Confucius Quotes
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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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At fifteen my mind was directed to study, and at thirty I knew where to stand.
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If the search for riches were sure to be successful, though I should become a groom with a whip in my hand to get them, I will do so. As the search may not be successful, I will follow after that which I love.
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There has never been a man mean and at the same time virtuous.
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A gentleman wishes to be slow to speak and quick to act.
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Man shoot at nothing, sure to hit it.
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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 err and not reform, this may indeed be called error.
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Attack the evil that is within yourself, rather than attacking the evil that is in others.
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You turn the handle the way it goes, not the way it ought to go.
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Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.
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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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What the wise seek is in themselves.
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Writing cannot express all words, words cannot encompass all ideas.
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Transport a handful of earth everyday and you will make a mountain.
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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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Give a man a fish, feed home for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed for a lifetime.
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To know and not do, is to not yet know.
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A good man will certainly also possess courage; but a brave man is not necessarily good.
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Our headstrong passions shut the door of our souls against God.
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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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The virtuous will be sure to speak uprightly; but those whose speech is upright may not be virtuous.
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An image is better than one thousand words.
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The faults of a superior person are like the sun and moon. They have their faults, and everyone sees them; they change and everyone looks up to them.