The Master said-A plausible tongue and a fascinating expression are seldom associated with true virtue.
Let loyalty and truth be paramount with you. If you have faults, shrink not from correcting them.
Learning without thought is labor lost. Thought without learning is intellectual death.
In mourning, it is better to be sincere than to be punctilious.
The faults of men are characteristic of themselves. By observing a man's fault you may infer what his virtues are.
The commander-in-chief of an army can be carried captive, but the convictions of even the meanest man cannot be taken from him.
A youth should be filial at home, respectful abroad. He should be earnest and truthful. He should overflow in love to all, but cultivate the friendship of the good. Then, whatsoever of energy may be left to him, he should devote to the improvement of his mind.
(A disciple having asked for a dedinition of charity, the mother said:) LOVE ONE ANOTHER!
(Someone asked Confucius, "Master, what think you concerning the principle that good should be returned for evil?" The Master replied:) What then will you return for good? No, RETURN GOOD FOR GOOD; FOR EVIL, JUSTICE.
(A disciple having asked for a rule of life in a word, the Master said: Is not recipricity that word?) WHAT YOU WOULD NOT OTHERS DO UNTO YOU, DO NOT DO UNTO THEM.
YOU ARE READING
THE ANALECTS OF CONFUCIUS(TRANSLATED BY HERBERT A. GILES)
RandomConfucianism is pervasize in Chinese literature, the centerpiece of which are the Classics, contained in the two sets of books reffered to as the Five Classics and the Four Books.
