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Keep It Simple And Focus On What Matters. Don't Let Yourself Be Overwhelmed.

-Confucius

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Keep It Simple And

Confucius

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Keep It Simple And Focus On What Matters. Don't Let Yourself Be Overwhelmed.

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The Book Salesman Should Be Honored Because He Brings To Our Attention, As A Rule, The Very Books We Need Most And Neglect Most.

It Is Not The Failure Of Others To Appreciate Your Abilities That Should Trouble You, But Rather Your Failure To Appreciate Theirs.

I Will Not Be Concerned At Other Men's Not Knowing Me;i Will Be Concerned At My Own Want Of Ability.

A Man Living Without Conflicts, As If He Never Lives At All.

The Archer Who Misses His Mark Does Not Blame The Target. He Stops, Corrects Himself And Shoots Again.

Excess Weakens The Spirits.

Benevolence Is The Characteristic Element Of Humanity.

Characteristics

The Object Of The Superior Man Is Truth.

If You Want Happiness For A Year, Inherit A Fortune. If You Want Happiness For A Lifetime, Help Someone Else.

When Abroad, Behaveto Everyone As If Interviewing An Honored Guest; In Directing The People, Act As If You Were Assisting At A Great Sacrafice; Do Not Do To Others As You Would Not Like Done To Yourself: So There Will Be No Murmuring Against You In The Country, And None In The Family; Your Public Life Will Arouse No Ill-will Nor Your Private Life Any Resentment.

Virtue Is Not Left To Stand Alone. He Who Practices It Will Have Neighbors.

The Proper Man Understands Equity, The Small Man Profits.

To See And Listen To The Wicked Is Already The Beginning Of Wickedness.

He Who Speaks Without Modesty Will Find It Difficult To Make His Words Good.

One Who Has Accumulated Virtue Will Certainly Also Possess Eloquence; But He Who Has Eloquence Doe Not Necessarily Possess Virtue.

To Be Fond Of Learning Is To Draw Close To Wisdom. To Practice With Vigor 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.

The Wise Find Pleasure In Water; The Virtuous Find Pleasure In Hills. The Wise Are Active; The Virtuous Are Tranquil. The Wise Are Joyful; The Virtuous Are Long-lived.

A Gentleman Wishes To Be Slow To Speak And Quick To Act.

When A Man Feels The Difficulty Of Doing, Can He Be Other Than Cautious And Slow In Speaking?

The Vices Come As Passengers, Visit Us As Guest And Stay As Masters.

Look For An Occupation That You Like, And You Will Not Need To Labor For A Single Day In Your Life.

Base Yourself In Loyalty And Trust. Don't Be Companion With Those Who Are Not Your Moral Equal. When You Make A Mistake, Don't Hesitate To Correct It.

Reviewing What You Have Learned And Learning Anew, You Are Fit To Be A Teacher.

I Transmit But Do Not Create. I Place My Trust In The Teachings Of Antiquity.

Success Depends Upon Previous Preparation, And Without Such Preparation There Is Sure To Be Failure.

Congratulations

First And Foremost, Be Faithful To Your Superiors, Keep All Promises, Refuse The Friendship Of All Who Are Not Like You; And If You Have Made A Mistake, Do Not Be Afraid Of Admitting The Fact And Amending Your Ways.

A Man Who Reviews The Old So As To Find Out The New Is Qualified To Teach Others.

The Tongue Must Be Heavy Indeed, Because So Few People Can Hold It

He Who Sling Mud, Lose Ground.

I Never Really Said All Those Things I Said

A Youth, When At Home, Should Be Filial, And, Abroad, Respectful To His Elders.

Past Scholars Studied To Improve Themselves; Today's Scholars Study To Impress Others.

Therefore The Superior Man Is Watchful Over Himself, When He Is Alone.

The Man Who In View Of Gain Thinks Of Righteousness; Who In The View Of Danger Is Prepared To Give Up His Life; And Who Does Not Forget An Old Agreement However Far Back It Extends - Such A Man May Be Reckoned A Complete Man.

Those Who Do Not Study Are Only Cattle Dressed Up In Men's Clothes.

If A Man Withdraws His Mind From The Love Of Beauty, And Applies It As Sincerely To The Love Of The Virtuous; If, In Serving His Parents, He Can Exert His Utmost Strength; If, In Serving His Prince, He Can Devote His Life; If In His Intercourse With His Friends, His Words Are Sincere - Although Men Say That He Has Not Learned, I Will Certainly Say That He Has.

The Superior Man Is Distressed By His Want (lack) Of Ability

Remember Even When Alone, That The Divine Is Everywhere.

When Things Are Investigated, Then True Knowledge Is Achieved; When True Knowledge Is Achieved, Then The Will Becomes Sincere; When The Will Is Sincere, Then The Heart Is Set Right ; When The Heart Is Set Right, Then The Personal Life Is Cultivated; When The Personal Life Is Cultivated, Then The Family Life Is Regulated; When The Family Life Is Regulated, Then The National Life Is Orderly; And When The National Life Is Orderly, Then There Is Peace In This World.

When You See A Good Man, Try To Emulate His Example, And When You See A Bad Man, Search Yourself For His Faults.

Music Is The One Thing In Which There Is No Use Trying To Deceive Others Or Make False Pretenses.

The Man Of Upright Life Is Obeyed Before He Speaks.

He Who Exercises Government By Means Of His Virtue May Be Compared To The North Polar Star, Which Keeps Its Place And All The Stars Turn Towards It.

Be Loyal To Yourself, Charitable To Neighbours, Nothing More.

Do Not Unto Another That You Would Hot Have Him Do Unto You. Thou Needest This Law Alone. It Is The Foundation Of All The Rest.

Those Who Make Virtue Their Profession Are The Ruin Of Virtue.

Only The Wisest And Stupidest Of Men Never Change.

It Is Easy To Hate And It Is Difficult To Love. This Is How The Whole Scheme Of Things Works. All Good Things Are Difficult To Achieve; And Bad Things Are Very Easy To Get.

Missing Someone

Knowing What's Correct And Not Doing It, It's The Worst Cowardice.

Guide The People By Law, Subdue Them By Punishment; They May Shun Crime, But Will Be Void Of Shame. Guide Them By Example, Subdue Them By Courtesy; They Will Learn Shame, And Come To Be Good.

The Superior Man Sets His Person At Rest Before He Moves; He Composes His Mind Before He Speaks.

It's Only In Winter That The Pine And Cypress Are Known To Be Evergreens.

To Know Everything Is To Know Nothing, But To Know Nothing Is To Know Everything.

If A Man Sets His Heart On Benevolence He Will Be Free From Evil.

When Words Lose Their Meaning, People Lose Their Liberty.

If I Were Travelling With Two Partners, One Virtuous And One Dishonest, Both Would Be Useful As Teachers. I Would Perceive What's Good Of The First One And I Would Imitate Him Whereas I Would Try To Correct In Me The Defects I May See In The Second One.

The Main Object Of Conciliation Lies In Reaching A Solution To A Case Based Upon Morals And With A Warm Heart.

To Know Your Faults And Be Able To Change Is The Greatest Virtue.

Never Give A Sword To A Man Who Can't Dance.

While The Gentleman Cherishes Benign Rule, The Small Man Cherishes His Native Land. While The Gentleman Cherishes A Respect For The Law, The Small Man Cherishes Generous Treatment.

Behave When Away From Home As Though You Were In The Presence Of An Honored Guest. Employ The People As Though You Were Assisting At An Important Sacrifice. Do Not Do To Others What You Would Not Like Yourself. Then There Will Be No Feelings Of Opposition To You, Whether It Is The Affairs Of A State That You Are Handling Or The Affairs Of A Family.

Only The Supremely Wise And The Ignorant Do Not Alter.

What Is Necessary Is To Rectify Names.

Writing Cannot Express All Words, Words Cannot Encompass All Ideas.

Do Not Use A Cannon To Kill A Mosquito.

To Know It Is Not As Good As To Love It, And To Love It Is Not As Good As To Take Delight In It.

Fix Your Mind On Truth, Hold Firm To Virtue, Rely On Loving Kindness, And Find Your Recreation In The Arts.

The Wise Are Free From Perplexities; The Virtuous From Anxiety; And The Bold From Fear.

Of All That Heaven Produces And Nourishes, There Is None So Great As Man.

The Superior Man Undergoes Three Changes. Looked At From A Distance, He Appears Stern; When Approached, He Is Mild; When He Is Heard To Speak, His Language Is Firm And Decided.

Happiness Is Not At The Top Of The Mountain, But In How To Climb.

When You Are Laboring For Others, Let It Be With The Same Zeal As If It Were For Yourself.

At Fifteen My Mind Was Directed To Study, And At Thirty I Knew Where To Stand.

The Parents Age Must Be Remembered, Both For Joy And Anxiety.

The General Of A Large Army May Be Defeated, But You Cannot Defeat The Determined Mind Of A Peasant.

Every Truth Has Four Corners: As A Teacher I Give You One Corner, And It Is For You To Find The Other Three.

Those Whose Courses Are Different Cannot Lay Plans For One Another.

In A State, Pecuniary Gain Is Not To Be Considered To Be Prosperity, But Its Prosperity Will Be Found In Righteousness.

The Real Fault Is To Have Faults And Not Amend Them.

An Image Is Better Than One Thousand Words

He Who Remembers From Day To Day What He Has Yet To Learn, And From Month To Month What He Has Learned Already, May Be Said To Have A Love Of Learning.

In A Hamlet Of Ten Households, There Are Bound To Be Those Who Are My Equal In Doing Their Best For Others And In Being Trustworthy In What They Say, But They Are Unlikely To Be As Eager To Learn As I Am.

There Is Nothing Impossible In All The World Except That The Heart Of Man Is Wanting In Resolution.

What The Great Learning Teaches, Is To Illustrate Illustrious Virtue; To Renovate The People; And To Rest In The Highest Excellence.

The Master Said, “a True Gentleman Is One Who Has Set His Heart Upon The Way. A Fellow Who Is Ashamed Merely Of Shabby Clothing Or Modest Meals Is Not Even Worth Conversing With.” (analects 4.9)

Ask Yourself Constantly, "what Is The Right Thing To Do?" Behave Toward Everyone As If Receiving A Great Guest.

Heaven, In The Production Of Things, Is Sure To Be Bountiful To Them, According To Their Qualities. Hence The Tree That Is Flourishing, It Nourishes, While That Which Is Ready To Fall, It Overthrows.

He Who Conquers Himself Is The Mightiest Warrior.

All The Darkness In The World Can't Put Out The Light Of One Candle.

The Superior Man Makes The Difficulty To Be Overcome His First Interest; Success Only Comes Later.

Man Who Eat Many Prunes Get Good Run For Money.

Justice Is Like The North Star, Which Is Fixed, And All The Rest Revolve About It.

I Live In A Very Small House, But My Windows Look Out On A Very Large World.

Hold Faithfulness And Sincerity As First Principles.

Does Heaven Ever Speak? The Four Seasons Come And Go, And All Creatures Thrive And Grow. Does Heaven Ever Speak!

Good Is No Hermit. It Has Ever Neighbors.

If You Yourself Desire Establishment, Then Help Others To Get Establishment; If You Yourself Want Success, Then Help Others To Attain Success.

Man Who Want Pretty Nurse, Must Be Patient.

I Do Not Want A Friend Who Smiles When I Smile, Who Weeps When I Weep; For My Shadow In The Pool Can Do Better Than That.

To Find The Tao, There Is Nowhere You Need To Search. If It Is Not Inside You, It Is Not The Tao.

The Gentleman Holds Justice To Be Of Highest Importance. If A Gentleman Has Courage But Neglects Justice, He Becomes Insurgent. If An Inferior Man Has Courage But Neglects Justice, He Becomes A Thief.

Without An Acquaintance With The Rules Of Propriety, It Is Impossible For The Character To Be Established

When There Are Duties To Perform [true] Servants And Sons Serve Their Labors.

When Prosperity Comes, Do Not Use All Of It.

He Who Cannot Describe The Problem Will Never Find The Solution To That Problem.

Excessive (population) Growth May Reduce Output Per Worker, Repress Levels Of Living For The Masses And Engender Strife

The Essence Of Knowledge Is, Having It, To Use It.

A True Gentleman Makes Demands Upon Himself But Not Upon Others.

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.

To Put The World In Order, We Must First Put The Nation In Order; To Put The Nation In Order, We Must First Put The Family In Order; To Put The Family In Order; We Must First Cultivate Our Personal Life; We Must First Set Our Hearts Right.

Settle One Difficulty, And You Keep A Hundred Away.

If Doing What Ought To Be Done Be Made The First Business And Success A Secondary Consideration--is Not This The Way To Exalt Virtue?

Of Neighborhoods, Benevolence Is The Most Beautiful. How Can The Man Be Considered Wise Who When He Had The Choice Does Not Settle In Benevolence.

Charity, Like The Sun, Brightens Every Object On Which It Shines.

Study As Though You Cannot Catch Up To It, And As Though You Fear You Are Going To Lose It.

To Be Wronged Is Nothing Unless You Continue To Remember It.

A Man Exercising No Forethought Will Soon Experience Present Sorrow.

The Superior Man Cannot Be Known In Little Matters, But He May Be Entrusted With Great Concerns. The Small Man May Not Be Entrusted With Great Concerns, But He May Be Known In Little Matters.

Never Tire To Study. And To Teach To Others

Is Virtue A Thing Remote? I Wish To Be Virtuous, And Lo! Virtue Is At Hand.

Old Age, Believe Me, Is A Good And Pleasant Thing. It Is True You Are Gently Shouldered Off The Stage, But Then You Are Given Such A Comfortable Front Stall As Spectator.

What Can A Man Do With Music Who Is Not Benevolent?

Know What You Know And Know That You Don't Know What You Don't Know — That Is The Characteristic Of One Who Knows.

A Ruthless Man Extends His Ruthlessness From Those He Does Not Love To Those He Loves.

Knowledge Without Practice Is Useless. Practice Without Knowledge Is Dangerous.

Make Fair Agreements And Stick To Them

To Think Twice Is Quite Enough.

To Learn Without Thinking Is Labour In Vain, To Think Without Learning Is Desolation.

Bird In Hand Makes It Harder To Blow Nose.

Love Others As You Would Love Yourself, Judge Others As You Would Judge Yourself, Cherish Others As You Would Cherish Yourself. When You Wish For Others As You Wish For Yourself And When You Protect Others As You Would Protect Yourself, That's When You Can Say It's True Love.

The Way Is Not For, But From, Man; If We Take The Way As Something Superhuman, Beyond Man, This Is Not The Real Way.

He Who Crosses The Ocean Twice Without Washing Is A Dirty Double Crosser.

Have No Friends Not Equal To Yourself.

He Who Flatters A Man Is His Enemy. He Who Tells Him Of His Faults Is His Maker.

There Is A Growing Interest In Confucianism In China And Other Parts Of The World. More And More Followers Of Confucianism Are Advocating A Deeper Study Of His Philosophies. Confucius' Ideals Stand True Even Today. His Philosophy On How To Be A Junzi Or The Perfect Gentleman Is Based On The Simple Ideology Of Love And Tolerance.

Everything Has Its Beauty But Not Everyone Sees It. To See It A Person Only Needs To Imagine How It Could Be Worse.

If I Am Virtuous And Worthy, For Whom Should I Not Maintain A Proper Concern?

The Superior Person Is Calm And Composed; The Lesser Person Is Continuously Worried And Distressed.

The Inner Nature Of Man Is The Province Of Music.

In The Book Of Poetry There Are Three Hundred Poems, But The Meaning Of All Of Them May Be Put In A Single Sentence: Have No Debasing Thoughts.

The Person Of Benevolence Never Worries.

An Orchid In A Deep Forest Sends Out Its Fragrance Even If No One Is Around To Appreciate It.

If One Should Desire To Know Whether A Kingdom Is Well Governed, If Its Morals Are Good Or Bad, The Quality Of Its Music Will Furnish The Answer.

Attack The Evil That Is Within Yourself, Rather Than Attacking The Evil That Is In Others.

A Man Of Wisdom Delights In Water.

Fine Words And An Insinuating Appearance Are Seldom Associated With True Virtue.

Do Not Worry If Others Do Not Understand You. Instead Worry If You Do Not Understand Others.

Things That Are Done, It Is Needless To Speak About...things That Are Past, It Is Needless To Blame.

A Gentleman Would Be Ashamed Should His Deeds Not Match His Words.

Deeds And Words

A Country Of A Thousand War-chariots Cannot Be Administered Unless The Ruler Attends Strictly To Business, Punctually Observes His Promises, Is Economical In Expenditure, Loves The People, And Uses The Labor Of The Peasantry Only At The Proper Times Of Year.

When Admins Have Faults, They Do Not Fear To Ignore Them

Learning Without Thought Is Labor Lost; Thought Without Learning Is Perilous.

Not Feeling Compassion For A Stranger Is Like Not Feeling When One's Foot Has Caught Fire

Being Strong Does Not Mean That You Never Fall Down, But That Whenever You Fall, You Get Up Again.

The Rich Fool Is Like A Pig That Is Choked By Its Own Fat.

A Gentleman Can Withstand Hardships; It Is Only The Small Man Who, When Submitted To Them, Is Swept Off His Feet.

Who Keeps The Old Akindle And Adds New Knowledge Is Fitted To Be A Teacher.

By The Ruler's Cultivation Of His Own Character There Is Set Up The Example Of The Course Which All Should Pursue.

Labor, But Slight Not Meditation; Meditate, But Slight Not Labor.

How Great Is The Path Proper To The Sage! Like Overflowing Water, It Sends Forth And Nourishes All Things, And Rises Up To The Height Of Heaven. All-complete Is Its Greatness! It Embraces The Three Hundred Rules Of Ceremony, And The Three Thousand Rules Of Demeanor. It Waits For The Proper Man, And Then It Is Trodden. Hence It Is Said, 'only By Perfect Virtue Can The Perfect Path, In All Its Courses, Be Made A Fact.'

Education Breeds Confidence. Confidence Breeds Hope. Hope Breeds Peace.

Powerful Weapons

If A Man Has No Humaneness What Can His Propriety Be Like? If A Man Has No Humaneness What Can His Happiness Be Like?

The Path Is Not Far From Man. When Men Try To Pursue A Course, Which Is Far From The Common Indications Of Consciousness, This Course Cannot Be Considered The Path.

If I Hold Up One Corner Of A Square And The Student Cannot Workout The Other Three For Himself, I Won't Go Any Further.

If You Don't Want To Do Something,don't Impose On Others

Looking At Small Advantages Prevents Great Affairs From Being Accomplished.

A Truly Great Man Never Puts Away The Simplicity Of A Child.

There Are 1,000 Lessons In Defeat. But Only One In Victory.

A Man Who Does Not Forget An Agreement Is Resolved And Honorable Man.

For One Word A Man Is Often Deemed To Be Wise, And For One Word He Is Often Deemed To Be Foolish. We Should Be Careful Indeed What We Say.

If One Is Guided By Profit In One's Actions, One Will Incur Much Ill Will.

The Small Man Thinks That Small Acts Of Goodness Are Of No Benefit, And Does Not Do Them; And That Small Deeds Of Evil Do No Harm, And Does Not Refrain From Them. Hence, His Wickedness Becomes So Great That It Cannot Be Concealed, And His Guilt So Great That It Cannot Be Pardoned.

Gentlemen Cherish Worth; The Vulgar Cherish Dirt. Gentlemen Trust In Justice; The Vulgar Trust In Favor.

If An Urn Lacks The Characteristics Of An Urn, How Can We Call It An Urn?

Characteristics

All Things Are Already Complete In Oneself.

Do Not Answer The Person Whose Questions Are Vile. Do Not Question A Person Whose Answers Are Vile.

Forget Injuries, Never Forget Kindnesses.

Respect Yourself And Others Will Respect You.

Stars Are Holes In The Sky From Which The Light Of The Infinite Shines.

The Superior Man Has A Dignified Ease Without Pride. The Mean Man Has Pride Without A Dignified Ease.

Real Knowledge Is To Know The Extent Of One's Ignorance.

Only After Winter Comes Do We Know That The Pine And The Cypress Are The Last To Fade.

If There Were One Word That Could Act As A Standard Of Conduct For One's Entire Life, Perhaps It Would Be 'thoughtfulness.

Isn't It A Pleasure To Study And Practice What You Have Learned?

Those Who Cannot Forgive Others Break The Bridge Over Which They Themselves Must Pass.

I Want You To Be Everything That's You, Deep At The Center Of Your Being.

If You Lead The People With Correctness, Who Will Dare Not Be Correct?

Acquire New Knowledge Whilst Thinking Over The Old, And You May Become A Teacher Of Others.

Even Four Harnessed Horses Cannot Bring Imprudent Words Back Into The Mouth.

When I Am With Others, They Are My Teachers. I Can Select Their Good Points And Follow Them, And Select Their Bad Points And Avoid Them.

If A Man Is Not Good, What Has He To Do With The Rules Of Propriety? If He Is Not Good, What Has He To Do With Music?

There Has Never Been A Man Mean And At The Same Time Virtuous.

First There Must Be Order And Harmony Within Your Own Mind. Then This Order Will Spread To Your Family, Then To The Community, And Finally To Your Entire Kingdom. Only Then Can You Have Peace And Harmony.

The Determined Scholar And The Man Of Virtue Will Not Seek To Live At The Expense Of Injuring Their Virtue. They Will Even Sacrifice Their Lives To Preserve Their Virtue Complete.

When I Walk Along With Two Others, From At Least One I Will Be Able To Learn.

What Heaven Has Conferred Is Called The Nature; An Accordance With This Nature Is Called The Path Of Duty; The Regulation Of This Path Is Called Instruction. The Path May Not Be Left For An Instant. If It Could Be Left, It Would Not Be The Path.

Without Knowing The Force Of Words, It Is Impossible To Know More.

The Superior Man Is Aware Of Righteousness, The Inferior Man Is Aware Of Advantage.

They Who Know The Truth Are Not Equal To Those Who Love It, And They Who Love It Are Not Equal To Those Who Delight In It.

Don't Worry If People Don't Recognize Your Merits; Worry That You May Not Recognize Theirs.

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