1.1 Confucius said: "Having studied, to then repeatedly apply what you have learned - is this not a source of pleasure? To have friends come from distant quarters - is this not a source of enjoyment? To go unacknowledged by others without harboring frustration - is this not the mark of an exemplary person?"

1.3 Master Zeng said: "Daily I examine my person on three counts. In my undertakings on behalf of other people, have I failed to do my utmost? In my interactions with colleagues and friends, have I failed to make good on my word? In what has been passed on to me, have I failed to carry it into practice?"

1.16 Confucius said: "Don't worry about not being acknowledged by others; worry about failing to acknowledge them."

2.7 Ziyou asked about filial conduct. Confucius replied: "Those today who are filial are considered so because they are able to provide for their parents. But even dogs and horses are given that much care. If you do not respect your parents, what is the difference?"

From "The Analects of Confucius" - a philosophical translation, by Roger Ames and Henry Rosemont Quotes:

I asked for...

I asked for strength.... and was given difficulties to make me strong. I asked for wisdom.... and was given problems to solve. I asked for prosperity... and was given brain and brawn to work. I asked for courage... and was given danger to overcome. I asked for love... and was given troubled people to help. I asked for favors... and was given opportunities. I received nothing I wanted... I received everything I needed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Channel Qi Issue 151 highlights

Analects of Confucius (2)

2.11 Confucius said: "Reviewing the old as a means of realizing the new - such a person can be considered a teacher."

2.13 Zigong asked about exemplary persons. Confucius replied: "They first accomplish what they are going to say, and only then say it."

4.5 Confucius said: "Wealth and honor are what people want, but if they are the consequence of deviating from the Dao, I would have no part in them. Poverty and disgrace are what people deplore, but if they are the consequence of staying on the way, I would not avoid them."

4.12 Confucius said: "To act with an eye to personal profit will incur a lot of resentment."

4.14 Confucius said: "Do not worry over not having an official position; worry about what it takes to have one. Do not worry that no one acknowledges you; seek to do what will earn you acknowledgement."

4.17 Confucius said: "When you meet persons of exceptional character, think to stand shoulder to shoulder with them; meeting persons of little character, look inward and examine yourself."

4.22 Confucius said: "The ancients were loath to speak because they would be ashamed if they personally did not live up to what they said."

4.24 Confucius said: "The exemplary person wants to be slow to speak yet quick to act."

Analects of Confucius (3)

5.27 Confucius laments, "I have yet to meet anyone who, on seeing their own excesses, is ready to accuse themselves."

6.5 When Yuansi served as Confucius' household steward, he was given nine hundred measures of grain. Yuansi would not accept so much. "You must not refuse it," Confucius said. "It is to give to your family, friends, and neighbors."

6.11 Confucius said, "A person of character is this Yan Hui! He has a bamboo bowl of rice to eat, a gourd of water to drink, and a dirty little hovel in which to live. Other people would not be able to endure his hardships, yet for Hui it has no effect on his enjoyment. A person of character is this Yan Hui!"

6.12 Ranyou said, "It is not that I do not rejoice in the Way of the master, but that I do not have the strength to walk it". Confucius replied, "Those who do not have the strength for it collapse somewhere along the way. But with you, you have drawn your own line before you start."

6.18 Confucius said, "When one's basic disposition overwhelms refinement, the person is boorish; when refinement overwhelms one's basic disposition, the person is an officious scribe. It is only when one's basic disposition and refinement are in appropriate balance that you have the exemplary person."

6.29 Confucius said, "The virtue required to hit the mark in the everyday is of the highest order. That it is rare among the people is an old story."

From "The Analects of Confucius" - a philosophical translation, by Roger Ames and Henry Rosemont

Quotes

To get your self out of the hole, first you have to stop digging.

Analects of Confucius (4)

7.6 Confucius said, "Set your sights on the Way, sustain yourself with virtue, lean upon benevolence, and sojourn in the arts". 7.16 Confucius said, "To eat coarse food, drink plain water, and pillow oneself on a bent arm -- there is pleasure to be found in these things. But wealth and position gained through inappropriate means -- these are to me like floating clouds".

7.20 Confucius said, "I am not the kind of person who has gained knowledge through some natural propensity for it. Rather, loving antiquity, I am earnest in seeking it out".

7.22 Confucius said, "In strolling in the company of just two other persons, I am bound to find a teacher. Identifying their strengths, I follow them, and identifying their weaknesses, I reform myself accordingly".

7.25 Confucius taught under four categories: culture, proper conduct, doing one's utmost, and making good on one's word.

7.37 Confucius said, "The exemplary person is calm and unperturbed; the petty person is always agitated and anxious".

7.38 Confucius was always gracious yet serious, commanding yet not severe, deferential yet at ease.

From "The Analects of Confucius" - a philosophical translation, by Roger Ames and Henry Rosemont

keywords:

related books:

"The Analects of Confucius" - a philosophical translation, by Roger Ames and Henry Rosemont

• http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002RI8ZTG/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
• http://www.penguinclassics.co.uk/books/the-analects/9780140443486/ The Analects, Author: Confucius, Translator: D. C. Lau
• http://www.meditationexpert.com/ethical-business/b_The_Business_Life_and_Spiritual_Cultivation.html

 

• see books & gifts page

related links:

http://www.meditationexpert.com/ethical-business/b_read_confucius_for_business_cultivation.htm

related pages:

• Quotes - Main Page
• Quotes -Taoist
• Quotes - Buddhist
  
  
• Authors Articles index
• Mysticism Page
• Yogi's, Guru's, Saints page
• Sufi page
• Buddhism - main section
• Taoism Page