Confucius Quotes
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Ignorance is the night of the mind, but a night without moon or star.
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I have never seen one who really loves goodness or one who really hates wickedness. One who really loves goodness will not place anything above it. One who really hates wickedness will practice goodness in such a way that wickedness will have no chance to get at him. Is there anyone who has devoted his whole strength to doing good for even as long as a single day? I have not seen anyone give up such an attempt because he had not the strength to go on. Perhaps there is such a case, but I have never seen it.
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The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential... these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.
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No lake so still but it has its wave. No circle so perfect but that it has its blur. I would change things for you if I could; As I can't you must take them as they are.
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Respect the gods and the devils but keep them at a distance.
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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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It is goodness that gives to a neighborhood its beauty. One who is free to choose, yet does not prefer to dwell among the good - how can he be accorded the name of wise?
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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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What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.
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It is man that makes truth great, and not truth that makes man great.
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I do not want a friend who smiles when I smile, who weeps when I weep; for my shadow in the pool can do better than that.
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The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their proper name.
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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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I never really said all those things I said.
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To take what you know for what you know, and what you do not know for what you do not know, that is knowledge indeed.
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Though Confucius served the Duke of Lu, a Chinese state, he made many enemies with the nobles of the land. His views antagonized the powerful nobles, who wanted the Duke to be a puppet in their hands. Confucius was exiled from the State of Lu for more than two decades. He lived in the countryside, spreading his teachings.
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To love a thing means wanting it to live.
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Speak the truth, do not yield to anger; give, if thou art asked for little; by these three steps thou wilt go near the gods.
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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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Without feelings of respect, what is there to distinguish men from beasts?
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He who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make his words good.
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How great is the path proper to the Sage! Like overflowing water, it sends forth and nourishes all things, and rises up to the height of heaven. All-complete is its greatness! It embraces the three hundred rules of ceremony, and the three thousand rules of demeanor. It waits for the proper man, and then it is trodden. Hence it is said, 'Only by perfect virtue can the perfect path, in all its courses, be made a fact.'
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I want you to be everything that's you, deep at the center of your being.
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If you yourself desire establishment, then help others to get establishment; if you yourself want success, then help others to attain success.