Confucius Quotes
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Be loyal to yourself, charitable to neighbours, nothing more.
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Great is the man who can overcome the world, but greater still is the man who can overcome himself, for he will have the world spinning on the palm of his hand.
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Without knowing the force of words, it is impossible to know more.
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The superior man honors his virtuous nature, and maintains constant inquiry and study, seeking to carry it out to its breadth and greatness, so as to omit none of the more exquisite and minute points which it embraces, and to raise it to its greatest height and brilliancy.
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Place where man laughs, sings, picks flowers, chases butterflies and pets birds, makes love with maidens, and plays with children. Here he spontaneously reveals his nature, the base as well as the noble. Here also he buries his sorrows and difficulties and cherishes his ideals and hopes. It is in the garden that men discover themselves. Indeed one discovers not only his real self but also his ideal self?he returns to his youth. Inevitably the garden is made the scene of man's merriment, escapades, romantic abandonment, spiritual awakening or the perfection of his finer self.
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To think twice is quite enough.
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Never seek illicit wealth.
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Straight-forwardness, without the rules of propriety, becomes rudeness.
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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."
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When nature exceeds culture, we have the rustic. When culture exceeds nature, we have the pedant.
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Does Heaven ever speak? The four seasons come and go, and all creatures thrive and grow. Does Heaven ever speak!
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The superior man is distressed by his want (lack) of ability.
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Not feeling compassion for a stranger is like not feeling when one's foot has caught fire.
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Not to converse with a man worthy of conversation is to waste the man. To converse with a man not worthy of conversation is to waste words. The wise waste neither men nor words.
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The shortest distance between any two points on a golf course is a straight line that passes directly through the center of a very large tree.
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He who sling mud, lose ground.
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I have not seen a person who loved virtue, or one who hated what was not virtuous. He who loved virtue would esteem nothing above it.
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In old days men studied for the sake of self-improvement; nowadays men study in order to impress other people.
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Respect the gods, but have as little to do with them as possible.
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Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.
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To become a leader, you must first become a human being.
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Happiness does not consist in having what you want, but in wanting what you have.
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I daily examine myself on three points: In planning for others, have I failed in conscientiousness? In intercourse with friends, have I been insincere? And have I failed to practice what I have been taught?
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A man may not transgress the bounds of major morals, but may make errors in minor morals.