“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.”
“Respect yourself and others will respect you.”
“Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles.”
“To be wealthy and honored in an unjust society is a disgrace.”
“Never give a sword to a man who can't dance.”
“The noble-minded are calm and steady. Little people are forever fussing and fretting.”
“He Who Knows And Knows That He Knows Is A Wise Man - Follow Him;
He Who Knows Not And Knows Not That He Knows Not Is A Fool - Shun Him”
“When the wind blows,the grass bends.”
“Fix your mind on truth, hold firm to virtue, rely on loving kindness, and find your recreation in the Arts.”
“Lead the people with administrative injunctions and put them in their place with penal law, and they will avoid punishments but will be without a sense of shame. Lead them with excellence and put them in their place through roles and ritual practices, and in addition to developing a sense of shame, they will order themselves harmoniously”
“Be strict with yourself but least reproachful of others and complaint is kept afar.”
“The superior man has a dignified ease without pride. The mean man has pride without a dignified ease.”
“If there were an honorable way to get rich, I’d do it, even if it meant being a stooge standing around with a whip. But there isn’t an honorable way, so I just do what I like.”
“The scholar who cherishes the love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar.”
“The expectations of life depend upon diligence the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools. ”
“Not to discuss with a man worthy of conversation is to waste the man. To discuss with a man not worthy of conversation is to waste words. The wise waste neither men nor words.”
“If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things.”
“Tsze-Kung asked, “Is there one word with which to act in accordance throughout a lifetime?” The Master said, “Is not reciprocity such a word? What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.”
“To be poor without murmuring is difficult. To be rich without being proud is easy.”
“Coarse rice to eat, water to drink, my bended arm for a pillow - therein is happiness. Wealth and rank attained through immoral means are nothing but drifting clouds.”
“I used to take on trust a man's deeds after having listened to his words. Now having listened to a man's words I go on to observe his deeds.”
“Care not for want of place; care for thy readiness to fill one. Care not for being unknown, but seek to be worthy of note.”
“What can a man do with music who is not benevolent?”
“A youth is to be regarded with respect. How do we know that his future will not be equal to our present? If he reach the age of forty or fifty, and has not made himself heard of, then indeed he will not be worth being regarded with respect.”
“There are some with whom we may study in common, but we shall find them unable to go along with us to principles. Perhaps we may go on with them to principles, but we shall find them unable to get established in those along with us. Or if we may get so established along with them, we shall find them unable to weigh occurring events along with us.”
“Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue.”
“If you expect great things of yourself and demand little of others, you’ll keep resentment far away.”
“Zuviel ist gerade so falsch wie zuwenig.”
“A conversa impregnada de vaidade e o pretensiosismo são raramente compatíveis com a virtude.”
“According to a recent poll [...] 94% of Americans agree that "people who work fulltime should be able to earn enough to keep their families out of poverty.”
“I needed to touch her, like I needed to breathe.”
“God didn’t give man wings; He gave him the brain and the spirit to give himself wings. Just as He gave us the capacity to laugh when we hurt, or to struggle on when we feel like giving up. “I’ve come to believe that how we choose to live with pain, or injustice, or death . . . is the true measure of the Divine within us.”
“It occurred to him that strength was quite different from toughness and that being vulnerable wasn't quite the same as being weak.”
“Katy
I always had this plan for the off chance I was around for the end of the world. I’d climb up on my roof top, turn up the radio, blast R.E.M.’s It’s The End of The World, and watch it all go down from my lofty perch.
Except real life rarely turned out that cool.
And it was really happening—it was the end of the world as we knew it, and I sure as hell didn’t feel fine.
Everything had changed and we had been the catalyst for it all.”
BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.
We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.
Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.