The Wisdom of Confucius
The great Chinese philosopher, statesman and teacher Confucius taught the Chinese people the lesson of morality. The belief based on his social, philosophical and political ideas is called Confucianism. It later became the state religion of the Chinese Empire. It was born in China's Shandong province about 550 years before Confucius. The moral ideas of Confucius are very useful for all of us.
Who Was Confucius
Before knowing about Confucius quotes it is very important for you to know about Confucius. Confucius was born near the east coast of China in 551 BC. He lived during the 'Spring and Autumn Period' which was a turbulent period in Chinese history when China was not a united nation, but was made up of many small states, which were constantly at war with each other. Confucius was born into an aristocratic family that had fallen on hard times and became poor. Confucius was an exceptional student and was credited with mastering the six disciplines of ritual, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and arithmetic.
He traveled throughout northeastern and central China, teaching and promoting his philosophy everywhere. Many people traveled after Confucius and stayed with him when he returned to his home province as an old man. He died in 479 BC at the age of seventy-two. His teachings were preserved in the Analects which are still studied by students around the world today.
click here to read quotes of Aristotle, Plato, Socrates and Marcus Aurelius.
Top 70 Confucius Quotes
1. “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” ― Confucius
2. “The man who thinks he can and the man who thinks he can't are both right.” ― Confucius
3. “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” ― Confucius
4. “The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” ― Confucius
5. “Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” ― Confucius
6. “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” ― Confucius
7. “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” ― Confucius
8. “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” ― Confucius
9. “Respect yourself and others will respect you.” ― Confucius
10. “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” ― Confucius
11. “No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.” ― Confucius
12. “If you make a mistake and do not correct it, this is called a mistake.” ― Confucius
13. “Education breeds confidence. Confidence breeds hope. Hope breeds peace.” ― Confucius
14. “He who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions.” ― Confucius
15. “The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.” ― Confucius
16. “What the superior man seeks is in himself; what the small man seeks is in others.” ― Confucius
17. “Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.” ― Confucius
18. “The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life.” ― Confucius
19. “Knowledge without practice is useless. Practice without knowledge is dangerous.” ― Confucius
20. “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
21. “Study the past if you want to define the future.” ― Confucius
22. “When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.” ― Confucius
23. “Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.” ― Confucius
24. “Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.” ― Confucius
25. “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
26. “A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.” ― Confucius
27. “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.” ― Confucius
28. “When anger rises, think of the consequences.” ― Confucius
29. “It is better to light one small candle of gratitude than to curse the darkness.” ― Confucius
30. “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.” ― Confucius
31. “The hardest thing of all is to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if there is no cat.” ― Confucius
32. “Attack the evil that is within yourself, rather than attacking the evil that is in others.” ― Confucius
33. “To know that we know what we know, and that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge.” ― Confucius
34. “If what one has to say is not better than silence, then one should keep silent.” ― Confucius
35. “To see what is right and not do it is the worst cowardice.” ― Confucius
36. “A fool despises good counsel, but a wise man takes it to heart.” ― Confucius
37. “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
38. “The superior man thinks always of virtue; the common man thinks of comfort.” ― Confucius
39. “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.” ― Confucius
40. “Charity, like the sun, brightens every object on which it shines.” ― Confucius
41. “Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.” ― Confucius
42. “Don’t complain about the snow on your neighbor’s roof when your own doorstep is unclean.” ― Confucius
43. “What you do not wish upon yourself, extend not to others.” ― Confucius
44. “Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.” ― Confucius
45. “The superior man is slow in his words and earnest in his conduct.” ― Confucius
46. “Have no friends not equal to yourself.” ― Confucius
47. “Faced with what is right, to leave it undone shows a lack of courage.” ― Confucius
48. “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
49. “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
50. “Consideration for others is the basis of a good life, a good society.” ― Confucius
51. “He who requires much from himself and little from others, will keep himself from being the object of resentment.” ― Confucius
52. “Time flows away like the water in the river.” ― Confucius
53. “The noble-minded are calm and steady. Little people are forever fussing and fretting.” ― Confucius
54. “The Essence of Knowledge is, having it, to use it.” ― Confucius
55. “The funniest people are the saddest once.” ― Confucius
56. “By nature, men are nearly alike; by practice, they get to be wide apart.” ― Confucius
57. “Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles.” ― Confucius
58. “True goodness springs from a man’s own heart. All men are born good.” ― Confucius
59. “Shall I teach you what knowledge? When you know a thing, say that you know it; when you do not know a thing, admit that you do not know it. That is knowledge.” ― Confucius
60. “The man of wisdom is never of two minds; the man of benevolence never worries; the man of courage is never afraid.” ― Confucius
61. “It is more shameful to distrust our friends than to be deceived by them.” ― Confucius
62. “The nobler sort of man emphasizes the good qualities in others, and does not accentuate the bad. The inferior does.” ― Confucius
63. “To be wealthy and honored in an unjust society is a disgrace.” ― Confucius
64. “The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home.” ― Confucius
65. “If a man takes no thought about what is distant, he will find sorrow near at hand.” ― Confucius
66. “One joy dispels a hundred cares.” ― Confucius
67. “If there were one word that could act as a standard of conduct for one’s entire life, perhaps it would be ’thoughtfulness.” ― Confucius
68. “Fix your mind on truth, hold firm to virtue, rely on loving kindness, and find your recreation in the Arts.” ― Confucius
69. “They must often change who would remain constant in happiness and wisdom.” ― Confucius
70. “We take greater pains to persuade others that we are happy than in endeavoring to think so ourselves.” ― Confucius
