Confucius Quotes
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Being strong does not mean that you never fall down, but that whenever you fall, you get up again.
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Without an acquaintance with the rules of propriety, it is impossible for the character to be established.
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One who is by nature daring and is suffering from poverty will not long be law-abiding. Indeed, any men, save those that are truly good, if their sufferings are very great, will be likely to rebel.
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Never do to others what you would not like them to do to you.
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Respect the gods, but have as little to do with them as possible.
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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.
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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.
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What the great learning teaches, is to illustrate illustrious virtue; to renovate the people; and to rest in the highest excellence.
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If a man has no humaneness what can his propriety be like? If a man has no humaneness what can his happiness be like?
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Do not treat others as you yourself would not be treated.
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If a man withdraws his mind from the love of beauty, and applies it as sincerely to the love of the virtuous; if, in serving his parents, he can exert his utmost strength; if, in serving his prince, he can devote his life; if in his intercourse with his friends, his words are sincere – although men say that he has not learned, I will certainly say that he has.
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A good man is not mine to see. Could I see a man possessed of constancy, that would satisfy me.
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Your eyes are always bigger than your stomach.
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By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.
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Ability will never catch up with the demand for it.
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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.
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He who learns but does not think, is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger... Men of superior mind busy themselves first getting at the root of things; when they succeed, the right course is open to them.
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Heaven means to be one with God.
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When a man feels the difficulty of doing, can he be other than cautious and slow in speaking?
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Without knowing the force of words, it is impossible to know more.
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It was by music that the ancient kings gave elegant expression to their joy. By their armies and axes they gave the same to their anger.
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If there were an honorable way to get rich, I’d do it, even if it meant being a stooge standing around with a whip. But there isn’t an honorable way, so I just do what I like.
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Worry not that no one knows you; seek to be worth knowing.
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One who can move mountains start with the little stones.