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When a country is well governed, poverty and a mean condition are things to be ashamed of. When a country is ill governed, riches and honor are things to be ashamed of.

邦有道貧且賤焉恥也，邦無道富且貴焉恥也。

Original text (Chinese)

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Variants

To be wealthy and honored in an unjust society is a disgrace.

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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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.