You must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.

Let our reason, and not our senses, be the rule of our conduct; for reason will teach us to think wisely, to speak prudently, and to behave worthily.

The superior man limits his achievements.

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.

Acquire new knowledge whilst thinking over the old, and you may become a teacher of others.

On matters beyond his ken a gentleman speaks with caution. If names are not right, words are misused. When words are misused, affairs go wrong. When affairs go wrong, courtesy and music droop, law and justice fail. And when law and justice fail them, a people can move neither hand nor foot. So a gentleman must be ready to put names in speech, to put words into deeds. A gentleman is nowise careless of words.

Thought, unassisted by learning, is dangerous.