Confucius Quotes
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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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At fifteen my mind was directed to study, and at thirty I knew where to stand.
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A gentleman wishes to be slow to speak and quick to act.
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You turn the handle the way it goes, not the way it ought to go.
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Transport a handful of earth everyday and you will make a mountain.
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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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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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Man shoot at nothing, sure to hit it.
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What the wise seek is in themselves.
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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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There has never been a man mean and at the same time virtuous.
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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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Writing cannot express all words, words cannot encompass all ideas.
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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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Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.
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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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A good man will certainly also possess courage; but a brave man is not necessarily good.
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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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Our headstrong passions shut the door of our souls against God.
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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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To know and not do, is to not yet know.
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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.