Confucius Quotes
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Good people strengthen themselves ceaselessly.
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When three persons work together, each can be the teacher in some aspects.
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When abroad, behaveto everyone as if interviewing an honored guest; in directing the people, act as if you were assisting at a great sacrafice; DO NOT DO TO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD NOT LIKE DONE TO YOURSELF: so there will be no murmuring against you in the country, and none in the family; your public life will arouse no ill-will nor your private life any resentment.
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Have no friends not equal to yourself.
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A father's and a mother's age must be borne in mind; with joy on the one hand, fear on the other.
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Is there any one maxim which ought to be acted upon throughout one's whole life? Surely the maxim of loving kindness is such: Do not unto others what you would not they should do unto you.
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The really faithful lover of learning holds fast to the Good Way till death.
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There are three friendships which are advantageous, and three which are injurious. Friendship with the upright; friendship with the sincere; and friendship with the man of much observation: these are advantageous. Friendship with the man of specious airs; friendship with the insinuatingly soft; and friendship with the glib-tongued: these are injurious.
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First there must be order and harmony within your own mind. Then this order will spread to your family, then to the community, and finally to your entire kingdom. Only then can you have peace and harmony.
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There are three things against which the wise man guards: lust when young, quarrels when strong, and covetousness when old.
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Behave when away from home as though you were in the presence of an honored guest. Employ the people as though you were assisting at an important sacrifice. Do not do to others what you would not like yourself. Then there will be no feelings of opposition to you, whether it is the affairs of a state that you are handling or the affairs of a family.
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Balance is the perfect state of still water. Let that be our model. It remains quiet within and is not disturbed on the surface.
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Don't worry that other people don't know you; worry that you don't know other people.
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If you would govern a state of a thousand chariots (a small-to-middle-size state), you must pay strict attention to business, be true to your word, be economical in expenditure and love the people.
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Give a bowl of rice to a man and you will feed him for a day. Teach him how to grow his own rice and you will save his life.
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The administration of government lies in getting proper men. Such men are to be got by means of the ruler's own character. That character is to be cultivated by his treading in the ways of duty. And the treading those ways of duty is to be cultivated by the cherishing of benevolence.
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I saw some piglets suckling their dead mother. After a short while they shuddered and went away. They had sensed that she could no longer see them and that she wasn't like them any more. What they loved in their mother wasn't her body, but whatever it was that made her body live.
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A superior man is one who is free from fear and anxieties.
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The gentleman sees what is right while the small man sees what is profitable.
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Do not let a leader lead you on a bad path.
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Tzu Chang asked Confucius about jen. Confucius said, "If you can practice these five things with all the people, you can be called jen." Tzu Chang asked what they were. Confucius said, "Courtesy, generosity, honesty, persistence, and kindness. If you are courteous, you will not be disrespected; if you are generous, you will gain everything. If you are honest, people will rely on you. If you are persistent you will get results. If you are kind, you can employ people.
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The gentleman calls attention to the good points in others; he does not call attention to their defects. The small man does just the reverse of this.
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Justice is like the north star, which is fixed, and all the rest revolve about it.
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To throw oneself into strange teachings is quite dangerous.