Confucius Quotes
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When we have intelligence resulting from sincerity, this condition is to be ascribed to nature; when we have sincerity resulting from intelligence, this condition is to be ascribed to instruction. But given the sincerity, and there shall be the intelligence; given the intelligence, and there shall be the sincerity.
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Silence is a true friend who never betrays.
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When things are investigated, then true knowledge is achieved; when true knowledge is achieved, then the will becomes sincere; when the will is sincere, then the heart is set right ; when the heart is set right, then the personal life is cultivated; when the personal life is cultivated, then the family life is regulated; when the family life is regulated, then the national life is orderly; and when the national life is orderly, then there is peace in this world.
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If a man takes no thought about what is distant, he will find sorrow near at hand.
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Kind words elicit trust. Kind thoughts create depth. Kind deeds bring love.
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When you see a good man, try to emulate his example, and when you see a bad man, search yourself for his faults.
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A gentleman considers what is right; the vulgar consider what will pay.
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The Master said, "To study, and then in a timely fashion to practice what you have learned - is this not satisfying? To have companions arrive from afar - is this not a joy? To remain unrecognized by others and yet remain free of resentment - is this not the mark of the gentleman?"
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If language is not correct, then what is said is not what is meant; if what is said is not what is meant, then what must be done remains undone; if this remains undone, morals and art will deteriorate; if justice goes astray, the people will stand about in helpless confusion. Hence there must be no arbitrariness in what is said. This matters above everything.
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The superior man limits his achievements.
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Those people who develop the ability to continuously acquire new and better forms of knowledge that they can apply to their work and to their lives will be the movers and shakers in our society for the indefinite future.
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The superior man acts before he speaks, and afterwards speaks according to his action.
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The superior man is universally minded and no partisan. The inferior man is a partisan and not universal.
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We are so busy doing the urgent that we don't have time to do the important.
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Listen widely to remove your doubts and be careful when speaking about the rest and your mistakes will be few. See much and get rid of what is dangerous and be careful in acting on the rest and your causes for regret will be few. Speaking without fault, acting without causing regret: 'upgrading' consists in this.
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I was complaining that I had no shoes till I met a man who had no feet.
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Cultivate the root; the leaves and branches will take care of themselves.
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The great mountain must collapse, the mighty beam must break and the wise man wither like a plant.
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He who merely knows right principles is not equal to him who loves them.
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To know that one knows what one knows, and to know that one doesn't know what one doesn't know, there lies true wisdom.
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The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home.
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Study as though you cannot catch up to it, and as though you fear you are going to lose it.
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A good man does not make a warrior, just as good steel does not go for nails.
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Think no vice so small that you may commit it, and no virtue so small that you may over look it.