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Quotes by Confucius


Study the past, if you would divine the future.
– Confucius

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

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

Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.
– Confucius

The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.
– Confucius
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
– Confucius
A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.
– Confucius
Ability will never catch up with the demand for it.
– Confucius
An oppressive government is more to be feared than a tiger.
– Confucius
And remember, no matter where you go, there you are.
– Confucius
Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.
– Confucius
Death and life have their determined appointments; riches and honors depend upon heaven.
– Confucius
Faced with what is right, to leave it undone shows a lack of courage.
– Confucius
Go before the people with your example, and be laborious in their affairs.
– Confucius
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.
– Confucius
He who learns but does not think, is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger.
– Confucius
He who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make his words good.
– Confucius
Heaven means to be one with God.
– Confucius
I hear, I know. I see, I remember. I do, I understand.
– Confucius
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.
– Confucius
If we don't know life, how can we know death?
– Confucius
If you look into your own heart, and you find nothing wrong there, what is there to worry about? What is there to fear?
– Confucius
In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.
– Confucius
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.
– Confucius
It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get.
– Confucius
It is more shameful to distrust our friends than to be deceived by them.
– Confucius
Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.
– Confucius
Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.
– Confucius
Look at the means which a man employs, consider his motives, observe his pleasures. A man simply cannot conceal himself!
– Confucius
Never contract friendship with a man that is not better than thyself.
– Confucius
Never give a sword to a man who can't dance.
– Confucius
No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.
– Confucius
Old age, believe me, is a good and pleasant thing. It is true you are gently shouldered off the stage, but then you are given such a comfortable front stall as spectator.
– Confucius
One atom of the plane where He functions would shatter the world.
– Confucius
Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.
– Confucius
Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
– Confucius
Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance.
– Confucius
Silence is a true friend who never betrays.
– Confucius
Speak the truth, do not yield to anger; give, if thou art asked for little; by these three steps thou wilt go near the gods.
– Confucius
Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.
– Confucius
The book salesman should be honored because he brings to our attention, as a rule, the very books we need most and neglect most.
– Confucius
The cautious seldom err.
– Confucius
The expectations of life depend upon diligence; the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools.
– Confucius
The firm, the enduring, the simple, and the modest are near to virtue.
– Confucius
The object of the superior man is truth.
– Confucius
The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home.
– Confucius
The superior man is distressed by the limitations of his ability; he is not distressed by the fact that men do not recognize the ability that he has.
– Confucius
The superior man thinks always of virtue; the common man thinks of comfort.
– Confucius
The superior man understands what is right; the inferior man understands what will sell.
– Confucius
The wheel of fortune turns round incessantly, and who can say to himself, I shall to-day be uppermost.
– Confucius
The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential... these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.
– Confucius
They must often change, who would be constant in happiness or wisdom.
– Confucius
To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it.
– Confucius
To go beyond is as wrong as to fall short.
– Confucius
To know what is right and not to do it is the worst cowardice.
– Confucius
To know, is to know that you know nothing. That is the meaning of true knowledge.
– Confucius
To see and listen to the wicked is already the beginning of wickedness.
– Confucius
To see the right and not to do it is cowardice.
– Confucius
Virtue is not left to stand alone. He who practices it will have neighbors.
– Confucius
Virtuous people often revenge themselves for the constraints to which they submit by the boredom which they inspire.
– Confucius
When anger rises, think of the consequences.
– Confucius
When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.
– Confucius
When you are laboring for others let it be with the same zeal as if it were for yourself.
– Confucius
When you know a thing, to hold that you know it, and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it - this is knowledge.
– Confucius
Wherever you go, go with all your heart.
– Confucius
You cannot open a book without learning something.
– Confucius
Do not be desirous of having things done quickly. Do not look at small advantages. Desire to have things done quickly prevents their being done thoroughly. Looking at small advantages prevents great affairs from being accomplished.
– Confucius
Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes.
– Confucius
Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it.
– Confucius
Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.
– Confucius
He who will not economize will have to agonize.
– Confucius
Ignorance is the night of the mind, but a night without moon and star.
– Confucius
It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.
– Confucius
Men's natures are alike, it is their habits that carry them far apart.
– Confucius
Respect yourself and others will respect you.
– Confucius
Study the past if you would define the future.
– Confucius
The superior man, when resting in safety, does not forget that danger may come. When in a state of security he does not forget the possibility of ruin. When all is orderly, he does not forget that disorder may come. Thus his person is not endangered, and his States and all their clans are preserved.
– Confucius
To be able under all circumstances to practice five things constitutes perfect virtue; these five things are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness and kindness.
– Confucius
To see what is right, and not to do it, is want of courage or of principle.
– Confucius
What the superior man seeks is in himself; what the small man seeks is in others.
– Confucius
Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.
– Confucius
Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue.
– Confucius
Have no friends not equal to yourself.
– Confucius
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.
– Confucius
Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles.
– Confucius
I am not one who was born in the possession of knowledge; I am one who is fond of antiquity, and earnest in seeking it there.
– Confucius
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.
– Confucius
If a man takes no thought about what is distant, he will find sorrow near at hand.
– Confucius
If a man withdraws his mind from the love of beauty, and applies it as sincerely to the love of the virtuous; if, in serving his parents, he can exert his utmost strength; if, in serving his prince, he can devote his life; if in his intercourse with his friends, his words are sincere - although men say that he has not learned, I will certainly say that he has.
– Confucius
Is virtue a thing remote? I wish to be virtuous, and lo! Virtue is at hand.
– Confucius
Recompense injury with justice, and recompense kindness with kindness.
– Confucius
The determined scholar and the man of virtue will not seek to live at the expense of injuring their virtue. They will even sacrifice their lives to preserve their virtue complete.
– Confucius
The man of virtue makes the difficulty to be overcome his first business, and success only a subsequent consideration.
– Confucius
The man who in 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.
– Confucius
The people may be made to follow a path of action, but they may not be made to understand it.
– Confucius
The scholar who cherishes the love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar.
– Confucius
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.
– Confucius
The superior man is satisfied and composed; the mean man is always full of distress.
– Confucius
The superior man...does not set his mind either for anything, or against anything; what is right he will follow.
– Confucius
There are three things which the superior man guards against. In youth...lust. When he is strong...quarrelsomeness. When he is old...covetousness.
– Confucius