Therefore, enjoy your reading of the best Confucius quotes!

Confucius Quotes – Chapter I (学而篇-xue er pian)

• 学而时习之、不亦说乎。有朋自远方来、不亦乐乎。人不知而不愠、不亦君子乎。（xué ér shí xí zhī 、bú yì shuō hū 。yǒu péng zì yuǎn fāng lái 、bú yì lè hū 。rén bú zhī ér bú yùn 、bú yì jun1 zǐ hū 。）
  • Isn’t it a pleasure to study and practice what you have learned? Isn’t it also great when friends visit from distant places? If you do not know and do not question, can you be called a noble man?

• 巧言令色、鲜矣仁。（qiǎo yán lìng sè 、xiān yǐ rén）
  • Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue.
  • Variant Someone who is a clever speaker and maintains a ‘too-smiley’ face is seldom considered a humane person.

• 不患人之不己知，患不知人也。（bú huàn rén zhī bú jǐ zhī ，huàn bú zhī rén yě）

  I am not bothered by the fact that I am unknown. I am bothered when I do not know others.

• 主忠信。毋友不如己者。过，则勿惮改。（zhǔ zhōng xìn 。wú yǒu bú rú jǐ zhě 。guò ，zé wù dàn gǎi）
  • Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles. Then no friends would not be like yourself (all friends would be as loyal as yourself). If you make a mistake, do not be afraid to correct it.

• 道千乘之国，敬事而信，节用而爱人，使民以时。（dào qiān chéng zhī guó ，jìng shì ér xìn ，jiē yòng ér ài rén ，shǐ mín yǐ shí）
  • If you would govern a state of a thousand chariots (a small-to-middle-size state), you must pay strict attention to business, be true to your word, be economical in expenditure and love the people. You should use them according to the seasons(i.e. You should not enlist farmers during seeding or harvest time).

• 君子食无求饱，居无求安，敏于事而慎于言，就有道而正焉，可谓好学也已。（jun1 zǐ shí wú qiú bǎo ，jū wú qiú ān ，mǐn yú shì ér shèn yú yán ，jiù yǒu dào ér zhèng yān ，kě wèi hǎo xué yě yǐ）
  • When the Superior Man eats he does not try to stuff himself; at rest he does not seek perfect comfort; he is diligent in his work and careful in speech. He avails himself to people of the Tao and thereby corrects himself. This is the kind of person of whom you can say, “he loves learning.”

Confucius

Translation (meaning) of 李白(libai)-子夜吴歌(zi ye wu ge)

A Song of an Autumn Midnight

A slip of the moon hangs over the capital;
Ten thousand washing-mallets are pounding;
And the autumn wind is blowing my heart
For ever and ever toward the Jade Pass….
Oh, when will the Tartar troops be conquered,
And my husband come back from the long campaign!

Translation (meaning) of 李白(libai)-关山月(guan shan yue)

The Moon at the Fortified Pass

The bright moon lifts from the Mountain of Heaven
In an infinite haze of cloud and sea,
And the wind, that has come a thousand miles,
Beats at the Jade Pass battlements….
China marches its men down Baideng Road
While Tartar troops peer across blue waters of the bay….
And since not one battle famous in history
Sent all its fighters back again,
The soldiers turn round, looking toward the border,
And think of home, with wistful eyes,
And of those tonight in the upper chambers
Who toss and sigh and cannot rest.

Translation (meaning) of 王昌龄(wangchangling)-塞下曲(sai xia qu)

Under a Border-fortress

Drink, my horse, while we cross the autumn water!-
The stream is cold and the wind like a sword,
As we watch against the sunset on the sandy plain,
Far, far away, shadowy Lingtao.
Old battles, waged by those long walls,
Once were proud on all men’s tongues.
But antiquity now is a yellow dust,
Confusing in the grasses its ruins and white bones.

Translation (meaning) of 王昌龄(wangchangling)-塞上曲(sai shang qu)

At a Border-fortress

Translation (meaning) of 柳宗元(liuzongyuan)-溪居(xi ju)

Dwelling By a Stream

Translation (meaning) of 孟浩然(menghaoran)-宿业师山房待丁大不至(su ye shi shan fang dai ding da bu zhi)

At the Mountain-lodge of the Buddhist Priest Ye Waiting in Vain for my Friend Ding

Translation (meaning) of 孟浩然(memghaoran)-夏日南亭怀辛大(xia ri nan ting huai xin da)

In Summer at the South Pavilion Thinking of Xing

Translation (meaning) of 孟浩然(menghaoran)-秋登兰山寄张五(qiu deng lan shan ji zhang wu)

On Climbing Orchid Mountain in the Autumn to Zhang

Translation (meaning) of 王维(wangwei)-西施咏(xishi yong)

The Beautiful Xi Shi