20 Thought-Provoking Quotes By Confucius

This article contains 20 thought-provoking quotations by the Chinese philosopher Confucius.

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

“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.”

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

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

“He who chases two rabbits catches none.”

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

“If you hate a person, you are defeated by them.”

“If your plan is for 1 year, plant rice. If your plan is for 10 years, plant trees. If your plan is for 100 years, educate children.”

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

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

“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.”

“Respect yourself and others will respect you.”

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

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

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

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

“When anger rises, think of the consequences.”

“You cannot open a book without learning something.”

“Your life is what your thoughts make it.”

Conclusion

I hope you find these quotations thought-provoking.

You can also download a file containing all 20 of the above images if you want to use them as wallpaper on your computer, for example – just click here.

(This file is a Zip file, so if you don’t have the means to unzip it, you can get a free trial of WinZip here.)

Additional Resources

These are suggestions for those who wish to delve deeper into any of the above:

1. The Analects