Skip to content

The superior man does what is proper to the station in which he is; he does not desire to go beyond this. In a position of wealth and honor, he does what is proper to a position of wealth and honor. In a poor and low position, he does what is proper to a poor and low position.

Another quote →

More quotes by Confucius

Being in humaneness is good. If we select other goodness and thus are far apart from humaneness, how can we be the wise?

What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.

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

The superior man understands what is right; the inferior man understands what will sell.

The superior man loves his soul; the inferior man loves his property.

All Confucius quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Confucius (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.