The Top 20 Confucius Quotes To Remember For The Rest of Your Life

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Not only have his words of wisdom had an enormous impact on Chinese society to this day, but he helped countless people live moral and meaningful lives.

Here are his best 20 quotes.

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----- Transcript -----

1."The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life."

2."The man who says he can, and the man who says he can not… Are both correct."

3."Your life is what your thoughts make it.”

4."The journey with a 1000 miles begins with one step.”

5."Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life."

6."You are what you think."

7."All people are the same; only their habits differ."

8."We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one."

9."Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself."

10."Respect yourself and others will respect you."

11."If you make a mistake and do not correct it, this is called a mistake."

12."Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated."

13. "Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance."

14. "Looking at small advantages prevents great affairs from being accomplished."

15. "We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one."

16."Act with kindness but do not expect gratitude."

17. "The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones."

18."When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps."

19."The essence of knowledge is, having it, to use it."

20. "Anyone can find the switch after the lights are on."

[mad]

"Only when a mosquito lands on your testicles will you realize violence isn't always the answer"

[averageanimeenjoyer]

No one notices your tears,
No one notices your sadness,
No one notices your pain,
But they all notice your mistakes.

[Networkprofessor]

Confucius didn't live in a time where there were light switches. Something must been lost in translation.

[simionalexandru]

Confucius 554 bC ''Anyone can find the switch after the lights are on'' lights... 2500 years ago
Press *X* for *Doubt*

[drewsson]

Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life. Legendary quote. Words to live by 💪

[anthonyguarino]

The hell Confucius know about light switches..

[easyenglish]

'Anyone can find the switch after the lights are on' ??? He lived between 550-479 BC...

[wolters]

The first quote by Confucius I heard is still alive . Translating to English is not easy, goes something like this :

"only the people that are not occupied with things most people are occupied with, can occupy themselves with things most people are not occupied with ".
When I use the quote I always have to repeat it because people get confused .
"To confuse" and "confusion" come from Confucius' name : he confused people . His name became a verb and a noun, in many different languages .

A story about Confucius, a profound lesson again .

A friend came to visit Confucius, entered through the gate, walked across the garden up to the house and knocked on the door . Confucius was upstairs, out on the balcony, saw his friend coming but did not answer the door . The friend waited, knocked again, waited some more and then left . As he waked back through the garden Confucius started singing out loud . The friend heard it, turned back and knocked on the door again but Confucius did not let him in

A few days later they met at the local market . The friend : "I came to visit you a couple of days ago but you did not answer the door . You were at home, I heard you singing . Why did you not let me in ? "
Confucius' reply : for everything you are given you must be grateful, but you must not expect it to be yours by right .

Knock on the door : may I come in . There are two possible answers here : yes and no . The no is not expected, not calculated into the system and therefor upsetting . To be granted entry is seen as a given, a right almost : why did you not let me in, you were at home ?

The last one I remembered for not understanding it .

" When words lose their meaning, people lose their freedom" .
Words that have lost their meaning causing loss of freedom : pandemic, vaxxine, fundamental as in fundamental rights .
Now I understand....

[wolters]

"anyone can find the switch after the lights are on " .We're talking 600 BC here, no light switch in those days . Translated by someone who hasn't got a clue .

[johnnywalker]

I'm pretty sure Confucius didn't have access to light switches.

[TheStrataminor]

Confucius didn't say, "Anyone can find a switch after the lights on"....seriously he lived over a 1000 years ago...

[martmccoy]

How did they have switches and lights in the time of Confucius?

[chakradharhadke]

LIFE IS REALLY SIMPLE, BUT WE INSIST ON MAKING IT COMPLICATED.

[spankynater]

Get it while the getting's good. Still rings true to this day.

[RandomRealtalk]

Confucius is a great teacher. His teachings is a good reminder for me. 😊

[spankynater]

Did he really say “Anyone can find the switch after the lights are on.”? They didn't have light switches back then.

[MichaelParthum]

0:12 I say man who listens to Confucius and thinks "I can fly without wings"...will fall for it.

[danarobinson]

There was no light switches in Confucius time.

[willieluncheonette]

"Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu, Lieh Tzu, were certainly great Masters that have walked on the earth — rare human beings — but they have not made a clear-cut way so that others can also follow. No religion came into being because of these three great Masters. It remained a philosophy. They attracted people, but the attraction never went beyond intellect. And there is a reason for it.

China has lived under the influence of Confucius, and Confucius was exactly an ancient Karl Marx, a sociologist of great insight, but he was not a religious master. He gave China its social structure, he gave China the principles of behavior and etiquette, but he never gave anything that leads to interiority. And Confucius’ influence is the greatest in China. It is because of Confucius that communism became important. They fitted with each other very intimately, with no contradiction.

Communism cannot fit with Hinduism, communism cannot fit with Jainism, but it can fit with Confucianism, because Confucianism is not a religion; it is only a sociology, and there is no conflict between Confucius and Karl Marx.

This is the reason why China and Russia could not stay together. Both are communist countries, both believe in Karl Marx and DAS KAPITAL, but Russia does not have the background of Confucius, while China has a long tradition of Confucianism. So Russian communism is pure Marxian. Chinese communism is just communism for name’s sake, it is basically ninety percent Confucianism.

And these three great Masters remained individuals. Once in a while somebody was impressed by their writings, but it remained intellectual, so there is no hope in the near future of Lieh Tzu, Chuang Tzu or Lao Tzu being born again in China, or their influence in any way changing the course of China’s history, because in fact they have never been of any great importance in China’s mind. Confucius and Lao Tzu were contemporaries. Confucius had even gone to meet Lao Tzu, because Lao Tzu was certainly a man of tremendous qualities. Confucius was a great thinker, but only a thinker. He had nothing as far as his own inner consciousness is concerned, no experience, no idea who he is, but he had planned for the society perfectly well, a very mannered, cultured society.

Hearing that Lao Tzu was nearby, living in a cave beyond the lake, he went to see him. A few of his disciples also went, but he told them, “You wait outside the cave.” They said, “Why? It will be good, we can listen.” He said, “You don’t understand. I will tell you the reason later on. Let me go first. If I feel it right I will call you in.”

They stayed outside, Confucius went in. Lao Tzu was sitting silently. He did not say to Confucius even to sit down, and Confucius was man of manners, etiquette. He had not expected that a great sage, Lao Tzu, would not even ask. He did not say hello or even hi — even that short form, “hi.” He simply sat down, looking at Confucius, and Confucius said, “Sir, don’t you believe in manners?”

Lao Tzu laughed. He said, ‘I thought you knew all the manners — what is the need for me to tell you? If you feel like sitting, you will sit down! You are not a man who does not know manners. If you like to stand up, it is my etiquette not to disturb you. You can stand up!” Confucius said, “But you… you did not even say hello.” Lao Tzu said, “I said it. You could not hear it. It was a test: I said it silently. I wanted to know whether the famous philosopher Confucius understands silence or not. So you understand only words — that much is decided! And you have expectations. You cannot sit down on your own, you have to be told. This cave does not belong to me. When I came here, nobody said ‘sit down, ’ because nobody was here. Why should I say it? It is not my cave, nothing belongs to me. Just the way I am sitting, you can sit down. You are not a child to be told.”

Confucius had never met such a man. And on each point he was rebuffed badly. Then Lao Tzu said, “If you really want to learn anything, first go and renounce all the idiots you have collected as your disciples. You don’t know anything and you have thousands of disciples. It is hilarious! You just go and tell them the truth, that you don’t know anything, and then come, because I teach only if somebody does not know. If he knows it already, why should he bother me? An old man… Leave me alone!”

Confucius came out, and he had not the courage to say to his disciples that he did not know. He had thousands of disciples, he was the most famous man at that time. Very few people knew about Lao Tzu. Confucius has remained a shadow over the whole of Chinese history. It is only somewhere in the footnotes you can find the name of Lao Tzu.

Confucius was not courageous enough to say “I do not know.” The disciples said “You didn’t ask us to come in. He said, “It was good that I didn’t ask you to come in. And please don’t ask the reason. That man is not a man; he is a dragon. He is dangerous, avoid him as far as possible. This is my first and last meeting with that old guy!”

And he was perspiring. It was a cold morning and the cave was very cool, but he was perspiring. The disciples said, “But why are you perspiring?” He said, “I am alive — that’s enough! Just take me away from here.”

Lao Tzu has never been a great influence. He was a silent man. Once in a while somebody would come who was courageous enough to be with him. He was not ready to come down to meet you, to be with you and to be amongst you. It simply was not his characteristic. He would remain on top of the hill. You would have to go to the hilltop, he was not going to come into the valley. He was not like a man, which I am. I can come to any depth where you are hiding and catch hold of your head and pull you out. He was not that kind of man; he would simply sit on top of the hill. Anybody who wants… but who wants to go that far? He never wrote a single word, he never gave a single speech — just a few conversations here and there, and only if somebody asked something. And then too, he was not nice, as is expected of Masters. Confucius was right that he was a dragon. He would kill you!"

[chakradharhadke]

THE MAN WHO ASKS A QUESTION IS FOOL FOR A MINUTE, THE MAN WHO DOESN'T ASK IS FOOL FOR LIFE.