Browsing Topic Best Confucian Quotes

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

When anger rises, think of the consequences.

Wherever you go, go with all your heart.

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.

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.

That’s a mistake I think that a lot of Western observers make is to assume that Korean nationalism is hundreds if not thousands of years old. When in fact nationalism is incompatible with Korean Confucian tradition.

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.

A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.

Choose a career you love and you will never have to go to work.

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

Is virtue a thing remote? I wish to be virtuous, and lo! Virtue is at hand.

Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.

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

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

Respect yourself and others will respect you.

Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.

Things that are done, it is needless to speak about…things that are past, it is needless to blame.

Men’s natures are alike; it is their habits that separate them.

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.

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.

Virtue is more to man than either water or fire. I have seen men die from treading on water and fire, but I have never seen a man die from treading the course of virtue.

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

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

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

They must often change, who would be constant in happiness or wisdom.

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.

To see what is right and not to do it is want of courage, or of principle.

Study the past if you would define the future. 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. Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.

Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles.

If a man takes no thought about what is distant, he will find sorrow near at hand.

The people may be made to follow a path of action but they may not be made to understand it.

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.

Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes.

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

Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue.