Confucius’ famous aphorisms

1. To be gentle and polite, then a gentleman.

2. Don’t show off your anger or make mistakes.

3. A gentleman has his own interests, and then seeks others.

4. Don’t do it to others if you don’t want to do it to yourself.

5. Those who are virtuous must cultivate their morals, but those who are eloquent do not need to cultivate their virtues.

6. The three beneficial friends are: friends who are straightforward, friends who are understanding, and friends who are knowledgeable.

7. The past cannot be admonished, but the future can still be pursued.

8. Be tireless in learning and teaching.

9. Learn it extensively, interrogate it, think carefully, discern it clearly, and practice it sincerely.

10. A little impatience will mess up a big plan.

11. A gentleman is respectful and courteous to others. He is a brother in the world.

12. People above the middle person can use Yu Shang, but those below the middle person cannot use Yu Shang.

13. If a worker wants to do his job well, he must first sharpen his tools.

14. If you are a person of three, you must have a teacher. Choose the good ones and follow them, and change the bad ones.

15. Everything will be established if you hesitate, and it will be ruined if you don’t hesitate.

16. When you are young, your blood energy is not yet stable, and you should be careful about your appearance; when you are strong, your blood energy is strong, and you should be careful about fighting; when you are old, your blood energy has declined, and you should be careful about it.

17. When three people are walking together, there must be one who is my teacher.

18. A person’s life is also upright, and a life of ignorance is also spared.

19. Wealth and honor are what people want and they don’t have the right way to get them. Poverty and lowliness are what people hate.

20. If his body is upright, he will not do what he is told; if his body is not upright, he will not do what he is told.

21. A wise man is not confused, a benevolent man is not worried, and a brave man is not afraid.

22. If you are not worried about others, you don’t know them.

23. You don’t use words to lift people up, and you don’t use people to waste words.

24. When you see a virtuous person, think about them, and when you see a virtuous person, you should introspect yourself.

25. If you are so angry that you forget to eat, if you are happy you forget your worries, you don’t know that old age is coming.

26. A gentleman has nine thoughts: seeing is wise, listening is wise, and looking is warm. Think of respect in appearance, loyalty in words, respect in deeds, doubts and questions, anger and difficulty, and meaning in seeing.

27. I will examine myself three times today: Are I being unfaithful to others? Make friends but don’t believe it? Are you not used to it?

28. A benevolent person will not worry, a knowledgeable person will not be confused, and a brave person will not be afraid.

29. Don’t do to others what you don’t want others to do to you.

30. If one does not uphold virtue and does not have a firm belief, how can he be able to live or die?

31. Is it tolerable or not?

32. The way is based on virtue, the order is based on etiquette, and there is shame and dignity.

33. Politicians are upright, and commanders are upright. Who dares to be unjust?

34. The sun knows where one is dead, and the moon does not forget what one can do. It can be said that he is eager to learn.

35. Zhou Jian was in the second generation, so gloomy and elegant! I Cong Zhou

36. If jade is not polished, it will not become a tool, and if people do not learn it, they will not know it.

37. You can support a six-foot-long orphan, you can send a hundred-mile destiny, and you can’t take it away during the big festival.

38. I don’t eat all day long, stay up all night, thinking, it’s useless, it’s better to learn.

39. A gentleman takes righteousness as a pledge, practices etiquette as a pledge, a grandson as a gift, and trust as a fulfillment. What a gentleman!

40. People with different paths should not work together.

41. There is no need to worry about not having a position; If you don't have trouble, don't know it. If you want to know it, you can know it.

42. The wise are happy with water, the benevolent are happy with mountains; the wise are active, the benevolent are quiet; the wise are happy, the benevolent are long-lived.

43. Making mistakes without correcting them is called making mistakes.

44. When you see the virtuous, you think about them, and when you see the virtuous, you reflect inwardly.

45. Being respectful but rude will lead to fatigue, being cautious but rude will lead to arrogance, being brave but rude will lead to chaos, being straight but rude will lead to strangulation.

46. Why should you kill someone when you are in charge of government? The son wants to be good and the people will be good. The virtue of a gentleman, the virtue of a villain, and the wind on the grass will surely destroy it.

47. Acting for the benefit of others and complaining too much.

48. If you don’t learn etiquette, you can’t stand up.

49. Even if it is a small road, there must be something to behold; going far away is afraid of mud, so a gentleman will not do it.

50. If you are good at benevolence and don’t want to learn, you will be blind; if you like knowledge but don’t learn, you will be blind; if you are trustworthy but hard to learn, you will be a thief; if you are straight and don’t want to learn, then you will be blind; good. If you are brave and don't learn, your cover will be chaotic; if you are strong and don't learn, your cover will be crazy.

51. Among three people, there must be a teacher: choose the good ones and follow them, and change the bad ones.

Mencius’ famous aphorisms

1. Without rules, there is no way to make a circle.

2. The sage will be happy afterward. Even if an unworthy person has this, he will not be happy.

3. Right, then know the importance; degree, then know the length.

4. If you are not ashamed, why should you be like a human being?

5. If the king knows this, it is not enough to laugh at him, and the king’s government is still like this. Although the king has good governance of immigrants and millet, his warlike and remnant people are the same as those of neighboring countries, but the number of people alone is so different from Fifty steps laugh at a hundred steps.

6. There are noble and inferior bodies, big and small. Nothing can harm the great with the small, and nothing can harm the noble with the humble. He who raises something big is called a villain, and anyone who raises something big is called a great person.

7. If the king is benevolent, he will be invincible in the world.

8. The empty words I want to entrust are not as profound and clear as the actions contained in them.

9. Having fun alone or having fun with others, which one is happy?

10. A respectful person will not insult others, and a thrifty person will not take away from others.

11. Save penalties, reduce taxes, and make farming easier.

12. Fish is what I want; bear paws are what I want. You can't have both, it's like giving up the fish for the bear's paw. Life is what I want; righteousness is what I want. You can't have both, you have to sacrifice your life for righteousness.

13. Respect the teachings of Xiangxu, apply the meaning of filial piety and brotherhood, and award the white ones to live up to the road.

14. The way of communication is also used, and the reception is also based on courtesy.

15. The wife must insult herself, and then others will insult her; the family must destroy herself, and then others will destroy it; the country must destroy itself, and then others will destroy it.

16. Chickens, dolphins, dogs, and pigs are all animals that have not lost their season. People who are seventy years old can eat meat.

17. Everyone can be a good person like Yao and Shun.

18. The organ of the heart is thinking. If you think, you will get it. If you don’t think, you will not get it.

19. If the king is very happy, then Qi will have almost no common people.

20. Old people are like old people and people are old; young people are like young people and people are young.

21. A promising person is like digging a well. If the well is dug nine times and fails to reach the spring, it is like abandoning the well.

22. Kindness brings honor, while unkindness brings disgrace.

23. Everyone has a heart of compassion; everyone has a heart of shame and disgust; everyone has a heart of respect; everyone has a heart of right and wrong. The heart of compassion is benevolence; the heart of shame and hatred is righteousness; the heart of respect is courtesy; the heart of right and wrong is wisdom. Benevolence, justice, propriety, and wisdom are not inherent in me, but they come from outside.

24. Wealth cannot be lascivious, poverty cannot be moved, and power cannot be subdued. A respectful person does not insult others, a thrifty person does not take away from others.

25. Grain is a beautiful plant. It is not as good as catkins because it is not ripe. Furen is just about being familiar with it.

26. Without regular distance, it cannot form square members (circles). Without the six rhythms, the five tones cannot be corrected.

27. A wise king controls the people's property so that they can serve their parents and their wives, and they will be full in happy years and avoid death in bad years.

28. In a prosperous year, the children will be many and unlucky; in a bad year, the children will be many and violent. This is not because of talent sent from heaven, but because of the indulgence in one's heart.

29. The most important thing for a filial son is to respect his relatives; the most important thing for a filial son is to respect his relatives. As the son and father of the emperor, he should be respected to the utmost; if he is nourished by the world, he should be nourished to the utmost.

30. I am good at cultivating the awe-inspiring spirit.

31. A place of hundreds of miles can be king.

32. When he seizes his people, he will not be able to cultivate their land to support their parents. Their parents will be cold and hungry, and their brothers and wives will be separated. He is drowning his people, and the king goes to conquer them. Who can be the enemy of the king?

33. So he admired Zhongni and worried about the world, so he traveled among the princes with Confucianism and Taoism to help the people. However, because he refused to look for it in vain, the king at that time said that he was too broad-minded and too broad-minded to deal with matters, but in the end he could not be listened to.

34. Nothing is better than the eyes. The eyes cannot hide the evil. If the chest is straight, the eyes will be clear; if the chest is irregular, the eyes will be clear. Listening to his words and looking at his eyes, he looks very thin.

35. For a five-acre house with mulberry trees, a person in his fifties can wear silk clothes. Chickens, dolphins, dogs, and pigs are all animals that have not lost their season. Those who are seventy years old can eat meat. If you don’t take away a hundred acres of land, then a family of several people will not be hungry. I respect the teachings of Xiangxu, apply the meaning of filial piety and brotherhood, and award the white ones to live up to the road.

36. Benevolence is better than unkindness, just like water is better than fire. Nowadays, a person who is benevolent is like using a cup of water to save a load of fire. If it is not extinguished, it is said that water cannot overcome the fire. This is also the case with those who are unkind, and they will eventually perish.

37. He who talks about the near but refers to the far is good at speaking.

38. Mencius said that anyone who desires the emperor’s ten thousand chariots should take a thousand chariots within him, and become the princes of the emperor. There is no shortage of officials, why should they compete with each other? If they have more, they will win.

39. If you are poor, you will be good for yourself; if you are rich, you will be good for the world.

40. When looking at King Xiang from afar, he does not look like a human king, and he says that no one has the majesty and dignity of a king.