The collection / 208 fragments

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Passages, proverbs, and questions carried across the ages.

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01c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'There are only the wise of the highest class, and the stupid of the lowest class, who cannot be changed.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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02c. 515 BC

1. The Master said, 'My children, why do you not study the Book of Poetry? 2. 'The Odes serve to stimulate the mind. 3. 'They may be used for purposes of self-contemplation. 4. 'They teach the art of sociability. 5. 'They show how to regulate feelings of resentment. 6. 'From them you learn the more immediate duty of serving one's father, and the remoter one of serving one's prince. 7. 'From them we become largely acquainted with the names of birds, beasts, and plants.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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03c. 515 BC

The Master said, '"It is according to the rules of propriety," they say.— "It is according to the rules of propriety," they say. Are gems and silk all that is meant by propriety? "It is music," they say.— "It is music," they say. Are bells and drums all that is meant by music?'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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04c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'He who puts on an appearance of stern firmness, while inwardly he is weak, is like one of the small, mean people;— yea, is he not like the thief who breaks through, or climbs over, a wall?'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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05c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'Your good, careful people of the villages are the thieves of virtue.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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06c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'To tell, as we go along, what we have heard on the way, is to cast away our virtue.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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07c. 515 BC

1. The Master said, 'There are those mean creatures! How impossible it is along with them to serve one's prince! 2. 'While they have not got their aims, their anxiety is how to get them. When they have got them, their anxiety is lest they should lose them. 3. 'When they are anxious lest such things should be lost, there is nothing to which they will not proceed.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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08c. 515 BC

1. The Master said, 'Anciently, men had three failings, which now perhaps are not to be found. 2. 'The high-mindedness of antiquity showed itself in a disregard of small things; the high-mindedness of the present day shows itself in wild license. The stern dignity of antiquity showed itself in grave reserve; the stern dignity of the present day shows itself in quarrelsome perverseness. The stupidity of antiquity showed itself in straightforwardness; the stupidity of the present day shows itself in sheer deceit.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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09c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with virtue.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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10c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'I hate the manner in which purple takes away the luster of vermilion. I hate the way in which the songs of Chang confound the music of the Ya. I hate those who with their sharp mouths overthrow kingdoms and families.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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11c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'Hard is it to deal with him, who will stuff himself with food the whole day, without applying his mind to anything good! Are there not gamesters and chess players? To be one of these would still be better than doing nothing at all.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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12c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'Of all people, girls and servants are the most difficult to behave to. If you are familiar with them, they lose their humility. If you maintain a reserve towards them, they are discontented.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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13c. 515 BC

The Master said, 'When a man at forty is the object of dislike, he will always continue what he is.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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14c. 515 BC

1. The Master said, 'Without recognising the ordinances of Heaven, it is impossible to be a superior man. 2. 'Without an acquaintance with the rules of Propriety, it is impossible for the character to be established. 3. 'Without knowing the force of words, it is impossible to know men.'

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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15c. 515 BC

Have faithfulness and sincerity as first principles.

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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16c. 515 BC

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

Confucius (traditional attribution) / quote

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