Confucius
Confucius (551-479 BC), original name K'ung Fu Tzu, was a great Chinese sage and philosopher of China. Confucius is the Latin form of the name of Kung Futsze. He was founder of a religion popularly known as Confucianism, which is based on the worship and practice of morality as exemplified in the lives and teachings of the wise men who have gone before, and who, as he conceived, have made the world what it is, and have left it to posterity to build upon the same basis.Born of poor but aristocratic parents and had an ardent thirst for knowledge. He had to struggle in poverty. He first became a minor civil servant and later rose to be the magistrate of a state. After joining Chinese civil service he rose to rank of minister in Chinese state of Lu. He was a brilliant administrator, but the jealousy of peers caused his breach with ruler, was dismissed in 496 BC mainly due to a conspiracy of his detractors. After that he became penniless and homeless and wandered about, became a wandering sage, and returned to Lu in 485 and devoted remaining years to teaching.
While he lived he was held in greater and greater honour by multitudes of disciples, till on his death he became an object of worship, and even his descendants came to be regarded as a kind of sacred caste. He flourished about 550 B.C.
After his death, his disciples collected his writings but probably made extensive changes. Basic tenets include promotion of moral (versus religious) values - especially benevolence (jen or ren), reciprocity (shu) and filial piety (hsiao, or xiao) - and emphasis on social control and obligation to society. Until recently, Confucianism was China's state religion, and even now it is still a powerful force, especially among Chinese living overseas.
Most of his sayings were collected in the Analects after his death. Confucius is honoured throughout China as a deity ranking with the deities of the Heaven and the Earth. Though he founded a religion, most people believe that he was primarily a moralist. He, in fact, systematised and conserved the old-age teachings of China.
Wisdom & Quotes
- What you don not want done to yourself, do not do to others.
- The cautious seldom err.
- Have no friends not equal to yourself.
- Do not take liberties with the gods, or weary them.
- The nature of men is always the same; it is their habits that separate them.
- Can there be a love which does not make demands on its object?
- It is good manners which make the excellence of a neighbourhood. No wise man will settle where they are lacking.
- The aim of the superior man is truth.
- A youth is to be regarded with respect. How do you know that his future will not be equal to our present?
- When young, beware of fighting; when strong beware of sex; and when old, beware of possession.
- Men of principle are always bold, but bold men are not always men of principle.
- Chi Wen Tzu always thought three times before taking action. Twice would have been quite enough.
- The superior man is universally minded and no partisan. The inferior man is a partisan and not univarsal.
- If you don't know how to serve men, why worry about serving the gods?
- The gods should certainly be revered, but kept at a distance... The way is not beyond man; he who creates a way outside of man cannot make it a true way. A good man is content with changing man, and that is enough for him.
- To be fond of learning is to draw close to wisdom. To practice with vigour is to draw close to benevolence. To know the sense of shame is to draw close to courage. He who knows these three things knows how to cultivate his own character. Knowing how to cultivate his own character, he knows how to govern other men. Knowing how to govern other men, he knows how to govern the world, its states, and its families.
- To see what is right and not to do it is want of courage.
- If you don't know how to live, why wonder about death?
- We should feel sorrow, but not sink under its oppression; the heart of a wise man should resemble a mirror, which reflects every object without being sullied by any.
- To err and not reform, this may indeed be called error.
- To go beyond is as wrong as to fall short.
- A gentleman takes as much trouble to discover what is right as the lesser men take to discover what will pay.
- I have yet to meet a man as fond of high moral conduct as he is of outward appearances.
- A man may not transgress the bounds of major morals, but may make errors in minor morals.
- The real fault is to have faults and not amend them.
- Tsze-kung asked, saying, " Is there one word which may serve as a rule of practice for al one's life?" The Master said, " Is not Reciprocity such a word? What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others."
- An oppressive government is more to be feared than a tiger.
- In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.
- Good government obtains when those who are near are made happy, and those who are far off are attracted.
- Tzu-kung asked about government. The Master said, "Give them enough food, give them enough arms, and the common people will have trust in you."
- When Tzu-hsia was Warden of Chu-fu, he sought advice about government. The Master said, " Do not try to hurry things. Ignore minor considerations. If you hurry things, your personality will not come into play. If you let yourself be distracted by minor considerations, nothing important will ever get finished."
- Tzu-lu asked about government. The Master said, " Lead them; encourage them! Tzu-lu asked for a further maxim. The Master said,"Untiringly."
- If one leads them with administrative measures and uses punishments to make them conform, the people will be evasive, but if one leads them with virtue, they will come up to expectations.
- Having only coarse food to eat, plain water to drink, and a bent arm for a pillow, one can still find happiness therein.
- Ignorance is the night of the mind, a night without moon or star.
- The essence of knowledge is , having it, to apply it; not having it, to confess your ignorance.
- If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success.
- Learning without thought is useless. Thought without learning is dangerous.
- The superior man is quiet and calm, waiting for the appointments of heaven, while the mean man walks in dangerous paths, looking for lucky occurrences.
- Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.
- In your promises cleave to what is right,
- Respect yourself, and others will respect you.
- He who wishes to secure the good of others has already secured his own.
- The scholar who cherishes the love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar.
- He is this sort of man : so intent upon enlightening those eager for knowledge that he forgets to eat, and so happy in doing so that he forgets his sorrows, and does not realise that old age is creeping up on him.
- Absolute truth is indestructible. Being indestructible, it is eternal. Being eternal, it is self-existent. Being self-existent, it is infinite. Being infinite, it is vast and deep. Being vast and deep, it is transcendental and intelligent.
- It is man that makes truth great, not truth that makes man great.
- Those who know the truth are not equal to those who love it.
- Five things constitute perfect virtue : gravity, magnanimity, earnestness, sincerity, kindness.
- Is there anyone who exerts himself even for a single day to achieve humanity? I have not seen any who had not the strength to achieve it.
- The superior man thinks always of virtue; the common man thinks of comfort.
- To lead an uninstructed people to war is to throw them away.
- If the search for riches were sure to be successful, though I should become a groom with whip in hand to get them, I would do so.
- The general of a large army may be defeated, but you cannot defeat the determined mind of a peasant.
- Without knowing the force of words, it is impossible to know men.
Theognis