Confucius Quotes

Ability will never catch up with the demand for it.

If your desire is for good, the people will be good.

Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles.

The way out is through the door. Why is it that no one will use this method?

Wisdom delights in water; love delights in hills. Wisdom is stirring; love is quiet. Wisdom is merry; love grows old.

When you see a good man, try to emulate his example, and when you see a bad man, search yourself for his faults.

The superior man, when resting in safety, does not forget that danger may come.

He who requires much from himself and little from others, will keep himself from being the object of resentment.

The Superior Man is aware of Righteousness, the inferior man is aware of advantage.

The man who is master of himself drinks gravely and wisely.

Exemplary persons are steadfast in the face of adversity, while petty persons are engulfed by it.

It is man that makes truth great, and not truth that makes man great.

You turn the handle the way it goes, not the way it ought to go

he who will not economize will agonize

Rotten wood cannot be carved.

Do unto others as you wish others do unto you.

A man should practice what he preaches, but a man should also preach what he practices.

Don’t complain about the snow on your neighbor’s roof when your own doorstep is unclean.

Consideration for others is the basis of a good life, a good society.

Never give a sword to a man who can't dance.

We should feel sorrow, but not sink under its oppression.

The cautious seldom err.

Learn as if you were not reaching your goal and as though you were scared of missing it

Make faithfulness and truth thy masters: have no friends unlike thyself: be not ashamed to mend thy faults.

Character is the backbone of our human culture. Music is the flowering of character.

The superior man cannot be known in little matters, but he may be entrusted with great concerns. The small man may not be entrusted with great concerns, but he may be known in little matters.

He who remembers from day to day what he has yet to learn, and from month to month what he has learned already, may be said to have a love of learning.

The superior man is satisfied and composed; the mean man is always full of distress.

I do not want a friend who smiles when I smile, who weeps when I weep; for my shadow in the pool can do better than that.

The journey with a 1000 miles begins with one step.

Heaven gives long life to the just and the intelligent.

Make fair agreements and stick to them

When I walk along with two others, from at least one I will be able to learn.

The tongue must be heavy indeed, because so few people can hold it

If you lead the people with correctness, who will dare not be correct?

I will not be concerned at other men's not knowing me;I will be concerned at my own want of ability.

There are not the weeds the ones that drown the good seed, but the negligence of the peasant.

The superior man, extensively studying all learning, and keeping himself under the restraint of the rules of propriety, may thus likewise not overstep what is right.

If there were an honorable way to get rich, I’d do it, even if it meant being a stooge standing around with a whip. But there isn’t an honorable way, so I just do what I like.

Women and people of low birth are very hard to deal with. If you are friendly to them, they get out of hand, and if you keep your distance, they resent it.

Watch their actions, observe their motives, examine wherein they dwell content; won't you know what kind of person they are?

Think no vice so small that you may commit it, and no virtue so small that you may over look it.

Charity, like the sun, brightens every object on which it shines.

Our headstrong passions shut the door of our souls against God.

He who wished to secure the good of others, has already secured his own.

When prosperity comes, do not use all of it.

We should not be too familiar with the lower orders or with women.

Be aroused by poetry; structure yourself with propriety, refine yourself with music.

Knowledge is recognizing what you know and what you don't.

Study as though you cannot catch up to it, and as though you fear you are going to lose it.