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To err and not reform, this may indeed be called error.
Confucius -
Writing cannot express all words, words cannot encompass all ideas.
Confucius
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He who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make his words good.
Confucius -
The contrived language and the flattering attitude rarely come with the virtue.
Confucius -
Is any one able for one day to apply his strength to virtue? I have not seen the case in which his strength would be sufficient.
Confucius -
Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.
Confucius -
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.'
Confucius -
Remember even when alone, that the divine is everywhere.
Confucius
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Man shoot at nothing, sure to hit it.
Confucius -
Know what you know and know that you don't know what you don't know β that is the characteristic of one who knows.
Confucius -
Gentlemen should not waste their time on trivial games -- they should play go.
Confucius -
Attack the evil that is within yourself, rather than attacking the evil that is in others.
Confucius -
He who learns but does not think, is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger... Men of superior mind busy themselves first getting at the root of things; when they succeed, the right course is open to them.
Confucius -
When a person should be spoken with, and you don't speak with them, you lose them. When a person shouldn't be spoken with and you speak to them, you waste your breath. The wise do not lose people, nor do they waste their breath.
Confucius
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One who is by nature daring and is suffering from poverty will not long be law-abiding. Indeed, any men, save those that are truly good, if their sufferings are very great, will be likely to rebel.
Confucius -
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.
Confucius -
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.
Confucius -
The Master said of Gong Yechang, βHe is marriageable. Although he was once imprisoned and branded as a criminal, he was in fact innocent of any crime.β The Master gave him his daughter in marriage. (Analects 5.1)
Confucius -
To prefer it is better than to only know it. To delight in it is better than merely to prefer it.
Confucius -
The parents age must be remembered, both for joy and anxiety.
Confucius
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To know, is to know that you know nothing. That is the meaning of true knowledge. When you say something, say what you know. When you don't know something, say you don't know. That is knowledge.
Confucius -
Shall I tell you what knowledge is? It is to know both what one knows and what one does not know.
Confucius -
I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.
Confucius -
If you shoot for the stars and hit the moon, it's OK. But you've got to shoot for something. A lot of people don't even shoot.
Confucius