Quotes to inspire and reflect

Rash indeed is he who reckons on the morrow, or haply on days beyond it; for tomorrow is not, until today is past.

Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few; friend to one; enemy to none.

Knowledge must come through action; you can have no test which is not fanciful, save by trial.

A prudent mind can see room for misgiving, lest he who prospers would one day suffer reverse.

Nobody likes the man who brings bad news.

How dreadful it is when the right judge judges wrong!

Make yourself necessary to somebody. Do not make life hard to any.

I have nothing but contempt for the kind of governor who is afraid, for whatever reason, to follow the course that he knows is best for the State; and as for the man who sets private friendship above the public welfare - I have no use for him either.

The descent to Hades is the same from every place.

Words have a longer life than deeds.

I know how men in exile feed on dreams of hope.

His resolve is not to seem, but to be, the best.

Words are the physicians of the mind diseased.

Death is better, a milder fate than tyranny.

It is better to hide ignorance, but it is hard to do this when we relax over wine.

Without an acquaintance with the rules of propriety, it is impossible for the character to be established.

There are three things which the superior man guards against. In youth...lust. When he is strong...quarrelsomeness. When he is old...covetousness.

To be able to practice five things everywhere under heaven constitutes perfect virtue.[They are] gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness.

Virtue is more to man than either water or fire. I have seen men die from treading on water and fire, but I have never seen a man die from treading the course of virtue.

Beware of dissipating your powers; strive constantly to concentrate them. Genius thinks it can do whatever it sees others doing, but is sure to repent of every ill-judged outlay.

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.

What the superior man seeks is in himself. What the mean man seeks is in others.

If a man takes no thought about what is distant, he will find sorrow near at hand.

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.

Recompense injury with justice, and recompense kindness with kindness.

He who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make his words good.

The scholar who cherishes the love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar.

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.

To go beyond is as wrong as to fall short.

The firm, the enduring, the simple, and the modest are near to virtue.

The people may be made to follow a path of action, but they may not be made to understand it.

While you are not able to serve men, how can you serve spirits [of the dead]?While you do not know life, how can you know about death?

Is virtue a thing remote? I wish to be virtuous, and lo! Virtue is at hand.

The superior man is satisfied and composed; the mean man is always full of distress.

I am not one who was born in the possession of knowledge; I am one who is fond of antiquity, and earnest in seeking it there.

With coarse rice to eat, with water to drink, and my bended arm for a pillow - I have still joy in the midst of these things. Riches and honors acquired by unrighteousness are to me as a floating cloud.

The man of virtue makes the difficulty to be overcome his first business, and success only a subsequent consideration.

Virtue is not left to stand alone. He who practices it will have neighbors.

The cautious seldom err.

When we see men of worth, we should think of equaling them; when we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves.

I have not seen a person who loved virtue, or one who hated what was not virtuous. He who loved virtue would esteem nothing above it.

The superior man...does not set his mind either for anything, or against anything; what is right he will follow.

Things that are done, it is needless to speak about...things that are past, it is needless to blame.

Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.

Better be despised for too anxious apprehensions, then ruined by too confident security.

[The superior man] acts before he speaks, and afterwards speaks according to his actions.

When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them.

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.