Quotes from Confucius

There are those men who say to repay evil with kindness. But I say, how then are we to repay kindness? Repay kindness with kindness, but repay evil with justice.

Even if people do not know what real kindness is, they nonetheless have it within them.

Knowledge without practice is useless. Practice without knowledge is dangerous.

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.

To see the right and not to do it is cowardice.

The hardest thing of all is to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if there is no cat.

A youth is to be regarded with respect.

Respect the gods, but have as little to do with them as possible.

We should keep the dead before our eyes, and honor them as though still living

Respect the gods and the devils but keep them at a distance

While the gentleman cherishes benign rule, the small man cherishes his native land. While the gentleman cherishes a respect for the law, the small man cherishes generous treatment.

When you are ignorant about something, to know that you are ignorant about it - that is knowledge.

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

Who keeps the old akindle and adds new knowledge is fitted to be a teacher.

Shall I tell you what knowledge is? It is to know both what one knows and what one does not know.

A man who has committed a mistake and does not correct it is committing another mistake.

Go before the people with your example, and be laborious in their affairs.

You cannot open a book without learning something.

What is most needed for learning is a humble mind.

To study and not think is a waste. To think and not study is dangerous.

Things have their roots and branches. Affairs have their beginnings and their ends. To know what is first and what is last will lead one near the Way.

Learning, undigested by thought, is labor lost.

The really faithful lover of learning holds fast to the Good Way till death.

To learn without thinking is labour in vain, to think without learning is desolation.