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Confucius Quotes
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Confucius was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period.

The philosophy of Confucius, also known as Confucianism, emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice, kindness, and sincerity. His followers competed successfully with many other schools during the Hundred Schools of Thought era only to be suppressed in favor of the Legalists during the Qin dynasty. Following the victory of Han over Chu after the collapse of Qin, Confucius's thoughts received official sanction in the new government and were further developed into a system known in the West as Neo-Confucianism, and later New Confucianism .

Confucius is traditionally credited with having authored or edited many of the Chinese classic texts including all of the Five Classics, but modern scholars are cautious of attributing specific assertions to Confucius himself. Aphorisms concerning his teachings were compiled in the Analects, but only many years after his death.

Confucius's principles have commonality with Chinese tradition and belief. He championed strong family loyalty, ancestor veneration, and respect of elders by their children and of husbands by their wives, recommending family as a basis for ideal government. He espoused the well-known principle "Do not do unto others what you do not want done to yourself", the Golden Rule. He is also a traditional deity in Daoism.

Confucius is widely considered as one of the most important and influential individuals in shaping human history. His teaching and philosophy greatly impacted people around the world and remains influential today. Wikipedia  

✵ 551 BC – 479 BC
Confucius photo
Confucius: 269   quotes 96   likes

Confucius Quotes

“Be loyal and trustworthy. Do not befriend anyone who is lower than yourself in this regard. When making a mistake, do not be afraid to correct it.”

Confucius

Source: The Analects, Chapter I

“To throw oneself into strange teachings is quite dangerous.”

Confucius

The word translated "strange teachings" means literally another end [of textile]. There are two different understandings about "strange teachings" or heretical. One possible understanding is "strange from the authentic teaching", another understanding is simply different subjects, just as two authors or two scholastic fields literature and politics.
Source: The Analects, Chapter II

“Perfect is the virtue which is according to the Mean! Rare have they long been among the people, who could practice it!”

Confucius

Source: The Doctrine of the Mean

People , Perfection

“To no one but the Son of Heaven does it belong to order ceremonies, to fix the measures, and to determine the written characters.”

Confucius

Source: The Doctrine of the Mean

“A young man should serve his parents at home and be respectful to elders outside his home. He should be earnest and truthful, loving all, but become intimate with humaneness. After doing this, if he has energy to spare, he can study literature and the arts.”

Confucius

Source: The Analects, Other chapters

Love , Truth , Art , Home

“A man living without conflicts, as if he never lives at all.”

Confucius

Source: The Analects, Other chapters

“They who know the truth are not equal to those who love it, and they who love it are not equal to those who delight in it.”

Confucius

Source: The Analects, Chapter VI

Love , Truth

“The way of Heaven and Earth may be completely declared in one sentence: They are without any doubleness, and so they produce things in a manner that is unfathomable.”

Confucius

Source: The Doctrine of the Mean

Way

“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.”

Confucius

Source: The Doctrine of the Mean

Men , Nature , Change

“The way of the superior man may be compared to what takes place in traveling, when to go to a distance we must first traverse the space that is near, and in ascending a height, when we must begin from the lower ground.”

Confucius

Source: The Doctrine of the Mean

Way , Travel

“The superior man accords with the course of the Mean. Though he may be all unknown, unregarded by the world, he feels no regret — It is only the sage who is able for this.”

Confucius

Source: The Doctrine of the Mean

World , Feeling

“There is nothing more visible than what is secret, and nothing more manifest than what is minute. Therefore the superior man is watchful over himself, when he is alone.”

Confucius

Source: The Doctrine of the Mean

Secret

“When the Superior Man (Junzi) eats he does not try to stuff himself; at rest he does not seek perfect comfort; he is diligent in his work and careful in speech. He avails himself to people of the Tao and thereby corrects himself. This is the kind of person of whom you can say, "he loves learning."”

Confucius

The Analects, Chapter I

Love , People , Learning , Personality

“The Superior Man has nothing to compete for. But if he must compete, he does it in an archery match, wherein he ascends to his position, bowing in deference. Descending, he drinks (or has [the winner] drink) the ritual cup.”

Confucius

Bowing is a courtesy for the host who invites him as well drinking a cup.
Source: The Analects, Chapter III

Drink

“When your father is alive, observe his will. When your father is dead observe his former actions. If, for three years [after the death of your father] you do not change from the ways of your father, you can be called a 'real son (xiào/hsiao).”

Confucius

The Analects, Chapter I, Chapter IV

Death , Way , Change , Dead

“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.”

Confucius

Source: The Doctrine of the Mean

Men , Error , Universe

“Chi Wan thought thrice, and then acted. When the Master was informed of it, he said, "Twice may do."”

Confucius

Source: The Analects, Chapter V

“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.”

Confucius

Source: The Analects, Other chapters

People , Law , Learning

“I know how it is that the path of the Mean is not walked in — The knowing go beyond it, and the stupid do not come up to it. I know how it is that the path of the Mean is not understood — The men of talents and virtue go beyond it, and the worthless do not come up to it.”

Confucius

Source: The Doctrine of the Mean

Men , Stupidity

“The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large.”

Confucius

Attributed to Confucius in Out of the Blue: Delight Comes Into Our Lives (1996) by Mark Victor Hansen, Barbara Nichols, and Patty Hansen, p. 93
Attributed

Motivational , Deep , Happy , Inspirational

“The administration of government lies in getting proper men. Such men are to be got by means of the ruler's own character. That character is to be cultivated by his treading in the ways of duty. And the treading those ways of duty is to be cultivated by the cherishing of benevolence.”

Confucius

Source: The Doctrine of the Mean

Men , Way

“He that in his Studies wholly applies himself to Labour and Exercise, and neglects Meditation, loses his time: And he that only applies himself to Meditation, and neglects Labour and Exercise, does only wander and lose himself.”

Confucius

The Morals of Confucius http://books.google.pt/books?id=izgCAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=pt-PT, 2nd edition (London, 1724), Maxim X, p. 114.
Attributed

Exercises , Study , Time

“It is characteristic of the most entire sincerity to be able to foreknow. When a nation or family is about to flourish, there are sure to be happy omens; and when it is about to perish, there are sure to be unlucky omens.”

Confucius

Source: The Doctrine of the Mean

Family , Sincerity , Happiness

“The silent treasuring up of knowledge; learning without satiety; and instructing others without being wearied: which one of these things belongs to me?”

Confucius

To keep silently in mind what one has seen and heard, to study hard and never feel contented, to teach others tirelessly; have I done (all of) these things?
Source: The Analects, Other chapters

Knowledge , Learning

“Sincerity is that whereby self-completion is effected, and its way is that by which man must direct himself.”

Confucius

Source: The Doctrine of the Mean

Way , Sincerity

“Benevolence is the characteristic element of humanity.”

Confucius

Source: The Doctrine of the Mean

“When we have intelligence resulting from sincerity, this condition is to be ascribed to nature; when we have sincerity resulting from intelligence, this condition is to be ascribed to instruction. But given the sincerity, and there shall be the intelligence; given the intelligence, and there shall be the sincerity.”

Confucius

Source: The Doctrine of the Mean

Intelligence , Nature , Sincerity

“When we see men of worth, we should think of equaling them; when we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves.”

Confucius

James Legge, translation (1893)
When you meet someone better than yourself, turn your thoughts to becoming his equal. When you meet someone not as good as you are, look within and examine your own self.
Dim Cheuk Lau translation (1979)
When you see a good person, think of becoming like her/him. When you see someone not so good, reflect on your own weak points.
As quoted in Liberating Faith : Religious Voices for Justice, Peace, and Ecological Wisdom (2003) by Roger S. Gottlieb, p. 24
The Analects, Chapter I, Chapter IV

Men , Thinking

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

Confucius

Book XVII, Chapter VIII.
Source: The Analects, Other chapters

Love , Learning

“It is not truth that makes man great, but man that makes truth great.”

Confucius

As quoted in The Importance of Living (1937) by Lin Yutang, p. v
Attributed

Truth

“The superior man, extensively studying all learning, and keeping himself under the restraint of the rules of propriety, may thus likewise not overstep what is right.”

Confucius

Source: The Analects, Chapter VI

Study , Learning

“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 for the cause of his failure in himself.”

Confucius

Source: The Doctrine of the Mean

Way , Failure

“Men do not stumble over mountains, but over molehills”

Confucius

Reported in: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Agriculture (1973) Hearings Before the Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives, Ninety-second Congress. p. 21
Attributed

Men , Mountain

“If I hear the Way [of truth] in the morning, I am content even to die in that evening.”

Confucius

Source: The Analects, Chapter IV

Truth , Way

“I am not bothered by the fact that I am not understood. I am bothered when I do not know others.”

Confucius

Source: The Analects, Chapter I

“How great is the path proper to the Sage! Like overflowing water, it sends forth and nourishes all things, and rises up to the height of heaven. All-complete is its greatness! It embraces the three hundred rules of ceremony, and the three thousand rules of demeanor. It waits for the proper man, and then it is trodden. Hence it is said, "Only by perfect virtue can the perfect path, in all its courses, be made a fact."”

Confucius

Source: The Doctrine of the Mean

Water , Waiting , Perfection

“To be fond of learning is to be near to knowledge. To practice with vigor is to be near to magnanimity. To possess the feeling of shame is to be near to energy.”

Confucius

Source: The Doctrine of the Mean

Feeling , Knowledge , Learning

“Heaven, in the production of things, is sure to be bountiful to them, according to their qualities. Hence the tree that is flourishing, it nourishes, while that which is ready to fall, it overthrows.”

Confucius

Source: The Doctrine of the Mean

Tree

“If the Superior Man is not serious, then he will not inspire awe in others. If he is not learned, then he will not be on firm ground. He takes loyalty and good faith to be of primary importance, and has no friends who are not of equal (moral) caliber. When he makes a mistake, he doesn't hesitate to correct it.”

Confucius

Source: The Analects, Other chapters

Faith , Learning , Loyalty

“If a man has no humaneness what can his propriety be like? If a man has no humaneness what can his happiness be like?”

Confucius

Source: The Analects, Chapter III

Happiness

“The superior man thinks of virtue; the small man thinks of comfort. The superior man thinks of the sanctions of law; the small man thinks of favors which he may receive.”

Confucius

君子喻於義，小人喻於利。
James Legge, translation (1893)
The Superior Man is aware of Righteousness, the inferior man is aware of advantage.
The virtuous man is driven by responsibility, the non-virtuous man is driven by profit. [by 朱冀平]
The Analects, Chapter I, Chapter IV

Thinking , Law

“All people respect and love their own parents and children, as well as the parents and children of others.”

Confucius

The Analects, A Great Utopia (The World of Da-Tong)

Children , People , Parent , Love

“Honesty and trust are promoted, and good neighborliness cultivated.”

Confucius

The Analects, A Great Utopia (The World of Da-Tong)

“Virtuous, worthy, wise and capable people are chosen as leaders.”

Confucius

The Analects, A Great Utopia (The World of Da-Tong)

People

“To worship to other than one's own ancestral spirits is brown-nosing. If you see what is right and fail to act on it, you lack courage.”

Confucius

(zh-TW) 非其鬼而祭之，諂也。見義不為，無勇也。
The Analects, Chapter I, Chapter II

Courage

“There are three methods to gaining wisdom. The first is reflection, which is the highest. The second is limitation, which is the easiest. The third is experience, which is the bitterest.”

Confucius
Wisdom

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.”

Confucius
Wisdom , Learning , Wise , Graduation