Ask why this pond stays so clear: because living water keeps flowing from its source.
問渠那得清如許、為有源頭活水来。
Philosophers
Zhu Xi
Southern Song Confucian (1130-1200), the systematizer of Neo-Confucianism. His Four Books commentaries served as China's civil-service exam basis from 1313 to 1905, shaping East Asia's governing class for six centuries.
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Zhu Xi's Other Quotes
Related Quotes
Learning is for the self.
-- Zhu Xi
Westward the course of empire takes its way.
-- George Berkeley
If you wish to see the laws of high thunder with a pure and skilful mind, look upon the summits of the highest heaven.
-- Boethius
The prerogative of world-conquest is enough for me.
-- Mehmed II
Among the people there is no possession so esteemed as the state / yet there is no state in this world like one breath of good health.
-- Suleiman the Magnificent
Everyone aims at the same meaning, but many are the versions of the story.
-- Suleiman the Magnificent