The collection / 384 fragments

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Passages, proverbs, and questions carried across the ages.

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01c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'If, because a man's discourse appears solid and sincere, we allow him to be a good man, is he really a superior man? or is his gravity only in appearance?'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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02c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'In hearing litigations, I am like any other body. What is necessary, however, is to cause the people to have no litigations.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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03c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'By extensively studying all learning, and keeping himself under the restraint of the rules of propriety, one may thus likewise not err from what is right.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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04c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'The superior man seeks to perfect the admirable qualities of men, and does not seek to perfect their bad qualities. The mean man does the opposite of this.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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05c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'Though a man may be able to recite the three hundred odes, yet if, when intrusted with a governmental charge, he knows not how to act, or if, when sent to any quarter on a mission, he cannot give his replies unassisted, notwithstanding the extent of his learning, of what practical use is it?'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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06c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'When a prince's personal conduct is correct, his government is effective without the issuing of orders. If his personal conduct is not correct, he may issue orders, but they will not be followed.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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07c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'The governments of Lu and Wei are brothers.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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08c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'If there were (any of the princes) who would employ me, in the course of twelve months, I should have done something considerable. In three years, the government would be perfected.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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09c. 515 BC

The Master said, '"If good men were to govern a country in succession for a hundred years, they would be able to transform the violently bad, and dispense with capital punishments." True indeed is this saying!'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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10c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'If a truly royal ruler were to arise, it would still require a generation, and then virtue would prevail.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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11c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'If a minister make his own conduct correct, what difficulty will he have in assisting in government? If he cannot rectify himself, what has he to do with rectifying others?'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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12c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'Since I cannot get men pursuing the due medium, to whom I might communicate my instructions, I must find the ardent and the cautiously-decided. The ardent will advance and lay hold of truth; the cautiously-decided will keep themselves from what is wrong.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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13c. 515 BC

1. The Master said, 'The people of the south have a saying— "A man without constancy cannot be either a wizard or a doctor." Good! 2. 'Inconstant in his virtue, he will be visited with disgrace.' 3. The Master said, 'This arises simply from not attending to the prognostication.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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14c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'The superior man is affable, but not adulatory; the mean man is adulatory, but not affable.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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15c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'The superior man is easy to serve and difficult to please. If you try to please him in any way which is not accordant with right, he will not be pleased. But in his employment of men, he uses them according to their capacity. The mean man is difficult to serve, and easy to please. If you try to please him, though it be in a way which is not accordant with right, he may be pleased. But in his employment of men, he wishes them to be equal to everything.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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16c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'The superior man has a dignified ease without pride. The mean man has pride without a dignified ease.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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17c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'The firm, the enduring, the simple, and the modest are near to virtue.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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18c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'Let a good man teach the people seven years, and they may then likewise be employed in war.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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19c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'To lead an uninstructed people to war, is to throw them away.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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20c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'The scholar who cherishes the love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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21c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'When good government prevails in a state, language may be lofty and bold, and actions the same. When bad government prevails, the actions may be lofty and bold, but the language may be with some reserve.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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22c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'The virtuous will be sure to speak correctly, but those whose speech is good may not always be virtuous. Men of principle are sure to be bold, but those who are bold may not always be men of principle.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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23c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'Superior men, and yet not always virtuous, there have been, alas! But there never has been a mean man, and, at the same time, virtuous.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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24c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'Can there be love which does not lead to strictness with its object? Can there be loyalty which does not lead to the instruction of its object?'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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