90 Confucianism Quotes
Following is our list of confucianism quotations and slogans full of insightful wisdom and perspective about lao tzu.
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Famous Confucianism Quotes
To practice five things under all circumstances constitutes perfect virtue; these five are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness. — Confucius
Chinese culture has a lot of virtues that are tremendously valuable to not only us as Asian-Americans, but also the world in general. — Martin Yan
The object of the superior man is truth. — Confucius
Without the tao, Kindness and compassion are replaced by law and justice; Faith and trust are supplanted by ritual and ceremony. — Lao Tzu
The superior man, extensively studying all learning, and keeping himself under the restraint of the rules of propriety, may thus likewise not overstep what is right. — Confucius
The superior man... does not set his mind either for or against anything, he will pursue whatever is right. The superior man thinks of virtue, the common man of comfort. — Confucius
A good man regards the root; he fixes the root, and ail else flows out of it. The root is filial piety; the fruit brotherly love. — Confucius
Let the states of equilibrium and harmony exist in perfection, and a happy order will prevail throughout heaven and earth, and all things will be nourished and flourish. — Confucius
Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles. — Confucius
Sincerity is the way of heaven. — Confucius
When one cultivates to the utmost the principles of his nature, and exercises them on the principle of reciprocity, he is not far from the path. — Confucius
Since the nature of people is bad, to become corrected they must be taught by teachers and to be orderly they must acquire ritual and moral principles. — Xunzi
A superior man in dealing with the world is not for anything or against anything. He follows righteousness as the standard. — Confucius
The superior man thinks always of virtue; the common man thinks of comfort. — Confucius
To be fond of learning is near to wisdom; to practice with vigor is near to benevolence; and to be conscious of shame is near to fortitude. — Confucius
Short Confucianism Quotes
- Happiness exist when you don't know a thing — The Weeknd
- Reviewing what you have learned and learning anew, you are fit to be a teacher. — Confucius
- If you try to do too much, you will not achieve anything. — Confucius
- Respect yourself and others will respect you. — Confucius
- Choose a career you love and you will never have to go to work. — Denis Waitley
- If a man takes no thought about what is distant, he will find sorrow near at hand. — Confucius
- Those who know the TRUTH are not equal to those who love it. — Confucius
- All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get. — Morarji Desai
- Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue. — Confucius
- Men's natures are alike; it is their habits that separate them. — Confucius
Confucius Quotes
So I cast my lot with Him-not the one who claimed wisdom, Confucius; or the one who claimed enlightenment, Buddha; or the one who claimed to be a prophet, Muhammad, but with the one who claimed to be God in human flesh. The one who declared, 'Before Abraham was born, I am'-and proved it. — Norman Geisler
Those who know the truth are not equal to those who love it Confucius All truth is safe and nothing else is safe, but he who keeps back truth, or withholds it from men, from motives of expediency, is either a coward or a criminal. — James Russell Lowell
In the worship of Bacchus, we have sacrificed too freely.... Why not consecrate ourselves to the queen of the Camelias, and revel in the warm stream of sympathy that flows from her altar? In the liquid amber within the ivory-porcelain, the initiated may touch the sweet reticence of Confucius. — Okakura Kakuzo
Confucius was a humanist and an agnostic. — Hu Shih
It was either me or Confucius that said the journey of a thousand miles begins with a vicious ass raping at airport security. — Doug Stanhope
The new religion without any secrets is philosophy. The old religion, said Aristotle, is necessary only for the uneducated; Confucius, Buddha, Voltaire and Lessing were of the same opinion. — Artur Phleps
Never accept the blame for what evil people do. We are all responsible for our own actions." She was lecturing him, so she stopped. "Sorry. Hang around with Bran too long, and see if you don’t start passing around the Marrok’s advice as if he were Confucius. — Patricia Briggs
I do not suspect that Jefferson or Madison ever envisioned Congress honoring the 2,560th anniversary of the birth of Confucius or supporting the designation of National Pi Day. — Eric Cantor
Where one is hopelessly undecided as to what to say, there (as Confucius would have said, if they had given him the opportunity) silence is golden. — Lewis Carroll
Confucius does his crossword with a pen. — Tori Amos
Lao Tzu Quotes
Sometimes I find myself thinking, rather wistfully, about Lao Tzu's famous dictum: 'Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish.' All around me I see something very different, let us say - a number of angry dwarfs trying to grill a whale. — William Carlos Williams
No one asks you to throw Mozart out of the window. Keep Mozart. Cherish him. Keep Moses too, and Buddha and Lao Tzu and Christ. Keep them in your heart. But make room for the others, the coming ones, the ones who are already scratching on the window-panes. — Henry Miller
If you care too much about what other people think, you will always be their prisoner. Lao Tzu — Avan Jogia
I have to create a circle of reading for myself: Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Lao-Tzu, Buddha, Pascal, The New Testament. This is also necessary for all people. — Leo Tolstoy
The founders of the great world religions, Gautama Buddha, Jesus, Lao-Tzu, Mohammed, all seem to have striven for a worldwide brotherhood of man; but none of them could develop institutions which would include the enemy, the unbeliever. — Geoffrey Gorer
The mind always wants to choose. The mind lives through choice. If you don't choose the mind drops. This is the way of Lao Tzu. How to drop the mind? - don't choose! That's why he never prescribes any meditation, because then there is no need for any meditation. — Osho
[The Master] doesn't glitter like a jewel... [but is] as rugged and common as a stone. — Lao Tzu
Taoism is the way of water. The most frequent element or symbol refered to in Lao Tzu's wrtings is the symbol of water. — Frederick Lenz
Confucius is like the Torah, rules to follow. And Lao-Tzu is even more conservative, saying that if you do nothing you won't break any rules. You have to let tradition fall sometime, you have to take action, you have to eat bacon. — Christopher Moore
I was inspired to spend an entire year - my 65th year - reading, researching, and meditating on Lao-tzu's messages, practicing them and ultimately writing down these insights as I felt Lao-tzu wanted us to know them. — Wayne Dyer
People Writing About Confucianism
| Name | Quotes | Likes |
|---|---|---|
 Confucius |
911 | 18025 |
 Martin Yan |
37 | 420 |
 Lao Tzu |
1418 | 11725 |
 Xunzi |
47 | 599 |
 The Weeknd |
22 | 656 |
 Denis Waitley |
312 | 3921 |
More Confucianism Quotes
I regard monotheism as the greatest disaster ever to befall the human race. I see no good in Judaism, Christianity, or Islam - good people, yes, but any religion based on a single, well, frenzied and virulent god, is not as useful to the human race as, say, Confucianism, which is not a religion but an ethical and educational system. — Gore Vidal
Every single one of the major world faiths, whether we're talking about Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Darwinism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, have all come to the conclusion that what holds us back from our better self is ego, selfishness, greed, unkindness, hatred. And it all springs from a sense of thwarted ego. — Karen Armstrong
In archery we have something like the way of the superior man. When the archer misses the center of the target, he turns round and seeks for the cause of his failure in himself. — Confucius
Without an acquaintance with the rules of propriety, it is impossible for the character to be established — Confucius
The Superior Man has nothing to compete for. But if he must compete, he does it in an archery match, wherein he ascends to his position, bowing in deference. Descending, he drinks the ritual cup. — Confucius
The Way of the warrior does not include other ways, such as Confucianism, Buddhism, certain traditions, artistic accomplishments, and dancing. But even though these are not part of the Way, if you know the Way broadly, you will see it in everything. — Miyamoto Musashi
When you meet someone better than yourself, turn your thoughts to becoming his equal. When you meet someone not as good as you are, look within and examine your own self. — Confucius
Study the past if you would define the future. 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. Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous. — Confucius
The superior man, when resting in safety, does not forget that danger may come. — Confucius
The Superior Man is aware of Righteousness, the inferior man is aware of advantage. — Confucius
When I walk along with two others, from at least one I will be able to learn. — Confucius
The superior man cannot be known in little matters, but he may be entrusted with great concerns. The small man may not be entrusted with great concerns, but he may be known in little matters. — Confucius
Taoist chanting, Confucian chanting, Christian chanting, Buddhist chanting don't matter. Chanting Coca Cola, Coca Cola, Coca Cola … can be just as good if you keep a clear mind. But if you don't keep a clear mind, and are only following your thinking as you mouth the words, even the Buddha cannot help you. — Seungsahn
By nature, men are nearly alike; by practice, they get to be wide apart. — Confucius
The gods should certainly be revered, but kept at a distance... . The way is not beyond man; he who creates a way outside of man cannot make it a true way. A good man is content with changing man, and that is enough for him. — Confucius
If a man has no humaneness what can his propriety be like? If a man has no humaneness what can his happiness be like? — Confucius
Wealth and honor, benefits and blessings shall enrich my life; poverty and failures, grief and anxiety shall help fulfill it. In my life, I will serve heaven and earth; in death I will find peace. — Zhang Zai
If you don't know how to serve men, why worry about serving the gods? — Confucius
To study and not think is a waste. To think and not study is dangerous. — Confucius
There is nothing more visible than what is secret, and nothing more manifest than what is minute. — Confucius
I have not seen a person who loved virtue, or one who hated what was not virtuous. He who loved virtue would esteem nothing above it. — Confucius
Therefore the superior man is watchful over himself, when he is alone. — Confucius
The Superior Man is all-embracing and not partial. The inferior man is partial and not all-embracing. — Confucius
Great as heaven and earth are, men still find some things in them with which to be dissatisfied. Thus it is that, were the superior man to speak of his way in all its greatness, nothing in the world would be found able to embrace it, and were he to speak of it in its minuteness, nothing in the world would be found able to split it. — Confucius
They who know the truth are not equal to those who love it, and they who love it are not equal to those who delight in it. — Confucius
The man who in view of gain thinks of righteousness; who in the view of danger is prepared to give up his life; and who does not forget an old agreement however far back it extends - such a man may be reckoned a complete man. — Confucius
Isn't it a pleasure to study and practice what you have learned? — Confucius
Life and human society are the chief concern of Confucianism and, through it, the chief concern of the Chinese people. — Hu Shih
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. — Confucius
Earnest in practicing the ordinary virtues, and careful in speaking about them, if, in his practice, he has anything defective, the superior man dares not but exert himself; and if, in his words, he has any excess, he dares not allow himself such license. — Confucius
Virtue is more to man than either water or fire. I have seen men die from treading on water and fire, but I have never seen a man die from treading the course of virtue. — Confucius
Confucianism strongly condemned the use of drugs like opium. — Robert Trout
Under Confucianism, the use of precisely measured court music, prescribed steps, actions, and phrases all added up to an extremely complex system of rituals, each used for a particular purpose at a particular time. — Benjamin Hoff
Subtract miracles from Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism, or Toaism, and you have essentially the same religion left. Subtract miracles from Christianity, and you have nothing but the cliches and platitudes most American Christians get weekly (and weakly) from their pulpits. — Peter Kreeft
There is a growing interest in Confucianism in China and other parts of the world. More and more followers of Confucianism are advocating a deeper study of his philosophies. Confucius' ideals stand true even today. His philosophy on how to be a Junzi or the perfect gentleman is based on the simple ideology of love and tolerance. — Confucius
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