Confucius Quotes (160 Quotes)


    There are three methods to gaining wisdom. The first is reflection, which is the highest. The second is limitation, which is the easiest. The third is experience, which is the bitterest.

    Men's natures are alike it is their habits that separate them.

    If you look into your own heart, and you find nothing wrong there, what is there to worry about? What is there to fear?

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

    The faults of a superior person are like the sun and moon. They have their faults, and everyone sees them; they change and everyone looks up to them.


    You cannot open a book without learning something.

    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.

    Go before the people with your example, and be laborious in their affairs.

    When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them.

    A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

    To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it.


    The superior man is distressed by his want of ability.

    He who learns but does not think, is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger.

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

    As long as I have rice to eat, and pure water to drink, I can find joy within.

    Silence is a true friend who never betrays.

    To be fond of learning is near to wisdom to practice with vigor is near to benevolence and to be conscious of shame is near to fortitude. He who knows these three things

    If many years were added to my life, I would give fifty to the study of the Book of Changes and might thereby manage to avoid great mistakes.

    Five things constitute perfect virtue gravity, magnanimity, earnestness, sincerity, kindness

    I hear, I know. I see, I remember. I do, I understand.

    The mirror reflects all objects without being sullied

    A man who does not plan long ahead will find trouble right at his door.

    Of neighborhoods, benevolence is the most beautiful. How can the man be considered wise who when he had the choice does not settle in benevolence.

    Never use a cannon to kill a fly.

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

    Between friends, frequent reproofs make the friendship distant.

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

    A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.

    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.

    It is man that makes truth great, not truth that makes man great

    The superior man is distressed by the limitations of his ability; he is not distressed by the fact that men do not recognize the ability that he has.

    He who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make his words good.

    Faced with what is right, to leave it undone shows a lack of courage.

    The superior man is firm in the right way, and not merely firm.

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

    It is the law of nature that woman should be held under the dominance of man

    The strength of a nation is derived from the integrity of its homes

    All people are the same, only their habits change.

    If language is not correct, then what is said is not what is meant if what is said is not what is meant, then what must be done remains undone if this remains undone, morals and art will deteriorate if justice goes astray, the people will stand about in helpless confusion. Hence there must be no arbitrariness in what is said. This matters above everything.

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

    Virtue is not left to stand alone. He who practices it will have neighbors.

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

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

    Learning without thought is labor lost.

    They must change who would be constant in happiness and wisdom.

    When anger rises, think of the consequences.

    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.

    In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.

    Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.


    Related Authors


    Karl Marx - John Locke - Jean-Paul Sartre - Immanuel Kant - Francis Bacon - Thomas Carlyle - Swami Sivananda - Mencius - Maimonides - Blaise Pascal


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