Confucius Quotes

Respect the gods and the devils but keep them at a distance

A ruthless man extends his ruthlessness from those he does not love to those he loves.

To err and not reform, this may indeed be called error.

Never tire to study. And to teach to others

Future generation is the most important thing.

If I do not participate in the sacrifice, it is as if I did not sacrifice at all.

Learning, undigested by thought, is labor lost.

First there must be order and harmony within your own mind.

Without goodness a man cannot endure adversity for long, nor can he enjoy prosperity for long. The good man is naturally at ease with goodness. The wise man cultivates goodness for its advantage.

Knowing what's correct and not doing it, it's the worst cowardice.

The Master said, “A true gentleman is one who has set his heart upon the Way. A fellow who is ashamed merely of shabby clothing or modest meals is not even worth conversing with.” (Analects 4.9)

Clever talk can confound the workings of virtue, just as small impatiences can confound great projects.

Those who make virtue their profession are the ruin of virtue.

If I am building a mountain and stop before the last basketful of earth is placed on the summit, I have failed.

When frying small fish, disturb them little.

Only after Winter comes do we know that the pine and the cypress are the last to fade.

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.

The gentleman is calm and at ease. The gentleman is dignified but not proud; the small man is proud but not dignified.

If proper in their own conduct, what difficulty would they have in governing? But if not able to be proper in their own conduct, how can they demand such conduct from others?

There are three things which the superior man guards against. In youth ... lust. When he is strong ... quarrelsomeness. When he is old ... covetousness.

The requisites of government are that there be sufficiency of food, sufficiency of military equipment, and the confidence of the people in their ruler.

Look not at what is contrary to propriety; listen not to what is contrary to propriety; speak not what is contrary to propriety; make no movement which is contrary to propriety.

The way of Heaven and Earth may be completely declared in one sentence: They are without any doubleness, and so they produce things in a manner that is unfathomable.

There are three unfilial acts: the greatest of these is the failure to produce sons.

Learn, as if never overtaking your object, and yet as if apprehensive of losing it.

Eat at your own as you would the table of a king.

To acknowledge our faults when we are blamed, is modesty; to discover them to one's friends in ingenuousness, is confidence; but to preach them to all the world, if one does not take care, is pride.

The end of the day is near when small men make long shadows.

To learn without thinking is labour in vain, to think without learning is desolation.

A man without persistence will never make a good shaman or a good physician.

Excess and deficiency are equally at fault.

The vices come as passengers, visit us as guest and stay as masters.

An angry person is always full of poison.

When you see a good man, think of emulating him; when you see a bad man, examine your own heart.

The really faithful lover of learning holds fast to the Good Way till death.

Not to mend one's ways when one has erred is to err indeed.

He who merely knows right principles is not equal to him who loves them.

Shall I tell you what knowledge is? It is to know both what one knows and what one does not know.

Things that are done, it is needless to speak about...things that are past, it is needless to blame.

They who know the truth are not equal to those who love it, and they who love it are not equal to those who delight in it.

I used to listen to what others said, and expect them to act accordingly. But nowadays, I listen to what they say, and then observe what they do.

When a nation or family is about to flourish, there are sure to be happy omens; and when it is about to perish, there are sure to be unlucky omens.

If a man in the morning hear the right way, he may die in the evening without regret.

The gentleman sees what is right while the small man sees what is profitable.

The nobler sort of man emphasizes the good qualities in others, and does not accentuate the bad. The inferior does.

The superior man, while his parents are alive, reverently nourishes them; and, when they are dead, reverently sacrifices to them. His thought to the end of his life is how not to disgrace them.

To throw oneself into strange teachings is quite dangerous.

One joy dispels a hundred cares.

When the multitude detests a man, inquiry is necessary; when the multitude likes a man, inquiry is equally necessary.

Not to converse with a man worthy of conversation is to waste the man. To converse with a man not worthy of conversation is to waste words. The wise waste neither men nor words.