Confucius Quotes

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

Do not worry if others do not understand you. Instead worry if you do not understand others.

Who heeds not the future will find sorrow at hand

One dedicated worker is worth a thousand slaves.

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

Base yourself in loyalty and trust. Don't be companion with those who are not your moral equal. When you make a mistake, don't hesitate to correct it.

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.

Not knowing life, how can we know death? Why talk of spirits when you do not understand men?

An inconvenience is an unrecognized opportunity.

Looking at small advantages prevents great affairs from being accomplished.

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

To think twice is quite enough.

The one who was born a genius can't win against the one who tries, and the one who tries can't win against the one who enjoys.

Attack the evil that is within yourself, rather than attacking the evil that is in others.

While you are not able to serve men, how can you serve spirits of the dead...While you do not know life, how can you know about death

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.

A man exercising no forethought will soon experience present sorrow.

It is true that we shall not be able to reach perfection, but in our struggle toward it we shall strengthen our characters and give stability to our ideas, so that, whilst ever advancing calmly in the same direction, we shall be rendered capable of applying the faculties with which we have been gifted to the best possible account.

We are so busy doing the urgent that we don't have time to do the important.

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

In dealing with the dead, if we treat them as if they were entirely dead, that would show a want of affection and should not be done; or, if we treat them as if they were entirely alive, that would show a want of wisdom and should not be done.

The scholar does not consider gold and jade to be precious treasures, but loyalty and good faith.

The true gentleman does not preach what he practices till he has practiced what he preaches.

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.

I am not bothered by the fact that I am not understood. I am bothered when I do not know others.

You cannot open a book without learning something.

The virtuous man is driven by responsibility, the non-virtuous man is driven by profit.

The proper man understands equity, the small man profits.

To lead uninstructed people to war is to throw them away.

The superior man governs men, according to their nature, with what is proper to them, and as soon as they change what is wrong, he stops.

Therefore only through education does one come to be dissatisfied with his own knowledge, and only through teaching others does one come to realize the uncomfortable inadequacy of his knowledge. Being dissatisfied with his own knowledge, one then realizes that the trouble lies with himself, and realizing the uncomfortable inadequacy of his knowledger.

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

While the gentleman cherishes benign rule, the small man cherishes his native land. While the gentleman cherishes a respect for the law, the small man cherishes generous treatment.

The green reed which bends in the wind is stronger than the mighty oak which breaks in a storm.

Without Goodness one cannot enjoy enduring happiness

I am not an originator but a transmitter.

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

A gentleman is ashamed to let his words outrun his deeds.

If I am virtuous and worthy, for whom should I not maintain a proper concern?

When you breathe, you inspire, and when you do not breathe, you expire.

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

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

A superior man in dealing with the world is not for anything or against anything. He follows righteousness as the standard.

Earnest in practicing the ordinary virtues, and careful in speaking about them, if, in his practice, he has anything defective, the superior man dares not but exert himself; and if, in his words, he has any excess, he dares not allow himself such license.

Listen much, keep silent when in doubt, and always take heed of the tongue; thou wilt make few mistakes. See much, beware of pitfalls, and always give heed to thy walk; thou wilt have little to rue. If thy words are seldom wrong, thy deeds leave little to rue, pay will follow.

Be sincere and true to your word, serious and careful in your actions; and you will get along even among barbarians, But if you are not sincere and untrustworthy in your speech, frivolous and careless in your actions, how will you get along even among your own neighbors? When stand, see these principles in front of you; in your carriage see them on the yoke. Then you may be sure to get along.

It is not possible for one to teach others who cannot teach his own family.

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