Confucius (/kənˈfjuːʃəs/ kən-FEW-shəs; 551 BC – 479 BC) was a Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history.
First there must be order and harmony within your own mind. Then this order will spread to your family, then to the community, and finally to your entire kingdom. Only then can you have peace and harmony.
From the loving example of one family a whole State may become loving, and from its courtesies, courteous; while from the ambition and perverseness of the one man the whole State may be thrown into rebellious disorder. Such is the nature of influence.
Even in killing men, observe the rules of propriety.
Thought, unassisted by learning, is dangerous.
A truly great man never puts away the simplicity of a child.
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.
There is one single thread binding my way together. . . the way of the Master consists in doing one's best. . . that is all.
An orchid in a deep forest sends out its fragrance even if no one is around to appreciate it.
By nature, men are nearly alike; by practice, they get to be wide apart.
Be faithful and true of word; let thy walk be plain and lowly: thou wilt get on, though in savage land. If thy words be not faithful and true, thy walk plain and lowly, wilt thou get on, though in thine own home? Standing, see these words ranged before thee; driving, see them written upon the yoke. Then thou wilt get on.
Men's natures are alike; it is their habits that separate them.
Plan ahead or find trouble on the doorstep.
Wealth and rank are what people desire, but unless they are obtained in the right way they may not be possessed.
An image is better than one thousand words
When you know a thing, to hold that you know it, and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it - this is knowledge.
If the people be led by laws, and uniformity sought to be given them by punishments, they will try to avoid the punishment, but have no sense of shame.
I live in a very small house, but my windows look out on a very large world.
The Master said of Gong Yechang, “He is marriageable. Although he was once imprisoned and branded as a criminal, he was in fact innocent of any crime. ” The Master gave him his daughter in marriage. (Analects 5. 1)
The superior man does not mind being in office; all he minds about is whether he has qualities that entitle him to office. He does not mind failing to get recognition; he is too busy doing the things that entitle him to recognition.
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.