Shi Nai'an

"My friends are all broad-minded, and well educated, but we do not keep a record of our conversations. The reason for this is we are too lazy, and do not aspire to fame; to talk gives us pleasure, but …"

"A man should not marry after thirty years of age; should not enter the government service after the age of forty; should not have any more children after the age of fifty; and should not travel after …"

"I have only to fill up my spare time, and give pleasure to myself; I have written it so that the uneducated can read it as well as the educated . Alas! Life is so short that I shall not even know what…"

"Within the bounds of the four seas, all men are brothers."

"What excites pleasure in me is the meeting and conversing with old friends. But it is very galling when my friends do not visit me because there is a biting wind, or the roads are muddy through the ra…"