Confucius Quotes
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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.
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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?
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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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One who can move mountains start with the little stones.
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If you try to do too much, you will not achieve anything.
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Those whose courses are different cannot lay plans for one another.
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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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An orchid in a deep forest sends out its fragrance even if no one is around to appreciate it.
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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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To study and constantly, is this not a pleasure? To have friends come from far away places, is this not a joy? If people do not recognize your worth, but this does not worry you, are you not a true gentleman?
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Never do to others what you would not like them to do to you.
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Never contract friendship with a man that is not better than thyself.
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Respect the gods, but have as little to do with them as possible.
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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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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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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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The general of a large army may be defeated, but you cannot defeat the determined mind of a peasant.
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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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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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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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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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A good man is not mine to see. Could I see a man possessed of constancy, that would satisfy me.
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Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.