A little experience often upsets a lot of theory.
Men willingly believe what they wish to be true.
Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.
Do the duty which lies nearest to you, the second duty will then become clearer.
Liken what you wish people to accept to something they already believe.
… [The main] problem of getting people to accept our beliefs or to act upon our suggestions, is just this: to plant the idea in their minds and to keep contradictory and opposing ideas from arising.
Interest is contagious. The audience is sure to catch it if the speaker himself has a bad case of it. But it cannot be won by the mechanical adherence to mere rules.
Don’t trust a hungry man to watch your rice.
By trying repeatedly, the monkey learns how to jump from the tree.
If the fight is tomorrow, why clench your fist today?
One must train oneself, by small and frequent efforts, to dominate one’s feelings.
Men whose counsels you would not take as individuals lead you with ease in a crowd.
It requires as much reflection and wisdom to know what is not to be put into a sermon as what is.
He preaches well that lives well.
The money paid, the work delayed.
The best sauce is hunger, and that is never wanting to the poor.
Till death all is life.
It requires a long time to know anyone.
You are a king by your own fireside, as much as any monarch is in his throne.
The only comfort of the miserable is to have partners in their woes.
Make hay while the sun is shining.
One swallow alone does not make a summer.
Until death, all is life.
A man with too much ambition cannot sleep in peace.
The most wasted of all days is one where you did not once laugh.
If we would please in society, we must be prepared to be taught many things we know already by people who do not know them.
We are happy or unhappy for a multitude of reasons that are never mentioned and never can be mentioned.
They say that every day you must make an effort to reduce your needs. This principle applies specially to our conceit, whose demands are the most insistent, and thus need to be most strongly resisted.
Man arrives as an apprentice at all the times/stages of his life.
When a man and a woman have an overwhelming passion for each other, it seems to me, in spite of such obstacles dividing them as parents or husband, that they belong to each other in the name of Nature, and are lovers by Divine right, in spite of human convention or the laws.
It must be admitted that it is impossible to live in the world without playing an act from time to time. What distinguishes the honest man from the rogue is that he plays an act only if he must, and to escape danger; whereas the other actively seeks out occasions to do so.
Oftentimes the mind is to the heart just what the chateua library is to the lord of the manor.
Oftentimes, a customary opinion seems absurd in our early youth, but appears less absurd when we advance in life and discover its reason. Must we then conclude that certain customs are less ridiculous? At times, you might be led to think that they were established by people who had read the whole book of life, and are judged by people who—in spite of their spirit—had only read some pages of it.
Don’t try to be like Jackie. There is only one Jackie.
A man was not made to shut up his mind in itself; but to give it voice and to exchange it for other minds.
A clean, comfortable dwelling, with wholesome meals, is no small aid to intellectual and moral progress. A man living in a damp cellar or a garret open to rain and snow, breathing the foul air of a filthy room, and striving without success to appease hunger on scanty or unsavory food, is in danger of abandoning himself to a desperate, selfish recklessness.
I don’t believe that the public knows what it wants; this is the conclusion that I have drawn from my career.
Love, friendship, and respect do not unite people as much as a common hatred for something.
Do not allow yesterday to spend up too much of today.
If you would convince others, seem open to conviction yourself
We love to be pleased better than to be informed
If you can once engage people’s pride, love, pity, ambition (or whatever is their prevailing passion) on your side, you need not fear what their reason can do against you.
Patience is the most necessary quality for business, many a man would rather you heard his story than grant his request.
If you will please people, you must please them in their own way.
When a man wants your advice he generally wants your praise.
Choose your pleasures for yourself, and do not let them be imposed upon you.
Politicians neither love nor hate. Interest, not sentiment, directs them.
Without some dissimulation no business can be carried on at all.
Better to understand a little than to misunderstand a lot.
...With regard to mankind, we must not draw general conclusions from certain particular principles, though, in the main, true ones. We must not suppose that, because a man is a rational animal, he will therefore always act rationally; or, because he has such or such a predominant passion, that he will act invariably and consequentially in the pursuit of it.
Do not judge a person ‘til you have walked two moons in his moccasins.
To a patient a doctor can say, “Before you try to satisfy any particular hunger, look well as to whether it is a hunger that can be satisfied, or one that ought to be subdued.”
Every cemetery has a voice that tells living people to hurry up if they can expect to accomplish anything.
Most of the things we call overnight successes are the kindlings of trains of events that were a long time in being laid.
Some of the hardest work in the world is done by people who think they are playing.
People doing the same things might have different motives.
If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people.
The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.
Virtue and vice, wisdom and folly are not hereditary.
To make a man of yourself you must toil.
The man who only covets wealth and good living has no sense of honor.
In the midst of great joy, do not promise to give a man anything. In the midst of great anger, do not answer a man’s letter.
If for one day one does not meditate upon goodness, all [kinds of] wickedness will spring up of themselves.
A pure heart has few desires.
Show compassion to others’ misfortunes, and rejoice in their excellences.
When you converse, let it be with the wise; when you give food, let it be to the hungry.
The door of good works is difficult to open—but when opened, it is difficult to close.
Doing good gives the greatest happiness; study gives the greatest good.
If the mirror is highly polished, the dust will not stain it; if the heart is enlightened, evil desires will not arise in it.
An hour may destroy the work of a hundred years.
Nowadays, people are shortsighted—they regard the outward appearance as important, but not the virtue.
If you wrangle over things of little importance, then you lose the great tao.
Man reasons in a thousand ways; the spirits only in [the right] one.
Listening well is as powerful as talking well, and is also as essential to true conversation.
Do not believe that you will reach your destination without leaving the shore.
If you ask for directions rudely, you might end up many miles from your destination.
Listen to all, pluck a feather from every passing goose, but follow no one absolutely.
Better to be without a book than to believe a book entirely.
Cheat your conscience, and a whole life’s happiness is destroyed.
The hearts of the people are the only legitimate foundations of the Empire.
Have but few friends, though much acquaintance.
Close to a blacksmith, learn to hammer out nails; close to a carpenter, learn how to use a saw.
Man combs his hair every morning. Why not his heart?
One man spreads a false report, and a hundred report it as truth.
Some people want to be praised for the rest of their lives for what they did well for one day.
Great truths cannot penetrate rustic ears.
You can’t talk of the ocean to a well-frog.
The melon seller does not announce, “Bitter melons.”
Solve one problem, and you keep a hundred others away.
If you want to avoid being cheated, ask for prices at three different stores.
If a girl seems as shy as a mouse, you still have to look out for the tiger within her.
To be totally at leisure for one day is to be immortal for one day.
Some study shows the need for more.
Whoever undertakes a task cannot repudiate the responsibility.
Near vermilion one gets stained pink; near ink one gets stained black.
Near putrid fish you’ll stink; near the epidendrum you’ll be fragrant.
[One takes the color and odor of one’s company.]
You may deceive people. You cannot deceive Heaven.
The error of one moment becomes the sorrow of a whole life.
He who waits for a roast duck to fly in his mouth must wait a very long time.
It is easier to visit friends than to live with them.
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.
A hobbling cat is better than a fast horse when rats swarm the palace.
In a group of many words, there is bound to be a mistake.
Heaven knows and Earth knows—how can I alone know?
The smallest desire to do good is—though not seen by man—certainly known to Heaven.
It is for me to put forth the utmost effort; it rests with Heaven to give success to my plans.
It is after a hundred battles that heroes are produced.
If one plants in the springtime, one will harvest in the fall.
With a helmsman [i.e. leader] that is not nervous, the passengers [i.e. followers] [will feel] secure.
A hundred foot bamboo can progress yet another step.
If you don’t scale the mountain, you can’t view the plain.
All language is not in books, nor all thoughts in language.
He who has seen little is astonished at much.
If a man keeps his mouth shut, his words become proverbial.
The way to close the mouth of a slanderer is to treat him with contempt.
Great profits, great risks.
Who is the greatest liar? Who talks most of himself.
A man without a smiling face must not open a shop.
Joy is not a horse. You cannot harness it.
When economy goes south, people get political.
If you want to find out about the road ahead, then ask about it from those coming back.
Easy to open a shop, hard to keep it open.
There are two kinds of perfect people: those who are dead, and those who have not been born yet.
A man who cannot tolerate small misfortunes can never accomplish great things.
If you want your children to have a peaceful life, let them suffer a little hunger and a little coldness.
The people who talk the best are not the only ones who can tell you the most interesting things.
The people sitting in the free theatre seats are the first ones to boo.
Ripe fruit falls by itself, but it doesn’t fall in your mouth.
To know another is not to know that person’s face, but to know that person’s heart.
He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
Better the cottage where one is merry than the palace where one weeps.
Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for life.
Hen who has never been cheated cannot be a good businessman.
He who thinks too much about every step he takes will always stay on one leg.
Of all female qualities, a warm heart is the most valuable.
Before preparing to improve the world, first look around your own home three times.
All things change, and we change with them.
Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself.
The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it.
Do not do all you can, do not spend all that you have, do not believe all that you hear, and do not tell all that you know.
Do not tear down the east wall to repair the west wall.
If you want an audience, start a fight.
Everyone should carefully observe which way his heart draws him, and then choose that way with all his strength.
Learning is a weightless treasure you can always carry easily.
Married couples tell each other a thousand things without speech.
An accidental meeting is more pleasant than a planned one.
Every murderer is probably somebody’s old friend.
Poor human reason, when it trusts in itself, substitutes the strangest absurdities for the highest divine concepts.
Ching [mind concentration] is a virtue that is vital for all people. Each person comes in the course of his life to a crossroad where, if his thoughts are confused and he loses a grip over himself, he can go the wrong way and even become insane. But if he controls himself, he can take the right way and become a Sage.
One can learn everywhere.
But in our daily affairs there needs to be ethical nurture, so that when the time comes for action we may act intelligently. If we act hastily and without self-control, delaying preparation until it is too late, then by sheer neglect we fail to keep pace with events.
Where he falls short, ‘tis Nature’s fault alone;
Where he succeeds, the merit’s all his own.
The contemplation of celestial things will make a man both speak and think more sublimely and magnificently when he descends to human affairs.
I criticize by creation—not by finding fault.
Modern man is frantically trying to earn enough to buy things he’s too busy to enjoy.
It’s hard to detect good luck—it looks so much like something you’ve earned.
We ought to be on our guard, in case our conscience has stopped troubling us, not so much because of its being clear but because of its being immersed in sin.
Every great batter works on the theory that the pitcher is more afraid of him than he is of the pitcher.
It is by attempting to reach the top in a single leap that so much misery is produced in the world.
Half of our mistakes in life arise from feeling where we ought to think, and thinking where we ought to feel.
An act, by which we make one friend, and one enemy, is a losing game, because revenge is a much stronger principle than gratitude.
We hate some persons because we do not know them; and we will not know them because we hate them.
Imitation is the sincerest of flattery.
It is always safe to learn, even from our enemies, seldom safe to venture to instruct, even our friends.
There are some men whose enemies are to be pitied much and their friends more.
There is a paradox in pride: it makes some men ridiculous, but prevents others from becoming so.
We should pray with as much earnestness as those who expect everything from God; we should act with as much energy as those who expect everything from themselves.
He who gives away his belongings will slowly become a beggar.
Those who trust to chance must abide by the results of chance.
We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once.
… Recognizing that you know what you know, and recognizing that you do not know what you do not know—this is knowledge.
Rather than caring about whether or not you have a position, care about being fit to occupy a position. Rather than caring about whether or not you are known, strive to be worth knowing.
The superior person regards fairness; the inferior person regards [unfair] exemptions.
When the superior person deals with the world, he is not [biased] for or against anything—he [just] follows what is yi .
When you see worthiness, think of emulating it. When you see non unworthiness, inwardly examine yourself.
Yen P’ing Chung was good at interpersonal relations. No matter how long he knew someone, there would always be respectfulness.
I used to listen to what others said, and expect them to act accordingly. But nowadays, I listen to what they say, and then observe what they do.
The superior person is in harmony, but does not merely conform. The inferior person merely conforms, but is not in harmony.
I do not instruct people who lack eagerness, and I do not guide people whose who lack a feeling of urgency. If I present a corner and the person does not come back with the other three, I will not continue.
Though [even] the Combined Army can have its commander taken away, there is not a single individual who can have his free will taken away.
The practice of jen comes from a person himself—can it really be from others?
The superior person is dignified but not arrogant and vain. The inferior person is arrogant and vain, but not dignified.
Someone who cares not about what is distant will soon encounter worries at hand.
When kindness is returned for kindness, the people are stimulated. When injury is returned for injury, the people are warned.
The superior person composes himself before trying to move others.
If you lead the people with laws and control them with punishments, they will [merely] seek to escape the latter, and have no sense of shame [over wrongdoing].
With simple food to eat, water to drink, and my bent arm for a pillow—I can still find joy in the midst of this. The opportunity to acquire riches and honors through non yi — this is [something that I am content with allowing to pass and go] like a floating cloud.
The ancients learned for their own sakes. Nowadays people learn for the sake of others.
The superior person hates to die without having done anything to distinguish himself.
[The superior person] ...is sociable, but not clannish.
Petty people are very difficult to deal with. If you are familiar with them, they are disrespectful/immodest/insolent; if you maintain a distance, they are resentful.
Tzu Kung asked, “‘All the people in the neighborhood approve of him’—what do you think about such a person?”
Confucius said, “That is insufficient.”
“‘All the people in the neighborhood disapprove of him’—what do you think about such a person?”
Confucius said, “That is insufficient. It would be better if the good people in the neighborhood approve, and if the bad people disapprove.”
T’an T’ai appeared to be a superior person. Confucius regarded him as having great potential, so he took him in as a disciple. However, after interacting with him for a while, Confucius discovered that his conduct did not match what he appeared to be.
Ts’ai Yu’s speech was brilliant and cultivated. Confucius regarded him as having great potential, so he took him in as a disciple. However, after interacting with him for a while, Confucius discovered that his wisdom did not match his speaking skill.
Thus, Confucius said, “Should I pick people based on their appearance? I made a mistake with T’an-t’ai. Should I pick people based on their speech? I made a mistake with Ts’ai Yu.”
Tzu Hsia said to Confucius, “What do you think of Yen Hui?”
Confucius said, “Yen Hui has compassion—more than I do.”
“And Tzu Kung?”
“Tzu Kung is a better speaker than I am.”
“And Tzu Lu?”
“Tzu Lu is incredibly brave—much more than I am.”
“And Tzu Chang?”
“Tzu Chang he can keep dignity better than I can.”
Tzu Hsia then remarked, “So how come all four of them study under you?”
Confucius said, “Sit down and let me tell you. Yen Hui is compassionate, but is also inflexible about it. Tzu Kung is a great speaker, but he does not know when to stop talking. Tzu Lu is very brave, but he lacks prudence. Tzu Chang is very dignified, but unpleasant in social interaction.
“Even if I could, I would not exahnge their virtues for my own. And that is why they are intent on learning from me.”
The superior person does not confine himself to praising men with his words; and so the people prove loyal to him. Thus, when he asks about men who are suffering from cold, he clothes them; or men who are suffering from want, he feeds them; and when he praises a man’s good qualities, he confers rank on him.
He who does not like chattering woman will remain a bachelor.
A day of hunger is not starvation.
If you are too modest, you will go hungry.
The teeth are smiling, but is the heart?
You do not teach the paths of the forest to an old gorilla.
But if our unconscious is the source of many of our ills, it can also bring about the cure of our physical and mental ailments. It can not only repair the ill it has done, but cure real illnesses, so strong is its action upon our organism.
If yuh ever find yurself in a hole, the first thin’ to do is stop diggin’.
There’s two theories to arguin’ with a woman—and neither one works.
Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.
Timin’ has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.
Never ask a barber if he thinks yuh need a haircut.
After weeks of beans and taters, even a change to taters and beans is good.
When you’re trying’ somethin’ new, the fewer people that know about it, the better.
It’s best to keep yer troubles pretty much to yerself, ‘cause half the people yu’d tell ‘em to won’t give a dang, and the other half will be glad to hear yu’ve got ‘em.
The length of a conversation don’t tell nothin’ ‘bout the size of the intellect.
Unless the man who works in an office is able to “sell” himself and his ideas, unless he has the power to convince others of the soundness of his convictions, he can never achieve his goal. He may have the best ideas in the world, he may have plans which would revolutionize entire industries. But unless he can persuade others that his ideas are good, he will never get the chance to put them into effect.
You often get a better hold upon a problem by going away from it for a time and dismissing it from your mind altogether.
It is easy for someone to talk about fasting when he has a full belly.
The trouble with facts is that there are so many of them.
Seven sons of one mother, and each one of a different mind.
Every head is a world.
Brief encounters can result in long relationships.
When money talks, everyone else is silent.
How can you trust anyone who doesn’t know how to blush?
Life is short; but it barely takes a second to smile.
Listen to what they say about others, and you will know what they say about you.
What is soon ripe is soon rotten.
The way to be safe is to never feel secure.
Only in water can you learn to swim.
The person who God shows a treasure to must dig it out himself.