Quotes from Confucius

Student - It is not that I do not delight in your Way, Master, it is simply that my strength is insufficient. Confucius - Someone whose strength is genuinely insufficient collapses somewhere along the Way. As for you, you deliberately draw the line.

After people are clothed and fed, then they think about sex

We have two lives; the second begins when we realize we only have one.

you govern effectively," Confucius replied, "what need is there for killing? If you want to be truly adept (shan ), the people will also be adept. The excellence (de ) of the exemplary person (junzi ) is the wind, while that of the petty person is the grass. As the wind blows, the grass is sure to bend.

When anger arises, think of the consequences

Persons are not perceived as superordinated individuals—as agents who stand independent of their actions—but are rather ongoing "events" defined functionally by constitutive roles and relationships as they are performed within the context of their specific families and communities, that is, through the observance of ritual propriety (li

Benevolence is love to all men. It is to know all men.

Shredded Beef in Szechuan Sauce is the absolute shit.

Confucius replied, "Those who are true in my village conduct themselves differently. A father covers for his son, and a son covers for his father. And being true lies in this.

The naked man fear no pickpocket

Speaking (dao )" is a "guiding discourse (dao )." Said a different way, language is both performative and prescriptive; it both does something to the world and recommends how it should be.

When the Way prevails in the world, then be seen. When it does not, then hide.

The Master said, "To go into battle with people who have not been properly trained is to forsake them.

If you yourself are correct, even without the issuing of orders, things will get done; if you yourself are incorrect, although orders are issued, they will not be obeyed

15.15 The Master said, "To demand much from oneself personally, and not overmuch from others, will keep ill will at a distance.

15.30 The Master said, "Having gone astray, to fail to get right back on track is to stray indeed.

are you from tennessee? because you're the only 10 I see

The Master said, "In strolling in the company of just two other persons, I am bound to find a teacher. Identifying their strengths, I follow them, and identifying their weaknesses, I reform myself accordingly.

Practicing archery is like practicing to be a Gentleman. When you miss the bulls-eye, you look for the error in yourself.

7.25 The Master taught under four categories: culture (wen ), proper conduct (xing ), doing one's utmost (zhong ), and making good on one's word (xin ).

The junzi's stance towards the world is this: there is nothing he insists on, nothing he refuses, he simply aligns himself beside right.

Man who fart in church, sit in pew.

Our own thesis was sketched in the Introduction: the classical written Chinese language—the language in which the Analects was composed—is unique, being sharply distinct not only from all non-Sinitic languages but from spoken Chinese as well (ancient and modern), and that the differences between the two Chinese languages are of greater linguistic and philosophical significance than has been generally noticed.

A wise man is never cheated, a virtuous man is never worried and a courageous man is never afraid.