Confucian Quotes

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.

Take the serious side of Disney, the Confucian side of Disney. It's in having taken an ethoswhere you have the values of courage and tenderness asserted in a way that everybody can understand. You have got an absolute genius there. You have got a greater correlation of nature than you have had since the time of Alexander the Great.

There is one God. The Jews and the Christians have no monopoly on God. I'm speaking about the same God the Hindus talk about, the same God the Muslims talk about, the same God that the Taoists and the Confucians talk about.

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.

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.

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.

Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles.

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

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.

The Confucian concept and Chinese ideograms for 'woman' and for 'slave' are the same.

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

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.

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

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.

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

He who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make his words good.

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

Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.

In everything, no matter what it may be, uniformity is undesirable. Leaving something incomplete makes it interesting, and gives one the feeling that there is room for growth. Someone once told me, "Even when building the imperial palace, they always leave one place unfinished." In both Buddhist and Confucian writings of the philosophers of former times, there are also many missing chapters.

Taoist chanting, Confucian chanting, Christian chanting, Buddhist chanting don't matter. Chanting Coca Cola, Coca Cola, Coca Cola … can be just as good if you keep a clear mind. But if you don't keep a clear mind, and are only following your thinking as you mouth the words, even the Buddha cannot help you.

I consider myself a Hindu, Christian, Moslem, Jew, Buddhist and Confucian.

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

Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.

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

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.

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

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

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

Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes.

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

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

Traditional Chinese art looked at the Earth from a Confucian mountain top; Japanese art looked closely around screens; Italian Renaissance art surveyed conquered nature through the window or door-frame of a palace. For the Cro-Magnons, space is a metaphysical arena of continually intermittent appearances and disappearances.

In the Confucian tradition is a simple formula that appeals to me deeply: 'If there is righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty in the character. If there is beauty in the character, there will be harmony in the home. If there is harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.' I urge everyone to reflect deeply on these words, as simple as they are profound.

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

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.

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

Respect yourself and others will respect you.

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

When anger rises, think of the consequences.

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

A Confucian or Jewish love of learning would gain minorities far more than any affirmative action laws we might pass.

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

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

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

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Watch your step.

Wherever you go, go with all your heart.

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.