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Confucius Quotes
551 BC–479 BC China
Confucius (traditionally 28 September 551 B.C. – 479 B.C.) was a Chinese social philosopher, whose teachings deeply influenced East Asian life and thought. "Confucius" is a latinization of the Chinese 孔夫子, Kong Fu Zi or K'ung-fu-tzu, literally "Master Kong", but he is usually referred to in China with a simpler version of this honorific as 孔子, Kongzi, or Kǒng Zǐ.
China Editors Educators Historians Philosophers Also known as: Confucianism, Confucianist, Confucious, K'ung-fu-tzu, Kong Fu Zi, Kongzi
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163 quotes
When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them.
The way of the superior man may be found, in its simple elements, in the intercourse of common men and women; but in its utmost reaches, it shines brightly through Heaven and Earth.
The Master said, "Hard is it to deal with him, who will stuff himself with food the whole day, without applying his mind to anything good! Are there not gamesters and chess players? To be one of these would still be better than doing nothing at all."
He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place when all the stars are rotating about it.
What can a man do with the rites who is not benevolent? What can a man do with music who is not benevolent.
Fan Ch'ih asked, ... What is love?
Fan Ch'e asked about perfect virtue. The Master said, "It is in retirement, to be sedately grave; in the management of business, to be reverently attentive; in intercourse with others, to be strictly sincere."
Only after Winter comes do we know that the pine and the cypress are the last to fade.
See a person's means … Observe his motives. Examine that in which he rests. How can a person conceal his character?
Sincerity is the way of Heaven. The attainment of sincerity is the way of men.
To no one but the Son of Heaven does it belong to order ceremonies, to fix the measures, and to determine the written characters.
By extensively studying all learning, and keeping himself under the restraint of the rules of propriety, one may thus likewise not err from what is right.
Guide the people by law, subdue them by punishment; they may shun crime, but will be void of shame. Guide them by example, subdue them by courtesy; they will learn shame, and come to be good.
Chi Wan thought thrice, and then acted. When the Master was informed of it, he said, "Twice may do."
Perfect is the virtue which is according to the Mean! Rare have they long been among the people, who could practice it!
Able to assist the transforming and nourishing powers of Heaven and Earth, he may with Heaven and Earth form a ternion.
By the ruler's cultivation of his own character, the duties of universal obligation are set forth. By honoring men of virtue and talents, he is preserved from errors of judgment.
There are truly moral people who unconsciously live a life in entire harmony with the universal moral order and who live unknown to the world and unnoticed by others without any concern. It is only people of holy, divine natures who are capable of this.
It is only he who is possessed of the most complete sincerity that can exist under heaven, who can give its full development to his nature. Able to give its full development to his own nature, he can do the same to the nature of other men.
In a high situation, he does not treat with contempt his inferiors. In a low situation, he does not court the favor of his superiors.
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