荀子性惡篇
THAT THE NATURE IS EVIL. --By the PHILOSOPHER XUN
Translated by James Legge

人之性惡其善者僞也
The nature of man is evil; the good which it shows is factitious.

今人之性
生而有好利焉
順是故爭奪生而辭讓亡焉
There belongs to it, even at his birth, the love of gain, and as actions are in accordance with this, contentions and robberies grow up, and self-denial and yielding to others are not to be found;

生而有疾惡焉
順是故殘賊生而忠信亡焉
there belong to it envy and dislike, and as actions are in accordance with these, violence and injuries spring up, and self-devotedness and faith are not to be found;

生而有耳目之欲有好聲色焉
順是故淫亂生而禮義文理亡焉
there belong to it the desires of the ears and the eyes, leading to the love of sounds and beauty, and as the actions are in accordance with these, lewdness and disorder spring up, and righteousness and propriety, with their various orderly displays, are not to be found.

然則從人之性順人之情
必出於爭奪
合於犯分亂理而歸於暴
It thus appears, that to follow man's nature and yield obedience to its feelings will assuredly conduct to contentions and robberies, to the violation of the duties belonging to every one's lot, and the confounding of all distinctions, till the issue will be in a state of savagism;

故必將有師法之化禮義之道
然後出於辭讓合於文理而歸於治
and that there must be the influence of teachers and laws, and the guidance of propriety and righteousness, from which will spring self-denial, yielding to others, and an observance of the well-ordered regulations of conduct, till the issue will be a state of good government.

用此觀之然則人之性惡明矣其善者僞也
--From all this it is plain that the nature of man is evil; the good which it shows is factitious.