Quotes from Confucius

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.

I used to take on trust a man's deeds after having listened to his words. Now having listened to a man's words I go on to observe his deeds.

I transmit but do not create. I place my trust in the teachings of antiquity.

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.

Every truth has four corners: as a teacher I give you one corner, and it is for you to find the other three.

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

He who is really kind, can never be unhappy

The virtuous will be sure to speak uprightly; but those whose speech is upright may not be virtuous.

Ceremonies are the first thing to be attended to in the practice of government.

People with virtue must speak out; People who speak are not all virtuous.

Virtue is not solitary; it is bound to have neighbors

I have not seen one who loves virtue as he loves beauty.

A heart set on love will do no wrong.

The path may not be left for an instant. If it could be left, it would not be the path.

By the ruler's cultivation of his own character there is set up the example of the course which all should pursue.

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

If some years were added to my life, I would give fifty to the study of the Yi, and then I might come to be without great faults.

It is man that makes truth great, and not truth that makes man great.

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

They who know the truth are not equal to those who love it, and they who love it are not equal to those who delight in it.

If names are not correct, then language is not in accord with the truth of things. If language is not in accord with the truth of things, then affairs cannot be carried out successfully.

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

To know what you know and what you do not know, that is true knowledge.

Happiness does not consist in having what you want, but in wanting what you have