Confucius Inspirational Quotes

#1. When superiors are fond of showing their humanity, inferiors try to outstrip one another in their practice of it.

Confucius

#2. There is the love of knowing without the love of learning; the beclouding here leads to dissipation of mind.

Confucius

#3. Wealth and rank are what people desire, but unless they are obtained in the right way they may not be possessed.

Confucius

#4. Learn, as if never overtaking your object, and yet as if apprehensive of losing it.

Confucius

#5. Never give a sword to a man who can't dance.

Confucius

#6. When you see a good person, think of becoming like her/him. When you see someone not so good, reflect on your own weak points.

Confucius

#7. He who keeps danger in mind will rest safely in his seat.

Confucius

#8. It is only the very wisest and the very stupidest who cannot change.

Confucius

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

Confucius

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

Confucius

#11. It is not the failure of others to appreciate your abilities that should trouble you, but rather your failure to appreciate theirs.

Confucius

#12. Learn as if you were not reaching your goal and as though you were scared of missing it

Confucius

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

Confucius

#14. Virtue is not solitary; it is bound to have neighbors

Confucius

#15. He who who says he can and he who says he can't are both usually right

Confucius

#16. The sun and moon shine on all without partiality.

Confucius

#17. Don't be concerned about others not appreciating you. Be concerned about your not appreciating others.

Confucius

#18. If either wealth or poverty are come by honesty, there is no shame.

Confucius

#19. Even in killing men, observe the rules of propriety.

Confucius

#20. To govern is to correct. If you set an example by being correct, who would dare remain incorrect?

Confucius

#21. Do not use a cannon to kill a mosquito.

Confucius

#22. An inch of time on the sundial is worth more than a foot of jade.

Confucius

#23. The Man who says he can, and the man who says he can not.. Are both correct

Confucius

#24. While you are not able to serve men, how can you serve spirits of the dead ... While you do not know life, how can you know about death

Confucius

#25. Friendship with the upright, with the truthful and with the well informed is beneficial. Friendship with those who flatter, with those who are meek and who compromise with principles, and with those who talk cleverly is harmful.

Confucius

#26. It cannot be when the root is neglected that what springs from it will be well ordered.

Confucius

#27. Man is born for uprightness. If a man lose his uprightness and yet live, his escape from death is mere good fortune.

Confucius

#28. It is when those who are not strong enough have made some moderate amount of progress that they fail and give up ...

Confucius

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

Confucius

#30. No lake so still but it has its wave.
No circle so perfect but that it has its blur.
I would change things for you if I could; As I can't you must take them as they are.

Confucius

#31. He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior.

Confucius

#32. Heaven begat Virtue in me; what can man do unto me?

Confucius

#33. The Master said, "What a worthy man was Yan Hui! Living in a narrow alley, subsisting upon meager bits of rice and water - other people could not have borne such hardship, and yet it never spoiled Hui's joy. What a worthy man was Hui!"
(Analects 6.11)

Confucius

#34. The faults of the superior man are like the eclipses of the sun and moon. He has his faults, and all men see them; he changes, and all men look up to him.

Confucius

#35. A man who does not think and plan long ahead will find trouble right at his door.

Confucius

#36. The superior man is easy to serve, but difficult to please ... The inferior man is difficult to serve, but easy to please.

Confucius

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

Confucius

#38. Wherever you go, go with all your heart.

Confucius

#39. When the wind blows,the grass bends.

Confucius

#40. Not to alter one's faults is to be faulty indeed.

Confucius

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

Confucius

#42. It is always easier to take the words of a Jesus, a Gandhi, a Marx, or a Confucius as constituting Holy Writ. This involves less reading, less study, less thought, less conflict, and less independent searching, but it also means less growth toward maturity.

William Coperthwaite

#43. Walking among three people, I find my teacher among them. I choose that which is good in them and follow it, and that which is bad and change it.

Confucius

#44. With coarse rice to eat, with water to drink, and my bent arm for a pillow - I have still joy in the midst of all these things.

Confucius

#45. He who is concerned only with the purity of his own life ruins the great human relations.

Confucius

#46. If you make a mistake and do not correct it, this is called a mistake.

Confucius

#47. Learn as though you would never be able to master it; hold it as though you would be in fear of losing it.

Confucius