Inspiring Quotes by Confucius
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If your plan is for one year plant rice. If your plan is for ten years plant trees. If your plan is for one hundred years educate children.

Knowledge without practice is useless. Practice without knowledge is dangerous.

It is not the failure of others to appreciate your abilities that should trouble you, but rather your failure to appreciate theirs.

He who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions.

The man who thinks he can and the man who thinks he can't are both right.

While they have not got their aims, their anxiety is how to get them. When they have got them, their anxiety is lest they should lose them.

Man who stand on hill with mouth open will wait long time for roast duck to drop in.

When a wise man points at the moon the imbecile examines the finger.

Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.

Acquire new knowledge whilst thinking over the old, and you may become a teacher of others.

He who chases two rabbits, catches none.

There are three unfilial acts: the greatest of these is the failure to produce sons.

Ignorance is the night of the mind, but a night without moon or star.

A man of wisdom delights in water.

Reviewing the day's lessons. Isn't it joyful? Friends come from far. Isn't it delightful? One has never been angry at other's misunderstanding. Isn't he a respectable man?

Rather than caring about whether or not you are known, strive to be worth knowing.

Study without reflection is a waste of time; reflection without study is dangerous.

Words are the voice of the heart.

If you make a mistake and do not correct it, this is called a mistake.

Tea tempers the spirits and harmonizes the mind, dispels lassitude and relieves fatigue, awakens thought and prevents drowsiness, lightens or refreshes the body, and clears the perceptive faculties.

To rank the effort above the prize may be called love.

The demands that a great man makes are on himself; those of a petty man are upon others.

The green reed which bends in the wind is stronger than the mighty oak which breaks in a storm.

The superior man, when resting in safety, does not forget that danger may come.

He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it.

Have no friends not equal to yourself.

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.

Past scholars studied to improve themselves; Today's scholars study to impress others.

Never hesitate to ask a lesser person.

By nature, men are nearly alike; by practice, they get to be wide apart.

Learn as though you would never be able to master it; hold it as though you would be in fear of losing it.

Of all that Heaven produces and nourishes, there is none so great as man.

If I am walking with two other men, each of them will serve as my teacher. I will pick out the good points of the one and imitate them, and the bad points of the other and correct them in myself.

The wheel of fortune turns round incessantly, and who can say to himself, I shall today be uppermost.

When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them.

A disciple having asked for a definition of charity, the Master said LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Charity, like the sun, brightens every object on which it shines.

Heaven means to be one with God.

A youth is to be regarded with respect. How do we know that his future will not be equal to our present?

I followed my heart without breaking any rules.

Man who want pretty nurse, must be patient.

The father who does not teach his son his duties is equally guilty with the son who neglects them.

Men do not stumble over mountains, but over mole hills.

A wise man has dignity without pride; a fool has pride without dignity.

What is most needed for learning is a humble mind.

It is not possible for one to teach others who cannot teach his own family.

To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order; we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.

Those who cannot forgive others break the bridge over which they themselves must pass.

It is better to light one small candle of gratitude than to curse the darkness.

Learning without thought is labour lost; thought without learning is perilous.

Reading without thinking will confuse you.Thinking without reading will place you in danger.

You must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.

The most beautiful sight in the world is a little child going confidently down the road of life after you have shown him the way.

The way out is through the door. Why is it that no one will use this method?

There are three things against which the wise man guards: lust when young, quarrels when strong, and covetousness when old.

He is the truly courageous man who never desponds.

We should keep the dead before our eyes, and honor them as though still living.

The scholar does not consider gold and jade to be precious treasures, but loyalty and good faith.

Be loyal and trustworthy. Do not befriend anyone who is lower than yourself in this regard.

Base yourself in loyalty and trust. Don't be companion with those who are not your moral equal. When you make a mistake, don't hesitate to correct it.

Give a bowl of rice to a man and you will feed him for a day. Teach him how to grow his own rice and you will save his life.

To be in one's own heart in kindly sympathy with all things; this is the nature of righteousness.

If your desire is for good, the people will be good.

When wealth is centralized, the people are dispersed. When wealth is distributed, the people are brought together.

Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles.

He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior.

The funniest people are the saddest ones.

Poor food and water for dinner, a bent arm for a pillow -- that is where joy resides. For me, wealth and renown without honor are nothing but drifting clouds.

A common man marvels at uncommon things. A wise man marvels at the commonplace.

The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life.

If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help someone else.

Roads were made for journeys not destinations.

I do not want a friend who smiles when I smile, who weeps when I weep; for my shadow in the pool can do better than that.

No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.

Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.

A man is great not because he hasn't failed; a man is great because failure hasn't stopped him.

Act with kindness, but do not expect gratitude.

To know what is right and not do it is the worst cowardice.

A man who has committed a mistake and doesn't correct it is committing another mistake.

A great man is hard on himself; a small man is hard on others.

It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.

It is more shameful to distrust our friends than to be deceived by them.

If you try to do too much, you will not achieve anything.

Study the past if you would define the future.

To see the right and not to do it is cowardice.

The superior man thinks always of virtue; the common man thinks of comfort.

I hear, I know. I see, I remember. I do, I understand.

Ability will never catch up with the demand for it.

Instead of being concerned that you have no office, be concerned to think how you may fit yourself for office. Instead of being concerned that you are not known, see to the (be?) worthy of being known.

I want you to be everything that's you, deep at the center of your being.

When you are laboring for others let it be with the same zeal as if it were for yourself.

Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.

To rule a country of a thousand chariots, there must be reverent attention to business, and sincerity; economy in expenditure, and love for men; and the employment of the people at the proper seasons.

The expectations of life depend upon diligence; the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools.

Look at the means which a man employs, consider his motives, observe his pleasures. A man simply cannot conceal himself!