Confucius Mind Quotations

He who has really set his mind on virtue will do no evil.

Rate the task above the prize; will not the mind be raised? Fight thine own faults, not the faults of others; will not evil be mended?

In ancient times, those who wished to illuminate the world with virtue first brought order to their nations. Wishing to order well their nations, they first harmonized their families. Wishing to harmonize their families, they first cultivated themselves. Wishing to cultivate themselves, they first rectified their minds. Those who wished to rectify their minds first made their intentions sincere.

If my mind is not engaged in my worship, it is as though I worshipped not.

The master said, 'Quietly to store up knowledge in my mind, to learn without flagging, to teach without growing weary, these present me with no difficulties.'

At fifteen my mind was directed to study, and at thirty I knew where to stand.

Unify your attention. Do not listen with your ears, but with your mind. Do not listen with your mind but with your essence.

The superior man... does not set his mind either for or against anything, he will pursue whatever is right. The superior man thinks of virtue, the common man of comfort.

Fix your mind on truth, hold firm to virtue, rely on loving kindness, and find your recreation in the Arts.

First there must be order and harmony within your own mind.

The general of a large army may be defeated, but you cannot defeat the determined mind of a peasant.

Tea tempers the spirits and harmonizes the mind, dispels lassitude and relieves fatigue, awakens thought and prevents drowsiness, lightens or refreshes the body, and clears the perceptive faculties.

Slater soaks into the mind as water into low and marshy places, where it becomes stagnant and offensive.

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 man of noble mind seeks to achieve the good in others and not their evil. The little-minded man is the reverse of this.

The superior man does not mind being in office; all he minds about is whether he has qualities that entitle him to office. He does not mind failing to get recognition; he is too busy doing the things that entitle him to recognition.

What is most needed for learning is a humble mind.