Confucius Quotes

Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it. To see it a person only needs to imagine how it could be worse.

The gentleman is calm and at ease. The gentleman is dignified but not proud; the small man is proud but not dignified.

The superior man * * * in regard to his speech * * * is anxious that it should be sincere.

If my mind be not engaged in worship, it is as though I worshipped not.

Cultivate the root; the leaves and branches will take care of themselves.

Man who want pretty nurse, must be patient.

Girl who sit on Judge's lap get honorable discharge.

Faithfulness and sincerity first of all.

To give oneself ernestly to securing righteousness and justice among the people, and while respecting the gods and demons, to keep aloof from them, that may be called wisdom.

The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential... these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.

If I am building a mountain and stop before the last basketful of earth is placed on the summit, I have failed.

The superior man, even when he is not moving, has a feeling of reverence, and while he speaks not, he has the feeling of truthfulness.

A gentleman is calm and spacious: the vulgar are always fretting.

When we have intelligence resulting from sincerity, this condition is to be ascribed to nature; when we have sincerity resulting from intelligence, this condition is to be ascribed to instruction. But given the sincerity, and there shall be the intelligence; given the intelligence, and there shall be the sincerity.

Let every man consider virtue as what devolves on himself. He may not yield the performance of it even to his teacher.

When you are laboring for others, let it be with the same zeal as if it were for yourself.

Guide them by edicts, keep them in line with punishments, and the common people will stay out of trouble but will have no sense of shame. Guide them by virtue, keep them in line with the rites, and they will, besides having a sense of shame, reform themselves.

A happy union with wife and child is like the music of lutes and harps.

There has never been a man mean and at the same time virtuous.

The whole end of speech is to be understood.

Man is born for uprightness. If a man lose his uprightness and yet live, his escape from death is mere good fortune.

There are three things which the superior man guards against. In youth ... lust. When he is strong ... quarrelsomeness. When he is old ... covetousness.

The wheel of fortune turns round incessantly, and who can say to himself, I shall today be uppermost.

Between friends, frequent reproofs make the friendship distant.

Heaven gives long life to the just and the intelligent.

When three persons work together, each can be the teacher in some aspects

Being strong does not mean that you never fall down, but that whenever you fall, you get up again.

The requisites of government are that there be sufficiency of food, sufficiency of military equipment, and the confidence of the people in their ruler.

Without that innate sense of human worth, a man cannot long endure adversity, nor can he long enjoy prosperity.

Wisdom, compassion, and courage are the three universally recognized moral qualities of men.

Speak the truth, do not yield to anger; give, if thou art asked for little; by these three steps thou wilt go near the gods.

The noble-minded are calm and steady. Little people are forever fussing and fretting.

A man who reviews the old so as to find out the new is qualified to teach others.

A man without persistence will never make a good shaman or a good physician.

To know what is the right thing to do and not do it is the greatest cowardice.

Balance is the perfect state of still water. Let that be our model. It remains quiet within and is not disturbed on the surface.

To throw oneself into strange teachings is quite dangerous.

When you are ignorant about something, to know that you are ignorant about it - that is knowledge.

One joy dispels a hundred cares.

When the Superior Man eats he does not try to stuff himself; at rest he does not seek perfect comfort; he is diligent in his work and careful in speech. He avails himself to people of the Tao and thereby corrects himself. This is the kind of person of whom you can say, "he loves learning."

To know your faults and be able to change is the greatest virtue.

Man who stand on hill with mouth open will wait long time for roast duck to drop in.

those who understands is not better than those who appreciates, those who appreciates is not better than those who enjoys.

In speaking, it is best to be clear and say just enough to convey the meaning.

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

To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order; we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.

When a man comes to me, I accept him at his best, not at his worst. Why make so much ado? When a man washes his hands before paying a visit, and you receive him in that clean state, you do not thereby stand surety for his always having been clean in the past.

The man who in view of gain thinks of righteousness; who in the view of danger is prepared to give up his life; and who does not forget an old agreement however far back it extends - such a man may be reckoned a complete man.