Confucius Quotes

Even if people do not know what real kindness is, they nonetheless have it within them.

Never contract friendship with a man that is not better than thyself.

The man of noble mind seeks to achieve the good in others and not their evil. The little-minded man is the reverse of this.

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

A man who has committed a mistake and does not correct it is committing another mistake.

A bit of fragrance always clings to the hand that gives roses. If you are generous, you will gain everything.

I saw some piglets suckling their dead mother. After a short while they shuddered and went away. They had sensed that she could no longer see them and that she wasn't like them any more. What they loved in their mother wasn't her body, but whatever it was that made her body live.

There is the love of knowing without the love of learning; the beclouding here leads to dissipation of mind.

The man of wisdom is never of two minds; the man of benevolence never worries; the man of courage is never afraid.

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

Love thy neighbor as thyself: Do not do to others what thou wouldst not wish be done to thyself: Forgive injuries. Forgive thy enemy, be reconciled to him, give him assistance, invoke God in his behalf.

The man of humanity delights in mountains

Sincerity is the end and beginning of things; without sincerity there would be nothing.

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

Thought, unassisted by learning, is dangerous.

A scholar who loves comfort is not fit to be called a scholar.

Remember even when alone, that the divine is everywhere.

The Superior Man is all-embracing and not partial. The inferior man is partial and not all-embracing.

Respect the gods, but have as little to do with them as possible.

The Gods cannot help those who do not seize opportunities.

Those whose courses are different cannot lay plans for one another.

With a heavy load and a long journey

Justice for All in the World

Not feeling compassion for a stranger is like not feeling when one's foot has caught fire

The wise man delights in water, the Good man delights in mountains. For the wise move; but the Good stay still. The wise are happy; but the good secure.

He who flatters a man is his enemy. he who tells him of his faults is his maker.

What is God-given is called nature; to follow nature is called Tao (the Way); to cultivate the way is called culture. Before joy, anger, sadness and happiness are expressed, they are called the inner self; when they are expressed to the proper degree, they are called harmony. The inner self is the correct foundation of the world, and the harmony is the illustrious Way. When a man has achieved the inner self and harmony, the heaven and earth are orderly and the myriad of things are nourished and grow thereby.

The book salesman should be honored because he brings to our attention, as a rule, the very books we need most and neglect most.

It is better to live in peace than in bitterness and strife

Sir, in carrying on your government, why should you use killing at all? Let your evinced desires be for what is good, and the people will be good. The relation between superiors and inferiors is like that between the wind and the grass. The grass must bend, when the wind blows across it.

For benefits return benefits; for injuries return justice without any admixture of revenge.

The superior man sets his person at rest before he moves; he composes his mind before he speaks.

If you devote your life to seeking revenge, first dig two graves.

Big head, target for enemy; big heart, target for friend.

Only the supremely wise and the ignorant do not alter.

Ability will never catch up with the demand for it.

Ignorance is the night of the mind, but a night without moon or star.

Virtuous people often revenge themselves for the constraints to which they submit by the boredom which they inspire.

It was by music that the ancient kings gave elegant expression to their joy. By their armies and axes they gave the same to their anger.

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

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

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

An angry man is full of poison.

If you yourself desire establishment, then help others to get establishment; if you yourself want success, then help others to attain success.

It cannot be when the root is neglected that what springs from it will be well ordered.

Do not use a cannon to kill a mosquito.

Benevolence is the characteristic element of humanity.

Don't make to others what you don't want them to make to you.