Top 917 Quotes & Sayings by Confucius - Page 3

All the darkness in the world can't put out the light of one candle.

Tzu Chang asked Confucius about jen. Confucius said, "If you can practice these five things with all the people, you can be called jen." Tzu Chang asked what they were. Confucius said, "Courtesy, generosity, honesty, persistence, and kindness. If you are courteous, you will not be disrespected; if you are generous, you will gain everything. If you are honest, people will rely on you. If you are persistent you will get results. If you are kind, you can employ people.

Please stop waiting for a better and more appropriate time to become happy and focus on the moment you live in. Happiness is not an arrival, it is the journey itself. Many people seek for happiness above the height of human beings, some below. Yet, happiness is exactly at the exact height of human beings.

At fifteen, my mind was bent on learning. At thirty, I stood firm. At forty, I had no doubts. At fifty, I knew the decrees of Heaven. At sixty, my ear was receptive to truth. At seventy, I could follow my heart's desires without sin.

The hardest thing of all is to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if there is no cat.

Every journey starts with a single step.

Love others as you would love yourself, judge others as you would judge yourself, cherish others as you would cherish yourself. When you wish for others as you wish for yourself and when you protect others as you would protect yourself, that's when you can say it's true love.

Attack the evil that is within yourself, rather than attacking the evil that is in others.

Teachers open the door ... you enter by yourself.

To govern is to correct. If you set an example by being correct, who would dare to remain incorrect?

Don't worry if people don't recognize your merits; worry that you may not recognize theirs.

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

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.

You judge yourself by what you think you can achieve, others judge you by what have achieved.

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

The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.

An orchid in a deep forest sends out its fragrance even if no one is around to appreciate it.

As the water shapes itself to the vessel that contains it, so a wise man adapts himself to circumstances.

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

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

The noble-minded are calm and steady. Little people are forever fussing and fretting.

Everyone eats and drinks; yet only few appreciate the taste of food.

The gentleman calls attention to the good points in others; he does not call attention to their defects. The small man does just the reverse of this.

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.

When people are educated, the distinction between classes disappears.

Expect much from yourself and little from others and you will avoid incurring resentments

Let our reason, and not our senses, be the rule of our conduct; for reason will teach us to think wisely, to speak prudently, and to behave worthily.

A reasonable man adjusts himself to the world. An unreasonable man expects the world to adjust itself to him. Therefore all progress is made by unreasonable people.

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.

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

Those who do not study are only cattle dressed up in men's clothes.

Those who know the TRUTH are not equal to those who love it.

The more you know yourself, the more you forgive yourself.

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.

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.

Respect yourself and others will respect you.

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.

When I am with others, they are my teachers. I can select their good points and follow them, and select their bad points and avoid them.

There are three things to beware of through life: when a man is young, let him beware of his appetites; when he is middle-aged, of his passions; and when old, of covetousness, especially.

To know what is the right thing to do and not do it is the greatest cowardice.

All people are the same; only their habits differ.

He who fails to prepare, prepares to fail

Every house guest brings you happiness. Some when they arrive, and some when they are leaving

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

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.

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

Be in harmony, yet be different.

Do not worry about not holding high position; worry rather about playing your proper role. Worry not that no one knows of you; seek to be worth knowing.

What the superior man seeks is in himself; what the small man seeks is in others.

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

Study the past if you want to define the future.

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

There is only one thing in life which never changes, and it is change.

When you are ignorant about something, to know that you are ignorant about it - that is knowledge.

The virtuous man is driven by responsibility, the non-virtuous man is driven by profit.

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

Great is the man who can overcome the world, but greater still is the man who can overcome himself, for he will have the world spinning on the palm of his hand.

Act with kindness but do not expect gratitude.

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

To know it is not as good as to love it, and to love it is not as good as to take delight in it.