Confucius Quotes
-
Some may study side by side, and yet be asunder when they come to the logic of things.
-
The man of perfect virtue, wishing to be established himself, seeks also to establish others; wishing to be enlarged himself, he seeks also to enlarge others.
-
Be faithful and true of word; let thy walk be plain and lowly: thou wilt get on, though in savage land. If thy words be not faithful and true, thy walk plain and lowly, wilt thou get on, though in thine own home? Standing, see these words ranged before thee; driving, see them written upon the yoke. Then thou wilt get on.
-
We can know a person by observing his behaviour, understanding the reasons for his actions and ascertaining his intentions. If we do this, how can we not know him?
-
Only after Winter comes do we know that the pine and the cypress are the last to fade.
-
In old days men studied for the sake of self-improvement; nowadays men study in order to impress other people.
-
Rather than caring about whether or not you are known, strive to be worth knowing.
-
Charity is that rational and constant affection which makes us sacrifice ourselves to the human race, as if we were united with it, so as to form one individual, partaking equally in its adversity and prosperity.
-
Wisdom is worried for being slow in its speech and expeditious in its actions.
-
The demands that good people make are upon themselves; Those that bad people make are upon others.
-
The commander of the forces of a large State may be carried off, but the will of even a common man cannot be taken from him.
-
Who heeds not the future will find sorrow at hand.
-
A happy union with wife and child is like the music of lutes and harps.
-
It is better not to proceed at all than to proceed without purpose.
-
The Master said, "Wealth and honor are things that all people desire, and yet unless they are acquired in the proper way I will not abide them. Poverty and disgrace are things that all people hate, and yet unless they are avoided in the proper way I will not despise them. If the gentleman abandons ren, how can he be worthy of that name? The gentleman does not violate ren even for the amount of time required to eat a meal. Even in times of urgency or distress, he does not depart from it."
-
A ruthless man extends his ruthlessness from those he does not love to those he loves.
-
The superior man, even when he is not moving, has a feeling of reverence, and while he speaks not, he has the feeling of truthfulness.
-
Without an acquaintance with the rules of propriety, it is impossible for the character to be established.
-
When a man feels the difficulty of doing, can he be other than cautious and slow in speaking?
-
If I am walking with two other men, each of them will serve as my teacher. I will pick out the good points of the one and imitate them, and the bad points of the other and correct them in myself.
-
The gentleman prefers to be slow in word but diligent in action.
-
When I am with others, they are my teachers. I can select their good points and follow them, and select their bad points and avoid them.
-
Not to mend one's ways when one has erred is to err indeed.
-
Study the past if you would define the future. I am not one who was born in the possession of knowledge; I am one who is fond of antiquity, and earnest in seeking it there. Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.