“The learning of the exemplary person enters through the ears, takes root in the heart, spreads through the body, and appears in movement and stillness.” The sentence comes from Xunzi's Encouragement of Learning. Here, “takes root” suggests becoming established, while “the four parts” refers broadly to the body. Learning is heard, inwardly formed, and then made visible in conduct.
The next line contrasts this with learning that “enters the ear and leaves through the mouth”. The criticism is not of speaking, but of knowledge merely being passed along. Today, the sentence need not mean that every idea must immediately become action. Its restrained challenge is simpler: if an understanding never changes how we notice, choose or act, we should ask whether it has truly become our own.
https://ctext.org/xunzi/quan-xue/ens
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