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To give one's self earnestly to the duties due to men, and, while respecting spiritual beings, to keep aloof from them, may be called wisdom.

務民之義、敬鬼神而遠之。可謂知矣。

Original text (Chinese)

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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.

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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.