Confucius Quotes
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Riches and honor are what everyone desires, but if they can be gained only by doing evil, they must not be held. Don't worry about not being in office, worry about qualifying yourself for office. Don't worry that no one knows you, but seek to be worthy of being known.
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Without knowing the force of words, it is impossible to know more.
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When wealth is centralized, the people are dispersed. When wealth is distributed, the people are brought together.
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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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The gentleman prefers to be slow in word but diligent in action.
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It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.
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Do not treat others as you yourself would not be treated.
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We should not be too familiar with the lower orders or with women.
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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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Ability will never catch up with the demand for it.
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When we see persons of worth, we should think of equaling them; when we see persons of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves.
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There is nothing more visible than what is secret, and nothing more manifest than what is minute.
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A person of character takes as much trouble to discover what is right as the lesser men take to discover what will pay.
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The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their proper name.
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Those whose courses are different cannot lay plans for one another.
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I know how the birds fly, how the fishes swim, how animals run. But there is the Dragon. I cannot tell how it mounts on the winds through the clouds and flies through heaven. Today I have seen the Dragon.
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Without feelings of respect, what is there to distinguish men from beasts?
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A gentleman would be ashamed should his deeds not match his words.
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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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If I do not participate in the sacrifice, it is as if I did not sacrifice at all.
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He who sling mud, lose ground.
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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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There is one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one's life -reciprocity.
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You cannot open a book without learning something.