Confucius Quotes

The more men value money the less they value virtue.

I have turned down a lot of money for things that would have made me feel cheesy.

If people use common sense and their own guiding moral compass, I think they'll generally stay out of trouble.

Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it.

Be right, and then be easy to live with, if possible, but in that order.

Sooner or later, we sell out for money.

It is easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.

Know the difference between principles based on right or wrong vs. principles based on personal gain, and consider the basis of your own principles.

I think a man becomes less than a man when he begins to compromise on what he believes is right.

Plato said that virtue has no master. If a person does not honor this principle and rejoice in it, but is purchasable for money, he creates many masters for himself.

The highest proof of virtue is to possess boundless power without abusing it.

It is up to us to make the right choice and the right decisions.

Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones.

Never do a wrong thing to make a friend or to keep one.

Wisdom has its root in goodness, not goodness its root in wisdom.

You know, there's a difference between politicians and leaders. Politicians read poll numbers and compromise. Leaders do what's morally right.

Honour sinks where commerce long prevails.

The object of the superior man is truth.

Don’t put yourself in a situation where you will not be able to achieve your ideals without violating them.

It is difficult but not impossible to conduct strictly honest business. What is true is that honesty is incompatible with the amassing of a large fortune.

The selfish spirit of commerce which knows no country, and feels no passion or principle but that of gain.

Greed has been severely underestimated and denigrated—unfairly so in my opinion. … there's nothing wrong with avarice as a motive as long as it doesn't lead to dishonest … conduct.

The hardest thing in life is to know when to hold fast to one’s principles and when it is acceptable to bend them.

Never do a wrong thing to make a friend or keep one; the man who requires you to do so is dearly purchased at a sacrifice.

If I had to choose, I would always take the less dynamic, indeed even the lazy person who knows what's right than the zealot in the cause of error. He may move slower, but he's headed in the right direction.