Quotes by Confucius
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Give a man a fish, feed home for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed for a lifetime.

A man who does not think and plan long ahead will find trouble right at his door.

If there were one word that could act as a standard of conduct for one's entire life, perhaps it would be 'thoughtfulness.

To study and constantly, is this not a pleasure? To have friends come from far away places, is this not a joy? If people do not recognize your worth, but this does not worry you, are you not a true gentleman?

The true gentleman does not preach what he practices till he has practiced what he preaches.

The man of wisdom is never of two minds; the man of benevolence never worries; the man of courage is never afraid.

To be truly happy and contented, you must let go of what it means to be happy or content.

Not knowing life, how can we know death? Why talk of spirits when you do not understand men?

Listen widely to remove your doubts and be careful when speaking about the rest and your mistakes will be few.

Man is born for uprightness. If a man lose his uprightness and yet live, his escape from death is mere good fortune.

If I give a student one-fourth of what he should know, I expect him to get the other three-fourths himself, otherwise I do not want him as a student.

The main object of conciliation lies in reaching a solution to a case based upon morals and with a warm heart.

Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue.

Think no vice so small that you may commit it, and no virtue so small that you may over look it.

There is one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one's life -reciprocity.

The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their proper name.

A man without a mustache is a man without a soul.

Love is like a spice. It can sweeten your life -- however, it can spoil it, too.

Baseball is wrong, man with four balls cannot walk.

Yin and yang, male and female, strong and weak, rigid and tender, heaven and earth, light and darkness, thunder and lightning, cold and warmth, good and evil...the interplay of opposite principles constitutes the universe.

If I cannot get men who steer a middle course to associate with, I would far rather have the impetuous and hasty. For the impetuous at any rate assert themselves.

Exemplary people concern themselves with virtue,
small people concern themselves with territory. The ruling class
thinks of punishment, the lower classes hope for benevolence.

With a heavy load and a long journey.

Conscience is the inner voice which warns us that someone might be looking. Hear and you forget, see and you remember, do and you understand.

I daily examine myself on three points: In planning for others, have I failed in conscientiousness? In intercourse with friends, have I been insincere? And have I failed to practice what I have been taught?

The general of a large army may be defeated, but you cannot defeat the determined mind of a peasant.

While the gentleman cherishes benign rule, the small man cherishes his native land. While the gentleman cherishes a respect for the law, the small man cherishes generous treatment.

Make faithfulness and truth thy masters: have no friends unlike thyself: be not ashamed to mend thy faults.

If the gentleman is not serious, he will not be respected, and his learning will not be on a firm foundation. He considers loyalty and faithfulness to be fundamental, has no friends who are not like him, and when he has made mistakes, he is not afraid of correcting them.

When you serve your mother and father it is okay to try to correct them once in a while. But if you see that they are not going to listen to you, keep your respect for them and don't distance yourself from them. Work without complaining.

A gentleman is ashamed to let his words outrun his deeds.

When a man is guided by the principles of reciprocity and consciousness, he is not far from the moral law. Whatever you don't wish for yourself don't do unto others.

When the multitude detests a man, inquiry is necessary; when the multitude likes a man, inquiry is equally necessary.

The wise are free from perplexities; the virtuous from anxiety; and the bold from fear.

To rein a kingdom efficiently it is necessary, before all, to put into good order the family. It's impossible for a man who doesn't know how to lead his own family to know how to lead a country.

The great man is sparing in words but prodigal in deeds.

The inner nature of man is the province of Music.

Just as lavishness leads easily to presumption, so does frugality to meanness. But meanness is a far less serious fault than presumption.

Music is the one thing in which there is no use trying to deceive others or make false pretenses.

Riches and honor are what everyone desires, but if they can be gained only by doing evil, they must not be held.  Don't worry about not being in office, worry about qualifying yourself for office.  Don't worry that no one knows you, but seek to be worthy of being known.

The small man thinks that small acts of goodness are of no benefit, and does not do them; and that small deeds of evil do no harm, and does not refrain from them. Hence, his wickedness becomes so great that it cannot be concealed, and his guilt so great that it cannot be pardoned.

Things have their roots and branches. Affairs have their beginnings and their ends. To know what is first and what is last will lead one near the Way.

Don't worry if you have no position: worry about making yourself worthy of one. Don't worry if you aren't known and admired: devote yourself to a life that deserves admiration.

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

A gentleman considers justice to be essential in everything. He practices it according to the principles of propriety. He brings it forth in modesty and faithfully completes it. This is indeed a gentleman.

If the people are governed by laws and punishment is used to maintain order, they will try to avoid the punishment but have no sense of shame. If they are governed by virtue and rules of propriety are used to maintain order, they will have a sense of shame and will become good as well.

When you have become one with the Great Universal, you will have no partiality, and when you are part of the process of transformation, you will have no rigidity.

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.

Slater soaks into the mind as water into low and marshy places, where it becomes stagnant and offensive.

If there were an honorable way to get rich, I'd do it, even if it meant being a stooge standing around with a whip. But there isn't an honorable way, so I just do what I like.

When frying small fish, disturb them little.

Who heeds not the future will find sorrow at hand.

How transcendent is the virtue of the middle conduct! Rare for a long time has been its practice among the people.

Transport a handful of earth everyday and you will make a mountain.

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.

There are three marks of a superior man: being virtuous, he is free from anxiety; being wise, he is free from perplexity; being brave, he is free from fear.

Possessed of courage but devoid of morality, a superior man will make trouble while a small man will be a brigand.

The superior man... does not set his mind either for or against anything, he will pursue whatever is right. The superior man thinks of virtue, the common man of comfort.

The superior man is intelligently, not blindly, faithful.

A superior man in dealing with the world is not for anything or against anything. He follows righteousness as the standard.

The superior man sets his person at rest before he moves; he composes his mind before he speaks.

The superior man will watch over himself when he is alone. He examines his heart that there may be nothing wrong there, and that he may have no cause of dissatisfaction with himself.

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.

The superior man is satisfied and composed; the mean man is always full of distress.

The superior man is anxious lest he should not get the truth; he is not anxious lest poverty should come upon him.

The superior man cannot be known in little matters, but he may be entrusted with great concerns. The small man may not be entrusted with great concerns, but he may be known in little matters.

The superior man is distressed by his want of ability.

When one cultivates to the utmost the principles of his nature, and exercises them on the principle of reciprocity, he is not far from the path.

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 the ritual cup.

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.

When the Superior Man 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.

Earnest in practicing the ordinary virtues, and careful in speaking about them, if, in his practice, he has anything defective, the superior man dares not but exert himself; and if, in his words, he has any excess, he dares not allow himself such license.

The superior man does what is proper to the station in which he is; he does not desire to go beyond this.

Desire to have things done quickly prevents their being done thoroughly.

If doing what ought to be done be made the first business and success a secondary consideration -- is not this the way to exalt virtue?

The superior man has a dignified ease without pride. The mean man has pride without a dignified ease.

Looking at small advantages prevents great affairs from being accomplished.

A lack of patience in trifling matters might lead to the disruption of great project.

To know, is to know that you know nothing. That is the meaning of true knowledge. When you say something, say what you know. When you don't know something, say you don't know. That is knowledge.

To take what you know for what you know, and what you do not know for what you do not know, that is knowledge indeed.

To know is to know that you know nothing. That is the meaning of true knowledge.

Do not wish for quick results, nor look for small advantages. If you seek quick results, you will not reach the ultimate goal. If you are led astray by small advantages, you will never accomplish great things.

To be fond of learning is near to wisdom; to practice with vigor is near to benevolence; and to be conscious of shame is near to fortitude.

The superior person gathers his weapons together in order to provide against the unforeseen.

To know that one knows what one knows, and to know that one doesn't know what one doesn't know, there lies true wisdom.

The superior man, even when he is not moving, has a feeling of reverence, and while he speaks not, he has the feeling of truthfulness.

We are so busy doing the urgent that we don't have time to do the important.

A workman who wants to do his work well must first prepare his tools.

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

Coarse rice to eat, water to drink, my bended arm for a pillow -- therein is happiness. Wealth and rank attained through immoral means are nothing but drifting clouds.

With coarse rice to eat, with water to drink, and my bent arm for a pillow -- I have still joy in the midst of all these things.

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

Justice is like the north star, which is fixed, and all the rest revolve about it.

I live in a very small house, but my windows look out on a very large world.

If a man takes no thought about what is distant, he will find sorrow near at hand.

If what one has to say is not better than silence, then one should keep silent.