Confucius Quotes
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Don't let your past determine your destiny.
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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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Gentlemen should not waste their time on trivial games -- they should play go.
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Great as heaven and earth are, men still find some things in them with which to be dissatisfied. Thus it is that, were the superior man to speak of his way in all its greatness, nothing in the world would be found able to embrace it, and were he to speak of it in its minuteness, nothing in the world would be found able to split it.
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It is true that we shall not be able to reach perfection, but in our struggle toward it we shall strengthen our characters and give stability to our ideas, so that, whilst ever advancing calmly in the same direction, we shall be rendered capable of applying the faculties with which we have been gifted to the best possible account.
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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 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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If names are not correct, then language is not in accord with the truth of things. If language is not in accord with the truth of things, then affairs cannot be carried out successfully.
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A man who does not think and plan long ahead will find trouble right at his door.
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Please stop waiting for a better and more appropriate time to become happy and focus on the moment you live in. Happiness is not an arrival, it is the journey itself. Many people seek for happiness above the height of human beings, some below. Yet, happiness is exactly at the exact height of human beings.
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Worry not that no one knows you; seek to be worth knowing.
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Of all that Heaven produces and nourishes, there is none so great as man.
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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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A youth is to be regarded with respect. How do we know that his future will not be equal to our present?
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Education breeds confidence. Confidence breeds hope. Hope breeds peace.
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Tell people - and they may forget... show them - they may remember... but involve them and they will understand.
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The Master said, A gentleman, in his plans, thinks of the Way; he does not think how he is going to make a living. Even farming sometimes entails 5 times of shortage; and even learning may incidentally lead to high pay. But a gentleman's anxieties concern the progress of the Way; he has no anxiety concerning poverty.
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The whole end of speech is to be understood.
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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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In dealing with the dead, if we treat them as if they were entirely dead, that would show a want of affection and should not be done; or, if we treat them as if they were entirely alive, that would show a want of wisdom and should not be done.
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If you want to change the world, first change your heart.
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If you don't know how to serve men, why worry about serving the gods?
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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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Which demands a lot of himself and some others, will be free from hatred.