Confucius Quotes
-
What is necessary is to rectify names.
-
The man of upright life is obeyed before he speaks.
-
If a superior man abandon virtue, how can he fulfil the requirements of that name?
-
Ceremonies are the first thing to be attended to in the practice of government.
-
When the multitude detests a man, inquiry is necessary; when the multitude likes a man, inquiry is equally necessary.
-
Old age, believe me, is a good and pleasant thing. It is true you are gently shouldered off the stage, but then you are given such a comfortable front stall as spectator.
-
It is when those who are not strong enough have made some moderate amount of progress that they fail and give up.
-
Friendship with the upright, with the truthful and with the well informed is beneficial. Friendship with those who flatter, with those who are meek and who compromise with principles, and with those who talk cleverly is harmful.
-
When a man is guided by the principles of reciprocity and consciousness, he is not far from the moral law. Whatever you don't wish for yourself don't do unto others.
-
It is only the very wisest and the very stupidest who never change.
-
It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get.
-
Reading without thinking will confuse you.Thinking without reading will place you in danger.
-
Guide the people by law, subdue them by punishment; they may shun crime, but will be void of shame. Guide them by example, subdue them by courtesy; they will learn shame, and come to be good.
-
The Superior Man is all-embracing and not partial. The inferior man is partial and not all-embracing.
-
To rein a kingdom efficiently it is necessary, before all, to put into good order the family. It's impossible for a man who doesn't know how to lead his own family to know how to lead a country.
-
One who has accumulated virtue will certainly also possess eloquence; but he who has eloquence doe not necessarily possess virtue.
-
The virtuous man is driven by responsibility, the non-virtuous man is driven by profit.
-
That a man lives is because he is straight. That a man who dupes others survives is because he has been fortunate enough to be spared.
-
Teachers open the door ... you enter by yourself.
-
Knowledge is recognizing what you know and what you don't.
-
The superior man understands what is right; the inferior man understands what will sell.
-
When music and courtesy are better understood and appreciated, there will be no war.
-
From a grain of sand in the Pearl comes.
-
A country of a thousand war-chariots cannot be administered unless the ruler attends strictly to business, punctually observes his promises, is economical in expenditure, loves the people, and uses the labor of the peasantry only at the proper times of year.