Whole Life? Surely The Maxim Of Loving Kindness Is Such: Do Not Unto Others What You Would Not They Should Do Unto You.

The Superior Man Is Firm In The Right Way And Not Merely Firm.

What Can A Man Do With Music Who Is Not Benevolent?

He Who Fails To Prepare, Prepares To Fail

Not To Converse With A Man Worthy Of Conversation Is To Waste The Man. To Converse With A Man Not Worthy Of Conversation Is To Waste Words. The Wise Waste Neither Men Nor Words.

The Expectations Of Life Depend Upon Diligence; The Mechanic That Would Perfect His Work Must First Sharpen His Tools.

Ignorance Is The Night Of The Mind, But A Night Without Moon Or Star.

The Father Who Does Not Teach His Son His Duties Is Equally Guilty With The Son Who Neglects Them.

Charity, Like The Sun, Brightens Every Object On Which It Shines.

Kong Qiu, Or Master Kong As He Was Known, Did Not Live To See His Days Of Glory. During His Lifetime, His Views Were Received With Scorn. But That Was About Two Thousand Five Hundred Years Ago. A Handful Of His Dedicated Followers Passed On Confucius' Teachings To Future Generations. After Confucius' Death, His Followers Published His Teachings In The Book, The Analects Of Confucius.

Charity Is That Rational And Constant Affection Which Makes Us Sacrifice Ourselves To The Human Race, As If We Were United With It, So As To Form One Individual, Partaking Equally In Its Adversity And Prosperity.

A Person Of Character Takes As Much Trouble To Discover What Is Right As The Lesser Men Take To Discover What Will Pay.

The Main Object Of Conciliation Lies In Reaching A Solution To A Case Based Upon Morals And With A Warm Heart.

Hold Faithfulness And Sincerity As First Principles.

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.

To Know And Not Do, Is To Not Yet Know.

Guide The People By Law, Subdue Them By Punishment; They May Shun Crime, But Will Be Void Of Shame. Guide Them By Example, Subdue Them By Courtesy; They Will Learn Shame, And Come To Be Good.

Reviewing The Day's Lessons. Isn't It Joyful? Friends Come From Far. Isn't It Delightful? One Has Never Been Angry At Other's Misunderstanding. Isn't He A Respectable Man?

Worry Not That No One Knows You; Seek To Be Worth Knowing.

Success Depends Upon Previous Preparation, And Without Such Preparation There Is Sure To Be Failure.

Congratulations

Man Shoot At Nothing, Sure To Hit It.

To Take What You Know For What You Know, And What You Do Not Know For What You Do Not Know, That Is Knowledge Indeed.

Sincerity Is The Way Of Heaven.

If Doing What Ought To Be Done Be Made The First Business And Success A Secondary Consideration--is Not This The Way To Exalt Virtue?

Acquire New Knowledge Whilst Thinking Over The Old, And You May Become A Teacher Of Others.

A Gentleman Wishes To Be Slow To Speak And Quick To Act.

The Superior Person Gathers His Weapons Together In Order To Provide Against The Unforeseen.

Heaven Is Author Of The Virtue That Is In Me

He Who Kisses Girl On Hillside Is Not Level

To Be Excellent When Engaged In Administration Is To Be Like The North Star. As It Remains In Its One Position, All The Other Stars Surround It.

A Good Man Is Not Mine To See. Could I See A Man Possessed Of Constancy, That Would Satisfy Me.

Knowledge Is Merely Brilliance In Organization Of Ideas And Not Wisdom. The Truly Wise Person Goes Beyond Knowledge.

The Requisites Of Government Are That There Be Sufficiency Of Food, Sufficiency Of Military Equipment, And The Confidence Of The People In Their Ruler.

To Learn Without Thinking Is Labour In Vain, To Think Without Learning Is Desolation.

There Is The Love Of Knowing Without The Love Of Learning; The Beclouding Here Leads To Dissipation Of Mind.

Virtuous People Often Revenge Themselves For The Constraints To Which They Submit By The Boredom Which They Inspire.

Ability Will Never Catch Up With The Demand For It.

If Either Wealth Or Poverty Are Come By Honesty, There Is No Shame.

Instead Of Being Concerned That You Have No Office, Be Concerned To Think How You May Fit Yourself For Office. Instead Of Being Concerned That You Are Not Known, Seek To Be Worthy Of Being Known.

All Things Are Nourished Together Without Their Injuring One Another. The Courses Of The Seasons, And Of The Sun And Moon, Are Pursued Without Any Collision Among Them. The Smaller Energies Are Like River Currents; The Greater Energies Are Seen In Mighty Transformations. It Is This Which Makes Heaven And Earth So Great.

There Are Three Unfilial Acts: The Greatest Of These Is The Failure To Produce Sons.

The Only People Who Cannot Change Are The Most Wise And The Most Stupid.

The Wise Man Admires Water, The Kind Man Admires Mountains. The Wise Man Moves, The Kind Man Rests. The Wise Man Is Happy, The Kind Man Is Firm.

To Become A Leader, You Must First Become A Human Being

Lead The People With Administrative Injunctions And Put Them In Their Place With Penal Law, And They Will Avoid Punishments But Will Be Without A Sense Of Shame. Lead Them With Excellence And Put Them In Their Place Through Roles And Ritual Practices, And In Addition To Developing A Sense Of Shame, They Will Order Themselves Harmoniously

In Dealing With The Dead, If We Treat Them As If They Were Entirely Dead, That Would Show A Want Of Affection And Should Not Be Done; Or, If We Treat Them As If They Were Entirely Alive, That Would Show A Want Of Wisdom And Should Not Be Done.

It Is The Way Of The Superior Man To Prefer The Concealment Of His Virtue, While It Daily Becomes More Illustrious, And It Is The Way Of The Mean Man To Seek Notoriety, While He Daily Goes More And More To Ruin.

Character Is The Backbone Of Our Human Culture. Music Is The Flowering Of Character.

Though Confucius Served The Duke Of Lu, A Chinese State, He Made Many Enemies With The Nobles Of The Land. His Views Antagonized The Powerful Nobles, Who Wanted The Duke To Be A Puppet In Their Hands. Confucius Was Exiled From The State Of Lu For More Than Two Decades. He Lived In The Countryside, Spreading His Teachings.

Do Unto Others What You Want Done Unto You.

When You Are Laboring For Others, Let It Be With The Same Zeal As If It Were For Yourself.

While The Gentleman Cherishes Benign Rule, The Small Man Cherishes His Native Land. While The Gentleman Cherishes A Respect For The Law, The Small Man Cherishes Generous Treatment.

Cultivated People Foster What Is Good In Others, Not What Is Bad. Petty People Do The Opposite.

Which Demands A Lot Of Himself And Some Others, Will Be Free From Hatred.

Let A Man Be Stimulated By Poetry, Established By The Rules Of Propriety, And Perfected By Music.

A Great Man Is Hard On Himself; A Small Man Is Hard On Others.

On Matters Beyond His Ken A Gentleman Speaks With Caution. If Names Are Not Right, Words Are Misused. When Words Are Misused, Affairs Go Wrong. When Affairs Go Wrong, Courtesy And Music Droop, Law And Justice Fail. And When Law And Justice Fail Them, A People Can Move Neither Hand Nor Foot. So A Gentleman Must Be Ready To Put Names In Speech, To Put Words Into Deeds. A Gentleman Is Nowise Careless Of Words.

The Noble-minded Are Calm And Steady. Little People Are Forever Fussing And Fretting.

A Common Man Marvels At Uncommon Things. A Wise Man Marvels At The Commonplace.

It Doesn't Make A Difference How Gradually You Go So Long As You Don't Stop.

Making A Difference

I'd Rather Die For Speaking Out, Than To Live And Be Silent.

Being In Humaneness Is Good. If We Select Other Goodness And Thus Are Far Apart From Humaneness, How Can We Be The Wise?

The Cautious Seldom Err.

In A State, Pecuniary Gain Is Not To Be Considered To Be Prosperity, But Its Prosperity Will Be Found In Righteousness.

Respect Yourself And Others Will Respect You.

Not To Mend One's Ways When One Has Erred Is To Err Indeed.

He Who Keeps Danger In Mind, Is He Who Will Rest Safe In His Seat; He Who Keeps Ruin In Mind, Is He Who Will Preserve His Interests Secure.

Gravity Is Only The Bark Of Wisdom's Tree, But It Preserves It.

From The Son Of Heaven Down To The Mass Of The People, All Must Consider The Cultivation Of The Person The Root Of Everything Besides.

The Superior Man, Even When He Is Not Moving, Has A Feeling Of Reverence, And While He Speaks Not, He Has The Feeling Of Truthfulness.

The Tongue Must Be Heavy Indeed, Because So Few People Can Hold It

A Youth Is To Be Regarded With Respect.

Do Not Treat Others As You Yourself Would Not Be Treated.

When You Have Become One With The Great Universal, You Will Have No Partiality, And When You Are Part Of The Process Of Transformation, You Will Have No Rigidity.

Listen Much, Keep Silent When In Doubt, And Always Take Heed Of The Tongue; Thou Wilt Make Few Mistakes. See Much, Beware Of Pitfalls, And Always Give Heed To Thy Walk; Thou Wilt Have Little To Rue. If Thy Words Are Seldom Wrong, Thy Deeds Leave Little To Rue, Pay Will Follow.

You Can Cheat An Honest Man But Not Make A Fool Out Of Him.

Slater Soaks Into The Mind As Water Into Low And Marshy Places, Where It Becomes Stagnant And Offensive.

A Ruthless Man Extends His Ruthlessness From Those He Does Not Love To Those He Loves.

If You Don't Know How To Serve Men, Why Worry About Serving The Gods?

Man Is Born With Uprightness. If One Loses It, He Will Be Lucky If He Escapes With His Life.

The Man Who Loves His Job Never Works A Day In His Life.

Respect The Gods And The Devils But Keep Them At A Distance

To Prefer It Is Better Than To Only Know It. To Delight In It Is Better Than Merely To Prefer It.

What The Superior Man Seeks Is In Himself; What The Small Man Seeks Is In Others.

Return Good For Good; Return Evil With Justice.

A Fool Marvels At Rare Things, But A Wise Man At Common Ones.

A Man Who Has Committed A Mistake And Does Not Correct It Is Committing Another Mistake.

A Man Who Reviews The Old So As To Find Out The New Is Qualified To Teach Others.

Don’t Complain About The Snow On Your Neighbor’s Roof When Your Own Doorstep Is Unclean.

The Superior Man Will Watch Over Himself When He Is Alone. He Examines His Heart That There May Be Nothing Wrong There, And That He May Have No Cause Of Dissatisfaction With Himself.

To Give Oneself Ernestly To Securing Righteousness And Justice Among The People, And While Respecting The Gods And Demons, To Keep Aloof From Them, That May Be Called Wisdom.

If I Give A Student One-fourth Of What He Should Know, I Expect Him To Get The Other Three-fourths Himself, Otherwise I Do Not Want Him As A Student.

Conscience Is The Inner Voice Which Warns Us That Someone Might Be Looking. Hear And You Forget, See And You Remember, Do And You Understand.

There Is No Body But Eats And Drinks. But They Are Few Who Can Distinguish Flavors.

Real Knowledge Is To Know The Extent Of One's Ignorance.

Things Have Their Roots And Branches. Affairs Have Their Beginnings And Their Ends. To Know What Is First And What Is Last Will Lead One Near The Way.

The Administration Of Government Lies In Getting Proper Men. Such Men Are To Be Got By Means Of The Ruler's Own Character. That Character Is To Be Cultivated By His Treading In The Ways Of Duty. And The Treading Those Ways Of Duty Is To Be Cultivated By The Cherishing Of Benevolence.

The Way You Cut Your Meat Reflects The Way You Live.

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