Quotes from The Analects

“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

“Respect yourself and others will respect you.”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

“Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles.”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

“To be wealthy and honored in an unjust society is a disgrace.”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

“Never give a sword to a man who can't dance.”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

“The noble-minded are calm and steady. Little people are forever fussing and fretting.”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

“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”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

“When the wind blows,the grass bends.”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

“Fix your mind on truth, hold firm to virtue, rely on loving kindness, and find your recreation in the Arts.”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

“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”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

“Be strict with yourself but least reproachful of others and complaint is kept afar.”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

“The superior man has a dignified ease without pride. The mean man has pride without a dignified ease.”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

“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.”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

“The scholar who cherishes the love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar.”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

“The expectations of life depend upon diligence the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools. ”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

“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.”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

“If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things.”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

“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.”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

“To be poor without murmuring is difficult. To be rich without being proud is easy.”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

“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.”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

“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.”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

“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.”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

“What can a man do with music who is not benevolent?”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

“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.”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

“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.”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

“Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue.”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

“If you expect great things of yourself and demand little of others, you’ll keep resentment far away.”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

“Zuviel ist gerade so falsch wie zuwenig.”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

“A conversa impregnada de vaidade e o pretensiosismo são raramente compatíveis com a virtude.”
― Confucius, quote from The Analects

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Popular quotes

“Why kid ourselves, people have nothing to say to one another, they all talk about their own troubles and nothing else. Each man for himself, the earth for us all. They try to unload their unhappiness on someone else when making love, they do their damnedest, but it doesn't work, they keep it all, and then they start all over again, trying to find a place for it. "Your pretty, Mademoiselle," they say. And life takes hold of them again until the next time, and then they try the same little gimmick. "You're very pretty, Mademoiselle..."

And in between they boast that they've succeeded in getting rid of their unhappiness, but everyone knows it's not true and they've simply kept it all to themselves. Since at the little game you get uglier and more repulsive as you grow older, you can't hope to hide your unhappiness, your bankruptcy, any longer. In the end your features are marked with that hideous grimace that takes twenty, thrity years or more to climb form your belly to your face. That's all a man is good for, that and no more, a grimace that he takes a whole lifetime to compose. The grimace a man would need to express his true soul without losing any of it is so heavy and complicated that he doesn't always succeed in completing it.”
― Louis-Ferdinand Céline, quote from Journey to the End of the Night

“Looking back, it seemed like it should have been harder to lose someone, or have them lose you, especially when they were in the same state, only a few towns over.”
― Sarah Dessen, quote from Lock and Key

“It was important for him to believe that he'd spent his life among people who kept missing the point.”
― Don DeLillo, quote from White Noise

“Some thoughts have glue on them.----Smilla”
― Peter Høeg, quote from Smilla's Sense of Snow

“Anyway, even if Archer was insane enough to have a thing for Sophie, after the All Hallow’s Eve Ball, he won’t even think about looking at another girl.”
“Why?”
“I’ve decided to give myself to him.”
Oh, gross. Who says stuff like that? Why didn’t she just say “delicate flower” or “carnal treasure” or something equally stupid?”
― Rachel Hawkins, quote from Hex Hall

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About BookQuoters

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.