10 Powerful Confucius Quotes That Will Change Your Perspective On Life

Confucius, whose name literally means “Master Kong”, lived 551-479 BCE. He
was a Chinese thinker and philosopher, whose teachings have deeply influenced
not only Asian thought and life. He presented himself as a “transmitter who
invented nothing” and he really pointed out the importance of learning, which is
one reason he is seen by Chinese people as “The Greatest Master”.
One of the best known sources of Confucius are The Analects, a collection of his
teachings, which was compiled many years after his death. A fountain of extremely
mindful quotes springs from these ancient descriptions.
Many of them are universal and timeless in their beautiful and simple truth
and they are as valid today as on the day they left Confucius’ mouth. Here we
take a look at 10 of the most inspiring quotes by Confucius.
Confucius says …
1. “Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself.”
It’s the “Golden Rule” and the essence of real compassion . Not compassion as in
looking down on someone and have pity for another, this is no real compassion.
Compassion means seeing another person 100% equal to yourself (in value, not in
differentials on the surface which ultimately do not matter). In fact it is seeing
yourself in every other person. And therefore you cannot harm anyone without also
harming yourself.
It doesn’t mean to lose individuality or self-worth, on the contrary – but the other
person earns the same gift.
2. “Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.”
That’s my personal favorite quote since it expresses something very profound
which also is very useful to know: Ignorance is a willful neglect or refusal to
acquire knowledge. It is not widen one’s own perspective in order to see a broader
truth. As an example it would be to have racist thoughts and not realizing that all
men are equal.
The ultimate truth therefore is where there is absolutely no ignorance, meaning
where the perspective or consciousness has become one with all that there is. In
Buddhism ignorance (Avidyā) is seen as the primary cause of suffering. Liberation
is Enlightenment. Another quote by Confucius here is “Ignorance is the night of
the mind, but a night without moon and star.”
3. “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”
Those quotes are just perfect. What he is expressing here is that we have to
experience something ourselves in order to really understand it. If we are hearing
something it might be interesting. If we are seeing something it might be beautiful.
But only if we feel in happening to ourselves we can really know how it is.
Picture something nice as winning an Olympic gold medal or picture something
terrifying as the loss of a loved one. Can you know this by hearing it or by seeing
it? Or do you have to do it and experience it yourself to really know it?
Along with this realization comes the awareness that you cannot understand
someone or his actions from hearing or seeing it from the outside. You have to feel
empathic compassion for him to really know what it is like. To know and not to do
is really not to know. Only by applying our knowledge we can validate it’s
harmony with reality, it’s truth.
4. “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”
Amazing. It calls for dropping the inner mask through which we constantly see and
evaluate the world, distorted by our wants and belief-systems. Here we have to
look at things as they are. Just like a newborn child would look at things. Then we
are able to really see again, without instant labeling of what we see and therefore
only really seeing our label. If we become able to do this – just for a second
without judgment, we can see that everything in nature is as it should be. And in
this natural perfection lies beauty.
5. “The Superior Man is aware of Righteousness, the inferior man is aware of
advantage.”
Another quote is “The object of the superior man is truth.” It is the value of
integrity: Do we act to our best knowledge of truth or do we bend ourselves and
violate our integrity in order to gain an advantage? Do we play fair game or use
perfidious tactics?
To be truthful to ourselves is also important to the development of (good)
character. And it is the only straight way to liberation.
6. “Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.”
Whatever you do and whatever you commit to, do it fully, give your all – one
hundred percent. It is the essence of Carpe Diem – Seizing the day and it’s surely
the best way to be satisfied with what we do and get the best results.
7. “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we
do.”
There is no failure, there are only valuable learning experiences. Or as Thomas
Edison about inventing the light bulb said: “I have not failed, I’ve just found
10,000 ways that won’t work.” The important thing is not giving up, but learning
and then improving by using this feedback to get better and ultimately succeed.
A quote expressing the same principle is “A man who has committed a mistake
and doesn’t correct it, is committing another mistake.”
8. “He who learns but does not think, is lost. He who thinks but does not learn
is in great danger.”
Confucius explains the connection of learning and reflection. Reflection of that
what we learned by thinking or of the results we get by applying the knowledge.
“Study without reflection is a waste of time; reflection without study is dangerous”
is a similar quote by Confucius. Learning is only useful if we connect the learning
within our own minds, with what we already know and what is useful for us. This
reflection of any knowledge also saves us from blindly following any knowledge
without checking its truthfulness and validity to us.
I think everybody experienced learning when we really want this knowledge and
interweave it with what we already know. If there is a need or problem we want to
solve, the consume knowledge much more effective than it happens for students in
many universities.
9. “He that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools.”
This quote calls for planning and preparation. This includes getting and improving
the personal skills we need to be successful. If we want to hold speeches we have
to become good with communication skills. If we want to win a race we have to
train for it. If we want to do a big project we need knowledge in project
management. Steven Covey calls it Sharpening the saw, read about it here.
10. “If you look into your own heart, and you find nothing wrong there, what
is there to worry about? What is there to fear?”
It shows that our primary work lies within ourselves: to work on ourselves and
improve will automatically take care of the outside world if we use our abilities
then. “When we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and
examine ourselves.” The solution to problems is not “out there”. It is the Inside-
Out approach: success and happiness can only be found by working on ourselves.
It also entails the spiritual message to look inside and to discover ourselves fully.