Famous Quotes by Confucius |Short Quotes by Confucius| Famous Peoples English Quotes
- He who works for his own interests will arouse much animosity
- The superior man… does not set his mind either for anything, or against anything; what is right he will follow.
- There are three things which the superior man guards against. In youth… lust. When he is strong… quarrelsomeness. When he is old… covetousness.
- In vain I have looked for a single man capable of seeing his own faults and bringing the charge home against himself.
- By nature men are alike. Through practice they have become far apart.
- A ruler who governs his state by virtue is like the north polar star, which remains in its place while all the other stars revolve around it.
- Love makes a spot beautiful: who chooses not to dwell in love, has he got wisdom?
- If a man sets his heart on benevolence he will be free from evil.
- The failure to cultivate virtue, the failure to examine and analyze what I have learned, the inability to move toward righteousness after being shown the way, the inability to correct my faults-these are the causes of my grief.
- The Path is not far from man. When men try to pursue a course, which is far from the common indications of consciousness, this course cannot be considered The Path.
- From the loving example of one family, a whole State may become loving, and from its courtesies, courteous; while from the ambition and perverseness of the one man the whole State may be thrown into rebellious disorder. Such is the nature of influence.
- I have not seen a person who loved virtue, or one who hated what was not virtuous. He who loved virtue would esteem nothing above it.
- While you are not able to serve men, how can you serve spirits [of the dead]? While you do not know life, how can you know about death?
- A gentleman can see a question from all sides without bias.
The small man is biased and can see a question only from one side. - He with whom neither slander that gradually soaks into the mind, nor statements that startle like a wound in the flesh, are successful may be called intelligent indeed.
- Sincerity becomes apparent. From being apparent, it becomes manifest. From being manifest, it becomes brilliant. Brilliant, it affects others. Affecting others, they are changed by it. Changed by it, they are transformed. It is only he who is possessed of the most complete sincerity that can exist under heaven, who can transform.
- 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 for a position of wealth and honor. In a poor and low position, he does what is proper for a poor and low position.
- Without recognizing the ordinances of Heaven, it is impossible to be a superior man.
- I have never yet seen anyone whose desire to build up his moral power was as strong as sexual desire.
- Those whose courses are different cannot lay plans for one another.
- Among us, in our part of the country, those who are upright are different from this. The father conceals the misconduct of the son, and the son conceals the misconduct of the father. Uprightness is to be found in this.
- In archery, we have something like the way of the superior man. When the archer misses the center of the target, he turns round and seeks the cause of his failure in himself.
- In his dealings with the world, the gentleman is not invariably for or against anything. He is on the side of what is moral.
- The man who in the view of gain thinks of righteousness; who in the view of danger is prepared to give up his life; and who does not forget an old agreement however far back it extends — such a man may be reckoned a complete man.
- The man of perfect virtue, wishing to be established himself, seeks also to establish others; wishing to be enlarged himself, he seeks also to enlarge others.
- The superior man governs men, according to their nature, with what is proper to them, and as soon as they change what is wrong, he stops.
- The wise are free from perplexities; the virtuous from anxiety; and the bold from fear.
- Among the appliances to transform the people, sound and appearances are but trivial influences.
- When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them.
- The man of virtue makes the difficulty to be overcome his first business, and success only a subsequent consideration.
- A superior man in dealing with the world is not for anything or against anything. He follows righteousness as the standard.
- To see what is right and not to do it is want of courage, or of principle.
- Some may study side by side and yet be asunder when they come to the logic of things.
- All things are nourished together without their injuring one another. The courses of the seasons, and of the sun and moon, are pursued without any collision among them. The smaller energies are like river currents; the greater energies are seen in mighty transformations. It is this which makes heaven and earth so great.
- The scholar does not consider gold and jade to be precious treasures, but loyalty and good faith.
- Guide them by edicts, keep them in line with punishments, and the common people will stay out of trouble but will have no sense of shame. Guide them by virtue, keep them in line with the rites, and they will, besides having a sense of shame, reform themselves.
- A knight whose heart is set upon the Way, but who is ashamed of wearing shabby clothes and eating coarse food, is not worth calling into counsel.
- By nature, men are nearly alike; by practice, they get to be wide apart.
- [The superior man] acts before he speaks, and afterwards speaks according to his actions.
- Sincerity becomes apparent. From being apparent, it becomes manifest. From being manifest, it becomes brilliant. Brilliant, it affects others. Affecting others, they are changed by it. Changed by it, they are transformed. It is only he who is possessed of the most complete sincerity that can exist under heaven, who can transform.
