The most famous sayings from Confucius' Analects
The top 3 according to 0 votes from people: Is it not a pleasure to learn and to practise what you have learned? Is it not a joy to have friends come from afar? · He who reviews the old and learns the new can be a teacher. · Learning without thinking is useless; thinking without learning is dangerous.. (Updated Jul 14, 2026.)
The best-known lines from the Analects, the sayings of Confucius and his disciples, each with the chapter it comes from.
Automatically translated (original in 简体中文). See the original
Top 12
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1
Is it not a pleasure to learn and to practise what you have learned? Is it not a joy to have friends come from afar?
Opening of Book 1 (Xue Er), the first lines of the Analects.
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2
He who reviews the old and learns the new can be a teacher.
Book 2 (Wei Zheng).
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3
Learning without thinking is useless; thinking without learning is dangerous.
Book 2 (Wei Zheng).
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4
To know what you know and to know what you do not know, that is true knowledge.
Book 2 (Wei Zheng), Confucius to Zilu.
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5
Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself.
Book 15 (Wei Ling Gong), Confucius explaining «shu», reciprocity.
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6
When three people walk together, one of them can be my teacher. I follow their good points and correct their bad ones in myself.
Book 7 (Shu Er).
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7
Each day I examine myself on three points.
Book 1 (Xue Er), said by the disciple Zengzi.
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8
If I hear the Way in the morning, I could die content in the evening.
Book 4 (Li Ren).
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9
When you see a worthy person, try to equal them; when you see an unworthy one, examine yourself.
Book 4 (Li Ren).
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10
Everything flows away like this, never ceasing day or night!
Book 9 (Zi Han), said by Confucius standing by a river.
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11
At fifteen I set my heart on learning; at thirty I stood firm; at forty I had no doubts; at fifty I knew the will of Heaven.
Book 2 (Wei Zheng), Confucius on the stages of his life.
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12
The gentleman seeks harmony, not uniformity; the petty man seeks uniformity, not harmony.
Book 13 (Zi Lu).
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