Confucius Quotes
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The wise find pleasure in water; the virtuous find pleasure in hills. The wise are active; the virtuous are tranquil. The wise are joyful; the virtuous are long-lived.
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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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If your plan is for one year plant rice. If your plan is for ten years plant trees. If your plan is for one hundred years educate children.
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The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.
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The path may not be left for an instant. If it could be left, it would not be the path.
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A lion chased me up a tree, and I greatly enjoyed the view from the top.
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Shall I tell you what knowledge is? It is to know both what one knows and what one does not know.
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Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.
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Ignorance is the night of the mind, but a night without moon or star.
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I have yet to meet a man as fond of high moral conduct as he is of outward appearances.
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If what one has to say is not better than silence, then one should keep silent.
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To know what is the right thing to do and not do it is the greatest cowardice.
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Excess weakens the spirits.
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Not knowing life, how can we know death? Why talk of spirits when you do not understand men?
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The journey with a 1000 miles begins with one step.
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If you reflect within yourself and find nothing to be ashamed of, how could you have anxiety or fear.
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Sir, in carrying on your government, why should you use killing at all? Let your evinced desires be for what is good, and the people will be good. The relation between superiors and inferiors is like that between the wind and the grass. The grass must bend, when the wind blows across it.
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The way of the superior person is threefold; virtuous, they are free from anxieties; wise they are free from perplexities; and bold they are free from fear.
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Whatever heaven ordains is best.
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It is man that makes truth great, and not truth that makes man great.
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Wisdom delights in water; love delights in hills. Wisdom is stirring; love is quiet. Wisdom is merry; love grows old.
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If you don't know how to serve men, why worry about serving the gods?
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It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.
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If I give a student one-fourth of what he should know, I expect him to get the other three-fourths himself, otherwise I do not want him as a student.