Confucius Quotes
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Give a man a fish, feed home for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed for a lifetime.
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The superior person is in harmony, but does not follow the crowd. The lesser person follows the crowd, but is not in harmony.
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Wisdom, humanity & courage, these three are universal virtues. The way by which they are practiced are one.
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Clever talk can confound the workings of virtue, just as small impatiences can confound great projects.
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Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.
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Transport a handful of earth everyday and you will make a mountain.
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You judge yourself by what you think you can achieve, others judge you by what have achieved.
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At fifteen my mind was directed to study, and at thirty I knew where to stand.
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The silent treasuring up of knowledge; learning without satiety; and instructing others without being wearied: which one of these things belongs to me?
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A good man will certainly also possess courage; but a brave man is not necessarily good.
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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.'
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The way of the superior man may be compared to what takes place in traveling, when to go to a distance we must first traverse the space that is near, and in ascending a height, when we must begin from the lower ground.
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Our headstrong passions shut the door of our souls against God.
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Instead of being concerned that you have no office, be concerned to think how you may fit yourself for office. Instead of being concerned that you are not known, seek to be worthy of being known.
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To err and not reform, this may indeed be called error.
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What the wise seek is in themselves.
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Attack the evil that is within yourself, rather than attacking the evil that is in others.
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Writing cannot express all words, words cannot encompass all ideas.
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The Master said of Gong Yechang, “He is marriageable. Although he was once imprisoned and branded as a criminal, he was in fact innocent of any crime.” The Master gave him his daughter in marriage. (Analects 5.1)
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To know and not do, is to not yet know.
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The Master said, “What a worthy man was Yan Hui! Living in a narrow alley, subsisting upon meager bits of rice and water—other people could not have borne such hardship, and yet it never spoiled Hui’s joy. What a worthy man was Hui!” (Analects 6.11)
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An image is better than one thousand words.
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To practice five things under all circumstances constitutes perfect virtue; these five are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness.
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The virtuous will be sure to speak uprightly; but those whose speech is upright may not be virtuous.