Quotes from Confucius – China’s Most Revered Sage

 Kong Qui, better known as Confucius, was born in 551 B.C. in the Lu state of China. His teachings, preserved in the Analects, focused on creating ethical models of family and public interaction, and setting educational standards. He died in 479 B.C. Confucianism later became the official imperial philosophy of China, and was extremely influential during the Han, Tang and Song dynasties

 His philosophy of education focused on the “Six Arts”: archery, calligraphy, computation, music, chariot-driving and ritual. To Confucius, the main objective of being an educator was to teach people to live with integrity. Through his teachings, he strove to resurrect the traditional values of benevolence, propriety and ritual in Chinese society.

 Here are a few famous quotes from the Grand Master of TRUTH:

• Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.
• Wherever you go, go with all your heart.
• Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.
• When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.
• Silence is a true friend who never betrays.
• Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.
• He who learns but does not think, is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger.
• If I am walking with two other men, each of them will serve as my teacher. I will pick out the good points of the one and imitate them, and the bad points of the other and correct them in myself.
• I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.
• It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get.
• Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.
• Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.
• If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms of ten years, plant trees; if in terms of 100 years, teach the people.
• Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.
• To know what you know and what you do not know, that is true knowledge.
• The superior man thinks always of virtue; the common man thinks of comfort.
• 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.
• If we don’t know life, how can we know death?
• We should feel sorrow, but not sink under its oppression.
• In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.
• There are three methods to gaining wisdom. The first is reflection, which is the highest. The second is limitation, which is the easiest. The third is experience, which is the bitterest.
• By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.
• Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
• Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.
• The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential… these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.