Confucius Quotes
-
Clever talk can confound the workings of virtue, just as small impatiences can confound great projects.
-
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.
-
Gentlemen should not waste their time on trivial games -- they should play go.
-
He who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make his words good.
-
Cultivated people foster what is good in others, not what is bad. Petty people do the opposite.
-
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.
-
The path may not be left for an instant. If it could be left, it would not be the path.
-
If you don't know how to live, why wonder about death?
-
If you don't know how to serve men, why worry about serving the gods?
-
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.
-
The parents age must be remembered, both for joy and anxiety.
-
To be fond of learning is to draw close to wisdom. To practice with vigor is to draw close to benevolence. To know the sense of shame is to draw close to courage. He who knows these three things knows how to cultivate his own character. Knowing how to cultivate his own character, he knows how to govern other men. Knowing how to govern other men, he knows how to govern the world, its states, and its families.
-
To understand yourself is the key to wisdom.
-
If you want to change the world, first change your heart.
-
You cannot open a book without learning something.
-
Wisdom is rooted in watching with affection the way people grow.
-
If a man in the morning hear the right way, he may die in the evening without regret.
-
If you yourself desire establishment, then help others to get establishment; if you yourself want success, then help others to attain success.
-
To prefer it is better than to only know it. To delight in it is better than merely to prefer it.
-
The superior man accords with the course of the Mean. Though he may be all unknown, unregarded by the world, he feels no regret - It is only the sage who is able for this.
-
Listen widely to remove your doubts and be careful when speaking about the rest and your mistakes will be few.
-
Tell people - and they may forget... show them - they may remember... but involve them and they will understand.
-
Not too isolated, not too many relationships, the middle, that's wisdom.
-
The master said, 'Quietly to store up knowledge in my mind, to learn without flagging, to teach without growing weary, these present me with no difficulties.'