Full Idea
In our natures we approximate one another; habits put us further and further apart. The only ones who do not change are sages and idiots.
Gist of Idea
Humans are similar, but social conventions drive us apart (sages and idiots being the exceptions)
Source
Kongzi (Confucius) (The Analects (Lunyu) [c.511 BCE], XVII.2)
Book Reference
Confucius: 'The Sayings of Confucius', ed/tr. Ware,James R. [Mentor 1955], p.109
A Reaction
I find most of Confucius rather uninteresting, but this is a splendid remark about the influence of social conventions on human nature. Sages can achieve universal morality if they rise above social convention, and seek the true virtues of human nature.