Confucius Quotes

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

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

She who is born with beauty is born with a sorrow for many a man.

To prefer it is better than to only know it. To delight in it is better than merely to prefer it.

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

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

Time flows away like the water in the river.

Gravity is only the bark of wisdom's tree, but it preserves it.

From a grain of sand in the Pearl comes.

Happiness is not at the top of the mountain, but in how to climb.

A gentleman does not promote a man on account of what he says; nor does he reject sayings, because the speaker is what he is.

He who keeps danger in mind, is he who will rest safe in his seat; he who keeps ruin in mind, is he who will preserve his interests secure.

In old days men studied for the sake of self-improvement; nowadays men study in order to impress other people.

I used to take on trust a man's deeds after having listened to his words. Now having listened to a man's words I go on to observe his deeds.

When words lose their meaning, people lose their liberty.

When we see persons of worth, we should think of equaling them; when we see persons of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves.

A good man does not worry about not being known by others, but rather is concerned about not knowing them.

He who chases two rabbits, catches none.

Love should start from people close to us, then be extended to other people, to strangers, and eventually to the world

To go beyond is as wrong as to fall short.

Unify your attention. Do not listen with your ears, but with your mind. Do not listen with your mind but with your essence.

Wisdom, humanity & courage, these three are universal virtues. The way by which they are practiced are one.

What you know, you know, what you don't know, you don't know. This is true wisdom.

By nature, men are nearly alike; by practice, they get to be wide apart.

A man exercising no forethought will soon experience present sorrow.

True wisdom is knowing what you don't know

If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things.

If we don't know life, how can we know death?

Old age, believe me, is a good and pleasant thing. It is true you are gently shouldered off the stage, but then you are given such a comfortable front stall as spectator.

To see what is right and not to do it is want of courage, or of principle.

The firm, the enduring, the simple, and the modest are near to virtue.

The superior man is quiet and calm, waiting for the appointments of heaven, while the mean man walks in dangerous paths, looking for lucky occurrences.

If you don't know how to live, why wonder about death?

Just as lavishness leads easily to presumption, so does frugality to meanness. But meanness is a far less serious fault than presumption.

The shortest distance between any two points on a golf course is a straight line that passes directly through the center of a very large tree.

Don't be concerned that you have no position; be concerned how you may fit yourself to occupy one. .

In antiquity men studied for their own sake; nowadays men study for the sake of impressing others.

Those who are firm, enduring, simple and unpretentious are the nearest to virtue.

When one cultivates to the utmost the principles of his nature, and exercises them on the principle of reciprocity, he is not far from the path.

The inner nature of man is the province of Music.

If a man has no humaneness what can his propriety be like? If a man has no humaneness what can his happiness be like?

Without Goodness one cannot enjoy enduring happiness

If I understand Change, I shall make no great mistake in Life

A truly great man never puts away the simplicity of a child.

He is the truly courageous man who never desponds.

With coarse rice to eat, with water to drink, and my bent arm for a pillow - I have still joy in the midst of all these things.

Of all that Heaven produces and nourishes, there is none so great as man.

Faithfulness and sincerity are the highest things.

Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes.

What you do not wish upon yourself, extend not to others.