Confucius Quotes
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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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The requisites of government are that there be sufficiency of food, sufficiency of military equipment, and the confidence of the people in their ruler.
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The superior man will watch over himself when he is alone. He examines his heart that there may be nothing wrong there, and that he may have no cause of dissatisfaction with himself.
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A superior man in dealing with the world is not for anything or against anything. He follows righteousness as the standard.
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The Three Armies can be deprived of their commanding officer, but even a common man cannot be deprived of his purpose.
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At seventy, I could follow the dictates of my own heart; for what I desired no longer overstepped the boundaries of right.
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The gem cannot be polished without friction nor man without trials.
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If Language is not correct, then what is said is not what is meant. If what is said is not what is meant, then what ought to be done, remains undone.
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The superior man understands what is right; the inferior man understands what will sell.
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The superior man * * * in regard to his speech * * * is anxious that it should be sincere.
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You do not understand even life. How can you understand death?
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To know your faults and be able to change is the greatest virtue.
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There is nothing impossible in all the world except that the heart of man is wanting in resolution.
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To acknowledge our faults when we are blamed, is modesty; to discover them to one's friends in ingenuousness, is confidence; but to preach them to all the world, if one does not take care, is pride.
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A knight whose heart is set upon the Way, but who is ashamed of wearing shabby clothes and eating coarse food, is not worth calling into counsel.
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Benevolence is the characteristic element of humanity.
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He with whom neither slander that gradually soaks into the mind, nor statements that startle like a wound in the flesh, are successful may be called intelligent indeed.
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A good man regards the root; he fixes the root, and ail else flows out of it. The root is filial piety; the fruit brotherly love.
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The superior man is anxious lest he should not get the truth; he is not anxious lest poverty should come upon him.
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Do not unto another that you would hot have him do unto you. Thou needest this law alone. It is the foundation of all the rest.
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In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.
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Teachers open the door ... you enter by yourself.
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Ask yourself constantly, "What is the right thing to do?" Behave toward everyone as if receiving a great guest.
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Never give a sword to a man who can't dance.