Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotes by Wang Yangming (Chinese Philosopher)

Wáng Yángmíng (1472–1529,) ō Yōmei in Japanese, born Wáng Sȟurén, was a Neo-Confucian philosopher and an official of the Ming dynasty, a period corresponding to the western middle ages. He is regarded as one of the greatest Chinese philosophers in the last 2,000 years.

Born in a district southeast of Hangchow, Zhejiang Province, Wáng Yángmíng served in many government positions, including the governor of Jiangxi Province, where he suppressed uprisings and insurgents and restructured the local government.

Wáng Yángmíng taught an interpretation of Neo-Confucianism that integrated some Buddhist and Taoist insights. His philosophy emphasized pragmatism—both the morality of understanding and service to society. Humans have an entirely virtuous disposition, but distortive desires and thoughts obscure it. He argued that moral knowledge and action are inseparable. The mind can be united with the principle (“li”) of things by eliminating selfishness and obscurity and through virtuous effort.

Wáng Yángmíng attracted a large following and many detractors. His influence on the philosophical thinking in East Asia can be felt even today. His ideas are contained in his major works Chuánxí lù (‘Instructions for Practical Living’) and dà xuéwèn (‘Other Neo-Confucian Writings.’)

Renowned translations and compilations of Wáng Yángmíng include Wing-tsit Chan’s Instructions for Practical Living and Other Neo-Confucian Writing (1963) and Julia Ching’s The Philosophical Letters of Wang Yang-ming (1972.)

More: Wikipedia READ: Works by Wang Yangming

In the original substance of the mind there is no distinction of good and evil. When the will becomes active, however, such distinction exists. The faculty of innate knowledge is to know good and evil. The investigation of things is to do good and to remove evil.
Wang Yangming

Now the original substance of the mind is man’s nature. Human nature being universally good, the original substance of the mind is correct.
Wang Yangming

Knowledge is the beginning of action and action is the completion of knowledge. Learning to be a sage involves only one effort. Knowledge and action should not be separated.
Wang Yangming

The substance of the mind is revealed through its tranquility and its function through its activity.
Wang Yangming

Not making special effort to like or to dislike does not mean not to like or dislike at all. A person behaving so would be devoid of consciousness. To say ‘not to make a special effort’ merely means that one’s like and dislike completely follow the Principle of Nature and that one does not go on to attach to that situation a bit of selfish thought. This amounts to having neither likes nor dislikes.
Wang Yangming

If one sincerely loves the good known by the innate faculty but does not in reality do the good as we come into contact with the thing to which the will is directed, it means that the thing has not been investigated and that the will to love the good is not yet sincere. If one sincerely hates the evil known by the innate faculty but does not in reality get rid of the evil as he comes into contact with the thing to which the will is directed, it means that the thing has not been investigated and that the will to hate evil is not sincere.
Wang Yangming

The state of having neither good nor evil is that of principle in tranquility. Good and evil appear when the vital force is perturbed. If the vital force is not perturbed, there is neither good nor evil, and this is called the highest good.
Wang Yangming

When the mind is free from the obscuration of selfish desires, it is the embodiment of the Principle of Nature, which requires not an iota added from the outside.
Wang Yangming

The highest good is the original substance of the mind. When one deviates a little from this original substance, there is evil. It is not that there is a good and there is also an evil to oppose it. Therefore good and evil are one thing.
Wang Yangming

The sages do not consider that making no mistakes is a blessing. They believe, rather, that the great virtue of man lies in his ability to correct his mistakes and continually make a new man of himself.
Wang Yangming

How is it that any effort is required to rectify the mind? The reason is that, while the original substance of the mind is originally correct, incorrectness enters when one’s thoughts and will are in operation. Therefore he who wishes to rectify his mind must rectify it in connection with the operation of his thoughts and will. If, whenever a good thought arises he really loves it as he loves beautiful colors, and whenever an evil thought arises, he really hates it as he hates bad odors, then his will will always be sincere and his mind can be rectified.
Wang Yangming

There is no human nature that is not good. Therefore there is no innate knowledge that is not good. Innate knowledge is the equilibrium before the feelings are aroused. It is the state of broadness and extreme impartiality. It is the original substance that is absolutely quiet and inactive. And it is possessed by all men.
Wang Yangming

The original mind is vacuous (devoid of selfish desires), intelligent, and not beclouded. All principles are contained therein and all events proceed from it. There is no principle outside the mind; there is no event outside the mind.
Wang Yangming

But people today distinguish between knowledge and action and pursue them separately, believing that one must know before he can act. They will discuss and learn the business of knowledge first, they say, and wait till they truly know before they put their knowledge into practice. Consequently, to the last day of life, they will never act and also will never know. This doctrine of knowledge first and action later is not a minor disease and it did not come about only yesterday. My present advocacy of the unity of knowledge and action is precisely the medicine for that disease.
Wang Yangming

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