Confucius Quotes

“A superior man is one who is free from fear and anxieties”

“When there are duties to perform [true] servants and sons serve their labors.”

“Good is no hermit. It has ever neighbors.”

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

“By the ruler's cultivation of his own character there is set up the example of the course which all should pursue.”

“To govern is to correct. If you set an example by being correct, who would dare to remain incorrect?”

“He who is really good can never be unhappy. He who is really wise can never be perplexed. He who is really brave is never afraid.”

“The higher type of man clings to virtue, the lower type of man clings to material comfort. The higher type of man cherishes justice, the lower type of man cherishes the hope of favors to be received.”

“The person of benevolence never worries.”

“The master said, 'Quietly to store up knowledge in my mind, to learn without flagging, to teach without growing weary, these present me with no difficulties.'”

“Shall I tell you what knowledge is? It is to know both what one knows and what one does not know.”

“To know, is to know that you know nothing. That is the meaning of true knowledge. When you say something, say what you know. When you don't know something, say you don't know. That is knowledge.”

“In the Book of Poetry there are three hundred poems, but the meaning of all of them may be put in a single sentence: Have no debasing thoughts.”

“Labor, but slight not meditation; meditate, but slight not labor.”

“The superior man limits his achievements.”

“Is any one able for one day to apply his strength to virtue? I have not seen the case in which his strength would be sufficient.”

“One who can move mountains start with the little stones.”

“Woman is the masterpiece.”

“Conscience is the inner voice which warns us that someone might be looking. Hear and you forget, see and you remember, do and you understand.”

“A good man will certainly also possess courage; but a brave man is not necessarily good.”

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

“To be poor without murmuring is difficult. To be rich without being proud is easy.”

“If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help someone else.”

“Not to converse with a man worthy of conversation is to waste the man. To converse with a man not worthy of conversation is to waste words. The wise waste neither men nor words.”

“The whole end of speech is to be understood.”