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| 11 Confucius Quotes and Meanings |
What are some Confucius Quotes and Meanings?
The Confucius quotes I have selected are about ways to engage with the world that will promote happiness and well-being. Each quote covers a different aspect of living a more fulfilling life.- be 100% present to your own experience
- mistakes and heartache are part of life, rise above them
- be true to yourself
- act with integrity and sincerity
- don't hold on to past hurts
- the journey is more important than the destination
- in the face of adversity carry on, don't give up
- living is a process of life-long learning.
- you become what you focus on
Each Confucius quote and meaning is listed below. I have also included a takeaway message which is intended not only to relate the quote to life today but to shine a light on how the message can be translated into international actions in daily life.
Wherever you go, go with all your heart.
Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.
Roads were made for journeys not destinations.
What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.
Sincerity is the end and beginning of things; without sincerity there would be nothing.
Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.
Study the past if you would divine the future.
It doesn't not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.
Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance.
You are what you think.
If you expect great things of yourself and demand little of others, you’ll keep resentment far away. The Analects of Confucius.
Meaning:
Be 100% present to your own experience. Try to avoid doing things half-heartedly. When you really focus on what you are doing in the moment, an interesting thing happens, you become so absorbed that you can lose track of time.Takeaway Message: Be in the moment as much as possible because that is where life is taking place. Not yesterday and not tomorrow but today. Right now. If your focus is somewhere else you're missing out on life and as far as we know we only get one of those.
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| "Whereever you go, go with all your heart." Confucius. |
Meaning
Mistakes and heartache are part of life, but it is possible to rise above them and keep going even when faced with the most difficult of situations.Takeaway Message: Forgive yourself for whatever is holding you back. Remain hopeful. Don't ever stop trying to make a better life for yourself and others. You are worth it and so are they.
Meaning
Too often we focus on the end result and don't give enough credit or weight to the importance of the process we are going through. It is on the journey that we learn and grow. The end result is just the cherry on top for all our hard work.Takeaway Message: Focus on enjoying the experience even if it gets hard along the way. There is no growth without some pain.
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| "Roads were made for journeys not destinations." Confucius. |
Meaning
In terms of how you behave towards others it is useful to ask yourself how would I feel if someone said that to me or did that to me. By exercising a little self-awareness we can keep our behavior in check and exercise kindness in our dealings with others.Takeaway Message: We cannot control what others do or say but we are in control of our own actions and words. Treat others with the kindness you yourself would hope for. If someone hurts you show compassion rather than focusing on how to get even.
Meaning
Sincerity is foundational to human relationships. When we are honest with others we create an environment of trust and people know that they can rely on us to be truthful, open and transparent and to act with integrity.Often the biggest barrier to not being true to others is fear of hurting them in some way. In my work with clients over the years I have always sought to emphasize that it is not our job to look after the feelings of others but rather to look after our own feelings. That is not to say that it is OK to act badly and deliberately hurt other people intentionally but rather that we seek to respect them enough to tell them the truth even when we know that it may be challenging for them to hear that information.
Acting with sincerity also means extending the same standard to ourself. It is an act of self-love and self-caring. If we don't get real with ourselves we can easily go through life in a state of denial and never steer our boat in the direction we truly want to head.
The main way in which you can practice sincerity is by acting in accordance with your values and beliefs. You know when you get that icky feeling that you have acted against what you know to be right. Your conscience is helpful as it is like a trip wire telling us that we need to reflect on our behavior and self-correct.
Takeaway Message: Be true to yourself and honest with others and you will not be bogged down with self-recrimination, doubts, fears and second guessing others. Focus on you and what you stand for. Stop trying to protect others feelings by shielding them from the truth rather trust them to work through situations and come to new places of understanding and strength.
Meaning
Confucius teaches us that we need to focus on the goodness in others and to appreciate the positive differences they make in our lives whether is it only for a few moments or on a more regular basis. If the quality of your relationship with another person is not good it is your responsibility to take action to improve it. You cannot do all the work as it does take two to tango but you can do repair work from your side if you so choose. In my experience it can often be the most unlikely people who can surprise with unexpected kindnesses. Breaking down barriers can reap surprising results when we stop writing other people off.When others are not generous with their time, resources or insights it is likely to be nothing to do with you. More often than not the person is preoccupied with events happening in their lives and they are not fully present to their experience. Remember that if they were full present they would likely be behaving quite differently.
It is easy to hold grudges and become so consumed with the wrong doings of others that it overshadows the good that has come out of past interactions with them. In these situations it is always better to practice letting go of hurts rather than harboring them else the relationship will suffer and the risk of carrying forward the hurt into all future dealings multiplies. Rather than focusing on what they did to you, focus on what you need to do to protect yourself in future interactions.
This is very true of intimate relationships that can quickly turn from love to hate especially when betrayal is involved. Your responsibility in a partnership is to safeguard the relationship and holding grudges and keeping score will not look after the relationship but rather erode it.
(Note: Forgetting is important for minor misdemeanors but not so in more serious cases like abuse and violence. In these cases it is more important to forgive another's actions rather than forget them. If we forgot the action or worse still minimize its significance we risk a repeat of ongoing violence because we will not be making the connection between what has happened and the essential need to act in our own self interest to protect and nurture ourselves.)
Takeaway Message: Seek to take a balanced view of situations in which others may hurt you with dishonesty, underhand acts and betrayal. Notice that they have behaved in ways that signal that they can not be trusted in some way. For example if a friend betrays a confidence learn not to share sensitive personal information with them in the future. Maybe you will need to withdraw from the friendship or maybe it is a case of becoming more boundaried around what you are willing to share. Either way focus on what you can do differently and don't be distracted by what they did.
Travel lightly. Holding grudges will weigh you down and will eat away at you in the long run. Practice letting go of past hurts and trepasses so you can focus in the here and now and not on the past. Try to keep sight of what the relationship means to you and practice open and honest communication about how a situation has hurt you if you want to preserve the relationship and the good will.
Cherish acts of kindness from others these are beautiful memories to hold onto and will help you maintain a more balanced perpective in conflict situations when you may be inclined to not give the other the benefit of the doubt.
Meaning
Confucius wisely recognized the value in looking back in order to predict the future. The mistakes that have been made in history have been made over and over. Yet with each passing generation it seems we continue to operate with short-sightness and acquisitiveness.Takeaway Message: While we cannot necessarily influence world decisions we can operate with integrity in our own sphere. We cannot truly know the reach that we as individuals can have. Greta Thunberg is a case in point as is Mother Teresa.
As individuals we can learn a lot about ourselves by taking a look at our past mistakes. Most importantly we can identify patterns of behavior that we repeat over and over even though they don't serve us well.
Self-reflection is one of those practices that does not come naturally to many of us. It needs to be cultivated and used often.
Take time to reflect on your actions and what you could have done differently to improve the outcome in situations where you know you could have behaved differently. Journaling is a perfect way to do this easily or by talking it over with someone you trust.
When you explore your behavior in this way you will gain invaluable self-knowledge not only about what you did but what motivated the behavior. In this way you will learn from the experience, develop greater wisdom, and have identified areas for growth and self-improvement.
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| "Study the past if you would divine the future." Confucius. |
Meaning
Take things at your own pace. Life is not a race. Some things take longer than you think they will. Exercise patience. Whatever you do, do not stop moving forward and continuing even if you get a little discouraged by your lack of progress.Takeaway Message: Remember the immortal words of Pete Seeger, "step by step the longest march can be won". Life is for learning, and acquiring that knowledge and expertise in whatever form can take time. Cut yourself some slack if you find you are not achieving things in the timeframe you expected. Be kind to yourself.
Sometimes lack of progress is about things outside of our control, other times we ourselves are the block. For instance if someone has a self-belief that they are not worthy of success they may be unconsciously self-sabotaging their progress toward some end goal. The important thing is to keep striving and moving forward. We cannot predict ahead of time all of the benefits to ourselves and others that may come from our endeavors.
Meaning
The Confucius quote "Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance" is just as relevant to everyday life now as when it was written. It encourages us to approach life with a sense of humility and open-mindedness.When we embrace the philosophy contained in this quote we start to cultivate a mindset of lifelong learning. When we acknowledge our own limitations, we become motivated to seek knowledge and expand our horizons. It pushes us to step out of our comfort zone, explore new ideas and experiences, and ultimately to keep working towards self-improvement.
Recognizing our own ignorance allows us to be receptive to new ideas and opinions that reflect different life experiences other than our own. It paves the way for a greater number of meaningful conversations and promotes understanding. We can then adopt a stance of the curious inquirer acquiring knowledge and meaning without necessarily judging it as wanting because it doesn't exactly align with our own life experience or value system.
In considering the gaps in our knowledge and the extent of what we don't know we are better positioned to make sounder decisions. Humility encourages us to recognize that we don't have all the answers. This leads us to better-informed choices and guides us to seek advice or expertise when necessary to support our decision making. Knowing when to reach out and to not fear asking for help ensures we get the support we need especially in times of crisis which can in some cases be life changing.
Takeaway Message: Confucius believed that true knowledge is not merely accumulating facts or information, but rather acknowledging the vastness of what we don't know. It highlights the idea that the more we learn, the more we realize how much there is still to learn.
Ultimately, applying the wisdom of this quote in our daily lives allows us to cultivate a mindset of curiosity, humility and the continuous pursuit of knowledge to promote self-awareness and understanding.
Looking for more Chinese wisdom try our Chinese Proverbs and Meanings to Inspire You
Meaning
As human beings we have thousands of thoughts per day. Many of these repeat themselves over and over. Confucius rightly points out that whatever we focus on becomes our reality and we become what we think.Takeaway Message: In today's fast paced world it is easy to focus on having and getting at the expense of the things in life that are really worth possessing like piece of mind, loving and being loved, shared community.
When you set your intentions in life, be sure to focus on what you truly want so that your thoughts and your being are working on those things rather than short-term gains like the acquisition of wealth.
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| "You are what you think." Confucius. |
Meaning
It is one of life's traps to focus on what others are doing. We often invest a lot time and energy in these outcomes especially if they concern important people in our lives like our loved one. However, the reality is that we cannot control what others think and do and no matter how much we would wish it otherwise people will inevitably disappoint us and fall short of our expectations.Takeaway Message: Have concerns for the welfare of others and always help where you can but try to curb your expectations of anyone but yourself. It is far better to replace expectations with hopes for their success. That way a lot of your energy will be freed up for the important job: to focus on your own path in life and realizing your own hopes and dreams.
Conclusion
I hope that this article has helped you gain a greater understanding of how to apply Confucius wisdom to your own journey of self-discovery. If you enjoyed this list of Confucius quotes and meanings plus the accompanying video please feel free to comment and share. Below are some related articles that you may also find interesting.Related Articles
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