Quotes about Philosophy

There were moments when he looked on evil simply as a mode through which he could realize his conception of the beautiful.

It is very wrong to kill any one[.] Oh, I hate the cheap severity of abstract ethics!

To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order; we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.

By nature, men are nearly alike; by practice, they get to be wide apart.

The scholar does not consider gold and jade to be precious treasures, but loyalty and good faith.

To be able under all circumstances to practice five things constitutes perfect virtue; these five things are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness and kindness.

They must often change who would remain constant in happiness and wisdom.

The Master said, 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. He who hated what is not virtuous, would practice virtue in such a way that he would not allow anything that is not virtuous to approach his person. Is any one able for one day to apply his strength to virtue? I have not seen the case in which his strength would be insufficient. Should there possibly be any such case, I have not seen it.

The noble-minded are all-encompassing, not stuck in doctrines. Little people are stuck in doctrines.

The Master said, "The gentleman harmonizes [he] without being an echo. The petty man echoes [tong] and does not harmonize.

The Master was entirely free of four faults: arbitrariness, inflexibility, rigidity, and selfishness.

Life is really simple, but men insist on making it complicated.