Q0410

“One must temper oneself in the midst of affairs; only then can…” — Wang Yangming (Instructions for Practical Living)

Verified English quotation. Primary source: Instructions for Practical Living. Theme: justice.

English

One must temper oneself in the midst of affairs; only then can one stand firm — settled in stillness and settled in action alike.
Thinker Wang Yangming
School Neo-Confucianism
Source Instructions for Practical Living
Theme Justice
Another quotation More from this thinker

Source and attribution

The archive attributes this English wording to Instructions for Practical Living and files it under Neo-Confucianism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.

About Wang Yangming

Wang Yangming (Wang Shouren, 1472–1529) was the Ming Neo-Confucian who taught unity of knowledge and action and innate moral knowing (liangzhi). A statesman and general who suppressed rebellions, he developed teachings in exile and military camps.

How to read this passage

Distributive, retributive, and restorative justice name different problems. Political philosophy asks what a just society owes its members and outsiders. This passage enters that discussion through justice, practice.

Concepts in this quote

Justice
Justice concerns fairness, rights, desert, and the arrangement of institutions that claim to treat people as equals.
Practice
Practice is where thought becomes habit: philosophy as a way of living, training, and repeated action.

How to cite this quotation

APA: Wang Yangming. (n.d.). One must temper oneself in the midst of affairs; only then can one stand firm — settled in stillness and settled in action alike. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0410

MLA: Wang Yangming. “One must temper oneself in the midst of….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0410.

Chicago: Wang Yangming. “One must temper oneself in the midst of….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0410.

Frequently asked questions

What is the source of the quotation “One must temper oneself in the midst of…”?

The passage is attributed to Wang Yangming, Instructions for Practical Living. The archive attributes this English wording to Instructions for Practical Living and files it under Neo-Confucianism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.

What does Wang Yangming mean by justice?

Distributive, retributive, and restorative justice name different problems. Political philosophy asks what a just society owes its members and outsiders. This passage enters that discussion through justice, practice.

Same thinker

More from Wang Yangming

  1. Knowledge is the directing idea of action; action is the effort of knowledge. Knowledge is the beginning of action; action is the completion of knowledge.
  2. There has never been one who truly knows and yet does not act. If one knows but does not act, that is simply not yet knowing.
  3. Extend the innate good knowing.
  4. Mind is principle. Are there affairs or principles outside the mind?
  5. That little bit of innate knowing of yours is your own criterion.

All quotations by Wang Yangming

Same theme

More on justice

  1. It is worse to do injustice than to suffer it.
  2. Justice is doing one's own work and not meddling in others'.
  3. Those who have the Way receive much help; those who lose the Way receive little help.
  4. I say that the noble and good man and woman are happy, and the unjust and wicked are miserable.
  5. The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it…Reason…teaches all mankind…that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions.

Browse the justice theme