HAN FEI

The intelligent ruler makes the law select men and makes no arbitrary appointment himself; he makes the law measure merits and makes no arbitrary judgment himself.

Superior and inferior wage one hundred battles a day.

A ruler makes use of the majority and neglects the minority, and so he does not devote himself to virtue but to law.

I believe it is impossible to be sure of anything.

The severe household has no fierce slaves, but it is the affectionate mother.

A filial son to his father can be a traitorous subject to his ruler.

When those who uphold the law are strong, the state is strong. When they are weak, the state is weak

Remote fountains are of little help to nearby fires

To govern the state by law is to praise the right and blame the wrong.

In dealing with those who share his bed, the enlightened ruler may enjoy their beauty but should not listen to their special pleas...

A wise ruler, when he makes his laws, is bound to find himself in conflict with the world.

The intelligent ruler does not value people who are of themselves good without rewards and punishments. Why is that? The laws of the state cannot be neglected, and it is not one man who is being ruled.

The duties of the ruler are like those of the helmsman of a great ship. From his lofty position, he makes slight movements with his hands, and the ship, of itself, follows his desires and moves. This is the way whereby the one may control the ten thousand and by quiescence may regulate activity.

If ministers forget their ruler and establish relationships with foreign powers in order to advance the interests of their confederates, there will be scant reason for subordinates to obey their superiors.

A ruler of men faces two possible misfortunes: if he employs the worthy, the ministers will use worthiness as a pretext to rob their ruler of his power, but if he promotes men recklessly, his affairs will be neglected, and he will not prevail.

If you rely on political factions to promote men to office, the people will work to develop instrumental relationships and will not seek to be useful with regard to the law. Thus, a ruler who mistakes reputation for ability when assigning offices will see his state fall into disorder.

The Way is the beginning of the ten thousand things and the guiding thread of truth and falsity.

The Way of an enlightened ruler is to make it so that no minister may make a proposal and then fail to match it with actions and results.

Within the frontiers of a state, there are no more than ten people who do good of themselves, whereas if one makes it so that the people can do no wrong, the entire state can be kept peaceful.

The severe household has no fierce slaves, while it is the affectionate mother who has the prodigal son.

The ruler who possesses methods of government does not follow the good that happens by chance but practices according to necessary principles. Law, methods, and power must be employed for government: these constitute its 'necessary principles.'

Those who serve as ministers can be compared to hands: reaching up, they take care of the head; reaching down, they take care of the feet.

If a ruler of men wants to put an end to vice, he must examine the correspondence between form and name and look to see how what is said differs from what is done.

The people in the well-ordered ages of the past upheld the public law and abandoned private strategies; they focused their intentions and unified their conduct. Everything they did was for the sake of being employed by the ruler.

The object of rewards is to encourage; that of punishments, to prevent. If rewards are high, then what the ruler wants will be quickly effected; if punishments are heavy, what he does not want will be swiftly prevented.