161 Most Famous Confucius Quotes That Will Change Your World

Confucius (551-479 BC) was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher, born Kong Qiu (孔丘) in China. He was one of the most influential people in Chinese history, and his teachings have had a profound impact on East Asian thought.

Confucius’s philosophy emphasized personal and governmental morality, the correctness of social relationships, justice, and sincerity. Some people call him the “Chinese Socrates,” while his teachings are also recognized as an integral part of Chinese traditional culture. Confucius is traditionally believed to have been born to a family member of the Mandarins-scholar-official class of the Zhou dynasty.

These 161 Confucius quotes can help inspire you and motivate you to be the best that you can be

“The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life.”

“Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes.”

“Isn’t it a pleasure to study and practice what you have learned?”

“Isn’t it also great when friends visit from distant places? If one remains not annoyed when he is not understood by people around him, isn’t he a sage?”

“It is not possible for one to teach others who cannot teach his own family.”

“Respect yourself and others will respect you.”

“Silence is a true friend who never betrays.”

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” – Confucius

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius

“Without feelings of respect, what is there to distinguish men from beasts?”

“He who excels in study can follow an official career.”

“Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.”

“What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.” – Confucius

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” – Confucius

“Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.”

“To love a thing means wanting it to live.”

“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.” – Confucius

“Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.”

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

“When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals; adjust the action steps.”

“Faced with what is right, to leave it undone shows a lack of courage.”

“To be able under all circumstances to practice five things constitutes perfect virtue; these five things are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness.”

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” – Confucius

“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.” – Confucius

“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” – Confucius

“Learn as though you would never be able to master it; hold it as though you would be in fear of losing it.”

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”

“They must often change who would be constant in happiness or wisdom.”

“What the superior man seeks is in himself; what the small man seeks is in others.”

“In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.”

“It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.”

“Do not be desirous of having things done quickly. Do not look at small advantages. Desire to have things done quickly prevents their being done thoroughly.”

“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.”

“Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself.”

“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.”

“Respect yourself and others will respect you.”

“Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.”

“If your plan is for one year plant rice. If your plan is for 10 years plant trees. If your plan is for 100 years educate children.”

“The man who says he can, and the man who says he can’t are both correct.”

“If you make a mistake and do not correct it, this is called a mistake.”

“To go beyond is as wrong as to fall short.”

“The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trial.” – Confucius

“In a country well governed poverty is something to be ashamed of.”

“Things that are done, it is needless to speak about…things that are past, it is needless to blame.”

“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.”

“Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.” – Confucius

“Looking at small advantages prevents great affairs from being accomplished.”

“The people may be made to follow a path of action, but they may not be made to understand it.”

“When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them.”

“Act with kindness but do not expect gratitude.”

“Worry not that no one knows you; seek to be worth knowing.”

“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.”

“When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.”

“The cautious seldom err.”

“The superior man is modest in his speech, but excels in his actions.” – Confucius

“When anger rises, think of the consequences.” – Confucius

“He who learns but does not think, is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger.” – Confucius

“A man who does not plan long ahead will find trouble right at his door.”

“Silence is the true friend that never betrays.” – Confucius

“Humility is the solid foundation of all the virtues.”

“With coarse rice to eat, with water to drink, and my bended arm for a pillow – I have still joy in the midst of these things. Riches and honors acquired by unrighteousness are to me as a floating cloud.”

“Study the past, if you would divine the future.” – Confucius

“The superior man thinks always of virtue; the common man thinks of comfort.” – Confucius

“Learn advidly. Question it repeatedly. Analyze it carefully. Then put what you have learned into practice intelligently.”

“We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one.”

“If you are the smartest person in the room, then you are in the wrong room.”

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”

“In a country well-governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.”

“To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it.”

“The scholar who cherishes the love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar.”

“The real fault is to have faults and not amend them.”

“The faults of a superior person are like the sun and moon. They have their faults, and everyone sees them; they change and everyone looks up to them.”

“A fool despises good counsel, but a wise man takes it to heart.”

“He who will not economize will have to agonize.”

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”

“He who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions.”

“When you see a good person, think of becoming like her/him. When you see someone not so good, reflect on your own weak points.”

“I slept and dreamt life is beauty, I woke and found life is duty.”

“The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.”

“Be strict with yourself but least reproachful of others and complaint is kept afar.”

“They must often change who would remain constant in happiness and wisdom.”

“To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it.” – Confucius

“Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.” – Confucius

“Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.” – Confucius

“I want you to be everything that’s you, deep at the center of your being.” – Confucius

“If you look into your own heart, and you find nothing wrong there, what is there to worry about? What is there to fear?” – Confucius

“The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large.” – Confucius

“No matter how busy you make think you are you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.”

“Think of tomorrow, the past can’t be mended.”

“When anger rises, think of the consequences.”

“Study the past if you would define the future.”

“A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.” – Confucius

“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”

“By nature, men are nearly alike; by practice, they get to be wide apart.”

“Learn as if you were not reaching your goal and as though you were scared of missing it.”

“Don’t complain about the snow on your neighbor’s roof when your own doorstep is unclean.”

“The funniest people are the saddest ones.”

“The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home.” – Confucius

“Silence is a true friend who never betrays.” – Confucius

“Those who cannot forgive others break the bridge over which they themselves must pass.”

“Those who know the truth are not equal to those who love it.”

“The superior man thinks always of virtue; the common man thinks of comfort.”

“You cannot open a book without learning something.” – Confucius

“Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.” – Confucius

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

“Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.”

“I want you to be everything that’s you, deep at the center of your being.”

“The object of the superior man is truth.”

“Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.”

“Humility is the solid foundation of all virtues.” – Confucius

“The superior man is distressed by the limitations of his ability; he is not distressed by the fact that men do not recognize the ability that he has.”

“To know what you know and what you do not know, that is true knowledge.”

“Virtuous people often revenge themselves for the constraints to which they submit by the boredom which they inspire.”

“He who acts with a constant view to his own advantage will be much murmured against.”

“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.”

“To see what is right and not to do it is want of courage, or of principle.”

“You cannot open a book without learning something.”

“Education breeds confidence. Confidence breeds hope. Hope breeds peace.”

“The nobler sort of man emphasizes the good qualities in others, and does not accentuate the bad. The inferior does.”

“A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.”

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

“All people are the same; only their habits differ.”

“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.” – Confucius

“The essence of knowledge is, having it, to use it.”

“One joy dispels a hundred cares.”

“Anyone can find the switch after the lights are on.”

“The journey with a 1000 miles begins with one step.”

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”

“You are what you think.”

“We should feel sorrow, but not sink under its oppression.”

“Recompense injury with justice, and recompense kindness with kindness.”

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Confucius

“When we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves.”

“It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop.” – Confucius

“He with whom neither slander that gradually soaks into the mind, nor statements that startle like a wound in the flesh, are successful may be called intelligent indeed.”

“A lion chased me up a tree, and I greatly enjoyed the view from the top.”

“Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.”

“Men’s natures are alike, it is their habits that carry them far apart.”

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

“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.”

“Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles.”

“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”

“Roads were made for journeys not destinations.”

“To see what is right, and not to do it, is want of courage or of principle.”

“Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue.”

“Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.”

“Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation, there is sure to be failure.”

“To be wronged is nothing, unless you continue to remember it.”

“Men’s natures are alike, it is their habits that carry them far apart.”

“It is only the wisest and the stupidest that cannot change.”

“The essence of knowledge is, having it, to apply it not having it, to confess your ignorance.”

“Never contract friendship with a man that is not better than thyself.”

 “The man who says he can, and the man who says he can not… Are both correct.”

“Your life is what your thoughts make it.”

“The superior man acts before he speaks, and afterwards speaks according to his action.”

“Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.”

“When anger rises, think of the consequences.”

“Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.”

“The superior man makes the difficulty to be overcome his first interest; success only comes later.”

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