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

“But stories don't end. They continue as long as you're alive. You just have to get on with things. Turn the page, start a new chapter, find out what's in store for you next, and keep your fingers crossed that it's not too awful. Even if you know in your heart and soul that it most probably will be.”
― Darren Shan, quote from Slawter

“There is one very serious defect to my mind in Christ's moral character, and that is that He believed in hell. I do not myself feel that any person who is really profoundly humane can believe in everlasting punishment...
... There are other things of less importance. There is the instance of the Gadarene swine where it certainly was not very kind to the pigs to put devils into them and make them rush down the hill to the sea. You must remember that He was omnipotent, and He could have made the devils simply go away; but he chooses to send them into the pigs. Then there is the curious story of the fig-tree, which always rather puzzled me. You remember what happened about the fig-tree. 'He was hungry; and seeing a fig-tree afar off having leaves, He came if haply He might find anything thereon; and when He came to it He found nothing but leaves, for the time for figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it: "No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever,"...and Peter... saith unto Him: "Master, behold the fig-tree which thou cursedst is withered away".' This is a very curious story, because it was not the right time of year for figs, and you really could not blame the tree. I cannot myself feel that either in matter of wisdom or in matter of virtue Christ stands quite as high as some other people known to history. I think I should put Buddha and Socrates above Him in those respects.”
― Bertrand Russell, quote from Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects

“The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.”
― H.P. Lovecraft, quote from The Call of Cthulhu

“I actually had to close my eyes, rub them,”
― Harlan Coben, quote from Six Years

“Oddly enough, the very considerations that had made marriage impossible for him were mirrored in my own being: a rabidly independent nature, an impatience with lesser minds, total unconventionality, and the horror of being saddled with someone who would need cosseting and protection—the”
― Laurie R. King, quote from A Monstrous Regiment of Women

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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.

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