231 quotes found
"He that in his studies wholly applies himself to labour and exercise, and neglects meditation, loses his time, and he that only applies himself to meditation, and neglects labour and exercise, only wanders and loses himself."
"Men do not stumble over mountains, but over molehills"
"Man has three ways of acting wisely. First, on meditation; that is the noblest. Secondly, on imitation; that is the easiest. Thirdly, on experience; that is the bitterest."
"It is not truth that makes man great, but man that makes truth great."
"It is more shameful to distrust our friends than to be deceived by them."
"The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large."
"Follow the seasons of Ha, Ride in the state carriage of Yau, Wear the ceremonial cap of Chan, Let the music be the Shiu with its pantomimes."
"學而時習之、不亦說乎。有朋自遠方來、不亦樂乎。人不知而不慍、不亦君子乎。"
"弟子，入則孝，出則弟，謹而信，凡愛眾，而親仁。行有餘力，則以學文。"
"主忠信。毋友不如己者。過，則勿憚改。"
"道千乘之國，敬事而信，節用而愛人，使民以時。"
"君子食無求飽，居無求安，敏於事而慎於言，就有道而正焉，可謂好學也已。"
"不患人之不己知，患不知人也。"
"君子不重則不威，學則不固。主忠信。無友不如己者。過則勿憚改。"
"【第一章】子曰、爲政以德、譬如北辰、居其所、而眾星共之。"
"吾十有五而志於學，三十而立，四十而不惑，五十而知天命，六十而耳順，七十而从心所欲，不逾矩。"
"溫故而知新，可以為師矣。"
"君子周而不比，小人比而不周。"
"學而不思則罔，思而不學則殆。"
"攻乎異端，斯害也己。"
"由，誨女知之乎，知之為知之，不知為不知，是知也。"
"視其所以，觀其所由，察其所安。人焉叟哉？人焉叟哉？"
"多聞闕疑，慎言其餘，則寡尤。多見闕殆，慎行其餘，則寡悔。言寡無，行寡悔，祿在其中矣。"
"非其鬼而祭之，諂也。見義不為，無勇也。"
"人而不仁、如禮何。人而不仁、如樂何。"
"君子無所爭、必也射乎、揖譲而升下、而飲、其爭也君子。"
"殷因於夏禮，所損益，可知也；周因於殷禮，所損益，可知也。其或繼周者，雖百世，可知也。"
"里仁為美、擇不處仁、焉得知。"
"見賢思齊焉；見不賢而內自省也。"
"父在，觀其志；父殁，觀其行；三年无改於父之道，可謂孝矣。"
"君子欲訥於言而敏於行。"
"君子喻於義，小人喻於利。"
"I am not concerned that I have no place; I am concerned how I may fit myself for one. I am not concerned that I am not known; I seek to be worthy to be known."
"事父母幾諫，見志不從，又敬不違，勞而不怨。"
"季文子三思而後行。子聞之曰、再、斯可矣。"
"知之者不如好之者，好之者不如樂之者。"
"中人以上、可以語上也、中人以下、不可以語上也。"
"知者樂水，仁者樂山。知者動，仁者静。知者樂，仁者寿。"
"務民之義、敬鬼神而遠之。可謂知矣。"
"君子博學於文、約之以禮、亦可以弗畔矣夫。"
"仁者先難而後獲，可謂仁矣。"
"To rank the effort above the prize may be called love."
"Cornered vessel without corners, strange cornered vessel, strange cornered vessel."
"不憤不啟；不悱不發。擧一隅，不以三隅反，則不復也。"
"三人行，必有我師焉：擇其善者而從之，其不善者而改之。"
"君子坦蕩蕩，小人長戚戚。"
"德之不修，學之不講，聞義不能徒，不善不能改，是吾憂也。"
"默而識之，學而不厭，誨人不倦，何有於我哉？"
"邦有道貧且賤焉恥也，邦無道富且貴焉恥也。"
"A man's character is formed by the Odes, developed by the Rites and perfected by music."
"【第三章】【一節】司馬牛問仁。"
"The man of perfect virtue is cautious and slow in his speech. When a man feels the difficulty of doing, can he be other than cautious and slow in speaking?"
"【第四章】【一節】司馬牛問君子。子曰"
"The superior man has neither anxiety nor fear. When internal examination discovers nothing wrong, what is there to be anxious about, what is there to fear?"
"君子敬而無失，與人恭而有禮，四海之內，皆兄弟也，君子何患乎無兄弟也！"
"Let the superior man never fail reverentially to order his own conduct, and let him be respectful to others and observant of propriety:—then all within the four seas, all men are brothers. What has the superior man to do with being distressed because he has no brothers?"
"去食、自古皆有死、民無信不立。"
"If the people have no faith in their rulers, there is no standing for the state."
"【十五章】子曰、博學於文、約之以禮、亦可以弗畔矣夫。"
"By extensively studying all learning, and keeping himself under the restraint of the rules of propriety, one may thus likewise not err from what is right."
"好知不好學，其蔽也蕩"
"唯女子與小人爲難養也！近之則不孫，遠之則怨。"
"年四十而見惡焉，其終也已。"
"君子安而不忘危，存而不忘亡，治而不忘亂。是以身安而國家可保也。"
"以直報怨，以德報德。"
"A man living without conflicts, as if he never lives at all."
"A scholar who loves comfort is not worthy of the name."
"The man of virtue makes the difficulty to be overcome his first business, and success only a subsequent consideration."
"When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them."
"Guide the people by law, subdue them by punishment; they may shun crime, but will be void of shame. Guide them by example, subdue them by courtesy; they will learn shame, and come to be good."
"Only after Winter comes do we know that the pine and the cypress are the last to fade."
"It is soft, smooth and shining—like intelligence. Its edges seem sharp but do not cut—like justice. It hangs down to the ground—like humility. When struck, it gives a clear, ringing sound—like music. The strains in it are not hidden and add to its beauty—like truthfulness.' What imagination!"
"The superior man loves his soul; the inferior man loves his property."
"昔者天子有爭臣七人，雖無道，不失其天下； [...] 父有爭子，則身不陷於不義。 故當不義，則子不可以不爭於父，臣不可以不爭於君； 故當不義，則爭之。 從父之令，又焉得爲孝乎！"
"What Heaven has conferred is called The Nature; an accordance with this nature is called The Path of duty; the regulation of this path is called Instruction. The path may not be left for an instant. If it could be left, it would not be the path. On this account, the superior man does not wait till he sees things, to be cautious, nor till he hears things, to be apprehensive."
"There is nothing more visible than what is secret, and nothing more manifest than what is minute. Therefore the superior man is watchful over himself, when he is alone."
"Let the states of equilibrium and harmony exist in perfection, and a happy order will prevail throughout heaven and earth, and all things will be nourished and flourish."
"Perfect is the virtue which is according to the Mean! Rare have they long been among the people, who could practice it!"
"I know how it is that the path of the Mean is not walked in — The knowing go beyond it, and the stupid do not come up to it. I know how it is that the path of the Mean is not understood — The men of talents and virtue go beyond it, and the worthless do not come up to it."
"There is no body but eats and drinks. But they are few who can distinguish flavors."
"Men all say, "We are wise"; but being driven forward and taken in a net, a trap, or a pitfall, they know not how to escape. Men all say, "We are wise"; but happening to choose the course of the Mean, they are not able to keep it for a round month."
"The kingdom, its states, and its families, may be perfectly ruled; dignities and emoluments may be declined; naked weapons may be trampled under the feet; but the course of the Mean cannot be attained to."
"To show forbearance and gentleness in teaching others; and not to revenge unreasonable conduct — this is the energy of southern regions, and the good man makes it his study. To lie under arms; and meet death without regret — this is the energy of northern regions, and the forceful make it their study. Therefore, the superior man cultivates a friendly harmony, without being weak — How firm is he in his energy! He stands erect in the middle, without inclining to either side — How firm is he in his energy! When good principles prevail in the government of his country, he does not change from what he was in retirement. How firm is he in his energy! When bad principles prevail in the country, he maintains his course to death without changing — How firm is he in his energy!"
"The superior man accords with the course of the Mean. Though he may be all unknown, unregarded by the world, he feels no regret — It is only the sage who is able for this."
"The way which the superior man pursues, reaches wide and far, and yet is secret. Common men and women, however ignorant, may intermeddle with the knowledge of it; yet in its utmost reaches, there is that which even the sage does not know. Common men and women, however much below the ordinary standard of character, can carry it into practice; yet in its utmost reaches, there is that which even the sage is not able to carry into practice. Great as heaven and earth are, men still find some things in them with which to be dissatisfied. Thus it is that, were the superior man to speak of his way in all its greatness, nothing in the world would be found able to embrace it, and were he to speak of it in its minuteness, nothing in the world would be found able to split it."
"The way of the superior man may be found, in its simple elements, in the intercourse of common men and women; but in its utmost reaches, it shines brightly through Heaven and Earth."
"The Path is not far from man. When men try to pursue a course, which is far from the common indications of consciousness, this course cannot be considered The Path."
"The superior man governs men, according to their nature, with what is proper to them, and as soon as they change what is wrong, he stops."
"When one cultivates to the utmost the principles of his nature, and exercises them on the principle of reciprocity, he is not far from the path. What you do not like when done to yourself, do not do to others."
"Earnest in practicing the ordinary virtues, and careful in speaking about them, if, in his practice, he has anything defective, the superior man dares not but exert himself; and if, in his words, he has any excess, he dares not allow himself such license. Thus his words have respect to his actions, and his actions have respect to his words; is it not just an entire sincerity which marks the superior man?"
"The superior man does what is proper to the station in which he is; he does not desire to go beyond this. In a position of wealth and honor, he does what is proper to a position of wealth and honor. In a poor and low position, he does what is proper to a poor and low position. Situated among barbarous tribes, he does what is proper to a situation among barbarous tribes. In a position of sorrow and difficulty, he does what is proper to a position of sorrow and difficulty. The superior man can find himself in no situation in which he is not himself. In a high situation, he does not treat with contempt his inferiors. In a low situation, he does not court the favor of his superiors. He rectifies himself, and seeks for nothing from others, so that he has no dissatisfactions. He does not murmur against Heaven, nor grumble against men. Thus it is that the superior man is quiet and calm, waiting for the appointments of Heaven, while the mean man walks in dangerous paths, looking for lucky occurrences."
"射有似乎君子，失諸正鵠，反求諸其身"
"The way of the superior man may be compared to what takes place in traveling, when to go to a distance we must first traverse the space that is near, and in ascending a height, when we must begin from the lower ground."
"How abundantly do spiritual beings display the powers that belong to them! We look for them, but do not see them; we listen to, but do not hear them; yet they enter into all things, and there is nothing without them."
"Heaven, in the production of things, is sure to be bountiful to them, according to their qualities. Hence the tree that is flourishing, it nourishes, while that which is ready to fall, it overthrows."
"The administration of government lies in getting proper men. Such men are to be got by means of the ruler's own character. That character is to be cultivated by his treading in the ways of duty. And the treading those ways of duty is to be cultivated by the cherishing of benevolence."
"Benevolence is the characteristic element of humanity."
"To be fond of learning is to be near to knowledge. To practice with vigor is to be near to magnanimity. To possess the feeling of shame is to be near to energy."
"By the ruler's cultivation of his own character, the duties of universal obligation are set forth. By honoring men of virtue and talents, he is preserved from errors of judgment."
"In all things success depends on previous preparation, and without such previous preparation there is sure to be failure. If what is to be spoken be previously determined, there will be no stumbling. If affairs be previously determined, there will be no difficulty with them. If one's actions have been previously determined, there will be no sorrow in connection with them. If principles of conduct have been previously determined, the practice of them will be inexhaustible."
"Sincerity is the way of Heaven. The attainment of sincerity is the way of men. He who possesses sincerity is he who, without an effort, hits what is right, and apprehends, without the exercise of thought — he is the sage who naturally and easily embodies the right way. He who attains to sincerity is he who chooses what is good, and firmly holds it fast. To this attainment there are requisite the extensive study of what is good, accurate inquiry about it, careful reflection on it, the clear discrimination of it, and the earnest practice of it."
"The superior man, while there is anything he has not studied, or while in what he has studied there is anything he cannot understand, Will not intermit his labor. While there is anything he has not inquired about, or anything in what he has inquired about which he does not know, he will not intermit his labor. While there is anything which he has not reflected on, or anything in what he has reflected on which he does not apprehend, he will not intermit his labor. While there is anything which he has not discriminated or his discrimination is not clear, he will not intermit his labor. If there be anything which he has not practiced, or his practice fails in earnestness, he will not intermit his labor. If another man succeed by one effort, he will use a hundred efforts. If another man succeed by ten efforts, he will use a thousand. Let a man proceed in this way, and, though dull, he will surely become intelligent; though weak, he will surely become strong."
"When we have intelligence resulting from sincerity, this condition is to be ascribed to nature; when we have sincerity resulting from intelligence, this condition is to be ascribed to instruction. But given the sincerity, and there shall be the intelligence; given the intelligence, and there shall be the sincerity."
"It is only he who is possessed of the most complete sincerity that can exist under heaven, who can give its full development to his nature. Able to give its full development to his own nature, he can do the same to the nature of other men. Able to give its full development to the nature of other men, he can give their full development to the natures of animals and things. Able to give their full development to the natures of creatures and things, he can assist the transforming and nourishing powers of Heaven and Earth. Able to assist the transforming and nourishing powers of Heaven and Earth, he may with Heaven and Earth form a ternion."
"Sincerity becomes apparent. From being apparent, it becomes manifest. From being manifest, it becomes brilliant. Brilliant, it affects others. Affecting others, they are changed by it. Changed by it, they are transformed. It is only he who is possessed of the most complete sincerity that can exist under heaven, who can transform."
"It is characteristic of the most entire sincerity to be able to foreknow. When a nation or family is about to flourish, there are sure to be happy omens; and when it is about to perish, there are sure to be unlucky omens."
"Sincerity is that whereby self-completion is effected, and its way is that by which man must direct himself."
"Sincerity is the end and beginning of things; without sincerity there would be nothing. On this account, the superior man regards the attainment of sincerity as the most excellent thing."
"To entire sincerity there belongs ceaselessness. Not ceasing, it continues long. Continuing long, it evidences itself. Evidencing itself, it reaches far. Reaching far, it becomes large and substantial. Large and substantial, it becomes high and brilliant. Large and substantial; this is how it contains all things. High and brilliant; this is how it overspreads all things. Reaching far and continuing long; this is how it perfects all things. So large and substantial, the individual possessing it is the co-equal of Earth. So high and brilliant, it makes him the co-equal of Heaven. So far-reaching and long-continuing, it makes him infinite. Such being its nature, without any display, it becomes manifested; without any movement, it produces changes; and without any effort, it accomplishes its ends."
"The way of Heaven and Earth may be completely declared in one sentence: They are without any doubleness, and so they produce things in a manner that is unfathomable."
"How great is the path proper to the Sage! Like overflowing water, it sends forth and nourishes all things, and rises up to the height of heaven. All-complete is its greatness! It embraces the three hundred rules of ceremony, and the three thousand rules of demeanor. It waits for the proper man, and then it is trodden. Hence it is said, "Only by perfect virtue can the perfect path, in all its courses, be made a fact.""
"The superior man honors his virtuous nature, and maintains constant inquiry and study, seeking to carry it out to its breadth and greatness, so as to omit none of the more exquisite and minute points which it embraces, and to raise it to its greatest height and brilliancy, so as to pursue the course of the Mean. He cherishes his old knowledge, and is continually acquiring new. He exerts an honest, generous earnestness, in the esteem and practice of all propriety. Thus, when occupying a high situation he is not proud, and in a low situation he is not insubordinate. When the kingdom is well governed, he is sure by his words to rise; and when it is ill governed, he is sure by his silence to command forbearance to himself."
"To no one but the Son of Heaven does it belong to order ceremonies, to fix the measures, and to determine the written characters."
"The institutions of the Ruler are rooted in his own character and conduct, and sufficient attestation of them is given by the masses of the people. He examines them by comparison with those of the three kings, and finds them without mistake. He sets them up before Heaven and Earth, and finds nothing in them contrary to their mode of operation. He presents himself with them before spiritual beings, and no doubts about them arise. He is prepared to wait for the rise of a sage a hundred ages after, and has no misgivings. His presenting himself with his institutions before spiritual beings, without any doubts arising about them, shows that he knows Heaven. His being prepared, without any misgivings, to wait for the rise of a sage a hundred ages after, shows that he knows men."
"All things are nourished together without their injuring one another. The courses of the seasons, and of the sun and moon, are pursued without any collision among them. The smaller energies are like river currents; the greater energies are seen in mighty transformations. It is this which makes heaven and earth so great."
"It is only he, possessed of all sagely qualities that can exist under heaven, who shows himself quick in apprehension, clear in discernment, of far-reaching intelligence, and all-embracing knowledge, fitted to exercise rule; magnanimous, generous, benign, and mild, fitted to exercise forbearance; impulsive, energetic, firm, and enduring, fitted to maintain a firm hold; self-adjusted, grave, never swerving from the Mean, and correct, fitted to command reverence; accomplished, distinctive, concentrative, and searching, fitted to exercise discrimination. All-embracing is he and vast, deep and active as a fountain, sending forth in their due season his virtues. All-embracing and vast, he is like Heaven. Deep and active as a fountain, he is like the abyss. He is seen, and the people all reverence him; he speaks, and the people all believe him; he acts, and the people all are pleased with him."
"It is only the individual possessed of the most entire sincerity that can exist under Heaven, who can adjust the great invariable relations of mankind, establish the great fundamental virtues of humanity, and know the transforming and nurturing operations of Heaven and Earth; — shall this individual have any being or anything beyond himself on which he depends? Call him man in his ideal, how earnest is he! Call him an abyss, how deep is he! Call him Heaven, how vast is he! Who can know him, but he who is indeed quick in apprehension, clear in discernment, of far-reaching intelligence, and all-embracing knowledge, possessing all Heavenly virtue?"
"It is the way of the superior man to prefer the concealment of his virtue, while it daily becomes more illustrious, and it is the way of the mean man to seek notoriety, while he daily goes more and more to ruin. It is characteristic of the superior man, appearing insipid, yet never to produce satiety; while showing a simple negligence, yet to have his accomplishments recognized; while seemingly plain, yet to be discriminating. He knows how what is distant lies in what is near. He knows where the wind proceeds from. He knows how what is minute becomes manifested. Such a one, we may be sure, will enter into virtue."
"The superior man examines his heart, that there may be nothing wrong there, and that he may have no cause for dissatisfaction with himself. That wherein the superior man cannot be equaled is simply this — his work which other men cannot see."
"The superior man, even when he is not moving, has a feeling of reverence, and while he speaks not, he has the feeling of truthfulness."
"It is said in the Book of Poetry, "In silence is the offering presented, and the spirit approached to; there is not the slightest contention." Therefore the superior man does not use rewards, and the people are stimulated to virtue. He does not show anger, and the people are awed more than by hatchets and battle-axes."
"Among the appliances to transform the people, sound and appearances are but trivial influences."
"What the great learning teaches, is to illustrate illustrious virtue; to renovate the people; and to rest in the highest excellence. The point where to rest being known, the object of pursuit is then determined; and, that being determined, a calm unperturbedness may be attained to. To that calmness there will succeed a tranquil repose. In that repose there may be careful deliberation, and that deliberation will be followed by the attainment of the desired end."
"Things have their root and their branches. Affairs have their end and their beginning. To know what is first and what is last will lead near to what is taught in the Great Learning."
"The ancients who wished to illustrate illustrious virtue throughout the Kingdom, first ordered well their own states. Wishing to order well their states, they first regulated their families. Wishing to regulate their families, they first cultivated their persons. Wishing to cultivate their persons, they first rectified their hearts. Wishing to rectify their hearts, they first sought to be sincere in their thoughts. Wishing to be sincere in their thoughts, they first extended to the utmost their knowledge. Such extension of knowledge lay in the investigation of things. Things being investigated, knowledge became complete. Their knowledge being complete, their thoughts were sincere. Their thoughts being sincere, their hearts were then rectified. Their hearts being rectified, their persons were cultivated. Their persons being cultivated, their families were regulated. Their families being regulated, their states were rightly governed. Their states being rightly governed, the whole kingdom was made tranquil and happy. From the Son of Heaven down to the mass of the people, all must consider the cultivation of the person the root of everything besides."
"When the Great Dao (Tao, perfect order) prevails, the world is like a Commonwealth State shared by all, not a dictatorship."
"Virtuous, worthy, wise and capable people are chosen as leaders."
"Honesty and trust are promoted, and good neighborliness cultivated."
"All people respect and love their own parents and children, as well as the parents and children of others."
"The aged are cared for until death; adults are employed in jobs that make full use of their abilities; and children are nourished, educated, and fostered;...orphans... the disabled and the diseased are all well taken care of...."
"They hate not to make use of their abilities... they do not necessarily work for their own self-interest."
"Thus intrigues and conspiracies do not arise, and thievery and robbery do not occur; therefore doors need never be locked."
"This is the ideal world – a perfect world of equality, fraternity, harmony, welfare, and justice."
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand."
"Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without."
"Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves."
"No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance."
"Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated."
"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life."
"A hundred girls aren't worth a single testicle."
"Let us not link ourselves with the vilifiers of Plato and the persecutors of Confucius. They were oppressed by citizens who were considered the pride of the country. Thus has the world raised its hand against the great Servitors. Be assured that the Brotherhood formed by Pythagoras appeared dangerous in the eyes of the city guard. Paracelsus was a target for mockery and malignance. Thomas Vaughan seemed to be an outcast, and few wished to meet with him. Thus was the reign of darkness manifested."
"If one examines the reasons for the persecution of the best minds of different nations, and compares the reasons for the persecution and banishment of Pythagoras, Anaxagoras, Socrates, Plato, and others, one can observe that in each case the accusations and reasons for banishment were almost identical and unfounded. But in the following centuries full exoneration came, as if there had never been any defamation. It would be correct to conclude that such workers were too exalted for the consciousness of their contemporaries, and the sword of the executioner was ever ready to cut off a head held high. Pericles was recognized in his time only after people had reduced him to a sorry state. Only in that state could his fellow citizens accept him as an equal! A book should be written about the causes of the persecution of great individuals. By comparing the causes is it possible to trace the evil will. I advise you to write such a book. Let someone do it! Through research it will be possible to discover the inner similarities between the persecutions of Confucius and Seneca."
"What Confucius contributes to our religious thought is no theory, but emphasis on individual conscience in belief."
"Plato and Confucius were fifth round men and our Lord a sixth round man (the mystery of his avatar is spoken of in my forthcoming letter) not even Gautama Buddha's son was anything but a fourth round man."
"Every Western Theosophist should learn and remember, especially those of them who would be our followers—that in our Brotherhood, all personalities sink into one idea—abstract right and absolute practical justice for all. And that, though we may not say with the Christians, return good for evil—we repeat with Confucius— return good for good, for evil—justice."
"China's Communist leaders, while officially genuflecting to Maoist ideology, are finding something of value in folk religion and even Confucianism―so reviled by the founders of the People's Republic. It turns out that old virtues like honesty, filial obedience, and respect for hierarchy have their uses in the modern age."
"The Lord Maitreya,... took up the office of Bodhisattva when the Lord Gautama laid it down, and since then He has made many efforts for the promotion of Religion. One of His first steps on assuming office was to take advantage of the tremendous magnetism generated in the world by the presence of the Buddha, to arrange that great Teachers should simultaneously appear in many different parts of the earth; so that within a comparatively short space of time we find not only the Buddha Himself, Shri Shankaracharya and Mahavira in India, but also Mithra in Persia, Laotse and Confucius in China, and Pythagoras in ancient Greece. p. 296"
"Now let us imagine the situation of Moses if he had not resisted evil and had allowed the worst and crudest elements to destroy the best—the one which was able to assimilate the ideas of morality and order. What would have happened to his task? His duty as a leader and an earthly lawgiver was to protect his people and to maintain order. Therefore, the resistance to evil was basically necessary. All teachings of antiquity declare active resistance to evil. Thus, the well-known sage and lawgiver of China, Confucius, used to say, "God for good, but for evil—justice.""
"I remember a story about the great Confucius. Once he was very ill, and his friends, thinking that he was about to die prompted him to say his prayers. The sage smiled and said, "My prayer started long ago." And indeed, was not all his life an unceasing service to the Great Ideal, which is the true prayer to the Highest?"
"Confucius... said that the one who does not react to slander, which is slowly absorbed by the brain, nor to insults, which, like sores, injure the body, that one verily can be called wise; he who takes no notice of either slander or insults can be called far-sighted."
"I must confess that I am unable to appreciate the merits of Confucius. His writings are largely occupied with trivial points of etiquette, and his main concern is to teach people how to behave correctly on various occasions. When one compares him, however, with the traditional religious teachers of some other ages and races, one must admit that he has great merits, even if they are mainly negative. His system, as developed by his followers, is one of pure ethics, without religious dogma; it has not given rise to a powerful priesthood, and it has not led to persecution. It certainly has succeeded in producing a whole nation possessed of exquisite manners and perfect courtesy. Nor is Chinese courtesy merely conventional; it is quite as reliable in situations for which no precedent has been provided. And it is not confined to one class; it exists even in the humblest coolie. It is humiliating to watch the brutal insolence of white men received by the Chinese with a quiet dignity which cannot demean itself to answer rudeness with rudeness. Europeans often regard this as weakness, but it is really strength, the strength by which the Chinese have hitherto conquered all their conquerors."
"Our Master's teaching simply amounts to this: 'loyalty to one's self and charity to one's neighbours.'"
"Somebody asked Confucious once, one of his students; they said "What happens, Master Kong," which was his real name, "when we die?" He said, "Why do you ask about something we know nothing about, when you don't even ask about life, which we do have to deal with?""
"Confucianism stood for a rationalized social order through the ethical approach, based on personal cultivation. It aimed at political order by laying the basis for it in a moral order, and it sought political harmony by trying to achieve the moral harmony in man himself. Thus its most curious characteristic was the abolition of the distinction between politics and ethics."
"Confucius was not so much a philosopher as a proto-ideologist: what interested him was not metaphysical Truths but rather a harmonious social order within which individuals could lead happy and ethical lives. He was the first to outline clearly what could lead happy and ethical lives. He was the first to outline clearly what one is tempted to call the elementary scene of ideology, its zero-level, which consists in asserting the (nameless) authority of some substantial Tradition."
"Tai chi chuan (taìjíqúan) is a Taoist practice emphasizing cultivation of martial ethics."
"Tai chi (taìjí) is the universal principle behind birth and transformation. Though tai chi has no form, shape, sound nor colour; all forms, shapes sounds and colours are born and transformed through it. … And so tai chi simply refers to stillness and movement, while yīn and yáng refer to tai chi. ... In tai chi chuan, because the principles are based on the transformation of tai chi (taìjí) - movement and stillness, yīn and yáng as well as opening and closing - one seeks stillness in movement and movement in stillness. Movement is primarily a study of empty and full, which refer back to yīn and yáng. Students should first know about the principles of stillness and movement in yīn and yáng before proceeding with their studies."
"The body is divided into three parts and nine sections. The three parts are the spine, the two arms and the two legs.1. Spine: the head, thorax and abdomen. These three sections make up the main trunk of the body. 2. Arms: the hands, elbows and shoulders. These three sections constitute the upper limbs. 3. Legs: the hips, knees and feet. These three sections constitute the body’s lower limbs.So the body is divided into upper, middle and lower vessels. The upper is from the chest and arms upwards, the middle constitutes waist and hips, and the lower vessel is from the thighs and knees downwards."
"Push hands is practiced between two people: the intitiator and the one acted upon. Initiating is called ‘asking’. The person acted upon ‘answers’. When the opponent asks, listen first before answering."
"In tai chi chuan there is basic standing push hands, forward-backward push hands, dà lǜ and nine palace push hands, etc. In his later years, my older brother, Wu Kung-i (Wu Gongyi), created new techniques in applications. … The dà lǜ method of stepping is also called ‘eight gates and five steps’ (bā mén wǔ bù)."
"There are six methods of winding silk energy: inner, outer, upper, lower, forward and backward. They are applied from anywhere on the body: the arms. legs, hips and waist, with the body moving continuously, with endless circularity, wrapped together like intertwined filaments of silk."
"Those with hard temperaments like to win through struggle; they don't like to be defeated. Inferior hard temperaments are explosive and rash, fierce and violent. Soft temperaments are placid and earnest. Inferior soft temperaments are weak-willed and do not seek a thorough understanding of the skills. Tai chi chuan stresses that hardness and softness complement each other. Training teaches one to be hard, but not excessively so, soft, yet not weak. This is to truly absorb the teachings.Those with soft temperaments easily improve. Those with inferior hard temperaments always mistake slowness and lack of force for sluggishness and weakness. Actually, slowness and forcelessness are fundamental aspects of training. Just as steel is produced by applying heat to iron, tempering it, skills of tai chi chuan are refined gradually over a long time."
"… it is shameful that there are so few women in science... In China there are many, many women in physics. There is a misconception in America that women scientists are all dowdy spinsters. This is the fault of men. In Chinese society, a woman is valued for what she is, and men encourage her to accomplishments yet she remains eternally feminine."
"If you really look at it, I was trying to sell a dream … There was very little I could put in concrete to tell these people it was really real."
"为什么外国互联网公司到中国大都失败了？谷歌也不行、雅虎也不行、eBay这些都被中国本土公司给搞死掉了？是不是中国不能做？任何一个失败的人是最容易找藉口的，人类总是为失败找藉口，不为成功找方向。"
"中国未来将是制定下一个世纪游戏规则的地方...因为全世界人都会在那儿，所以去中国不是去发财，今天不是去发财，不是寻找机会，而是参与未来游戏规则的制定。"
"Young people will have the seeds you bury in their minds and when they grow up they will change the world."
"The problem is the fake products today are of better quality and better price than the real names ... They are exactly the same factories, exactly the same raw materials but they do not use the names."
"In 2001, we went to raise some $3 million in venture capital in the U.S. and got rejected. So we’ve come back and raised a little bit more: $25 billion. This is not money; this is trust from the world, trust from the people."
"When you have one billion dollars, that's not your money. That's the trust the society gives [to] you."
"You should learn from your competitor, but never copy. Copy and you die."
"I think that you, american people, worry too much about the China economy, [...] Every time you start to worry about the China economy, China goes better."
"If you don’t give up, You still have a Chance to Win. Giving up is a Great Failure."
"They didn't begin telling the truth in the Soviet Union until after it collapsed, did they?"
"All these things have happened in our history, and we need to talk about them. What kind of country are we that our history is so tragic?"
"The accusation is always that I'm 'reactionary'."
"(Prince Duan and others) with the support of Empress Dowager took control of the Manchu Imperial Court. Using the most ignorant mind, by the most despicable means, with the most selfish goal, using Yihetuan, which was the most prone to rioting social underclass, to "support the Qing, eliminate the foreigners", and to takeover the regime. This coup d'etat was repeated 66 years later, by those aggressive Red Guards (China). History repeated itself, in minute details."
"The fire put an end to the typically bustling business activities in downtown Beijing. But its psychological impact was much stronger than the financial losses. It left the Beijing residents in a constant state of terror and fear...Most missionary properties, residences of the foreign teachers at the Imperial University and the Eastern and the Southern Cathedrals were reduced to aches. Many Chinese priests and christian converts perished together in the roaring flames."
"All of us have direct experience of the Supreme."
"[Marxism-Leninism is] a worn-out dress that should be thrown away."
"If every one of those good words — liberty, equality, fraternity, democracy, human rights — has been called "bourgeois", what on earth does that leave for us?"
"A rising economic power that violates human rights is a threat to peace."
"Several of Republic of China's remaining diplomatic allies were already looking to switch their allegiance to PRC. The only reason that the countries have not yet done so is that Beijing has yet to embrace them due to its consideration of cross-strait relations."
"Let me tell you, world, I—do—not—believe! If a thousand challengers lie beneath your feet, Count me as number one thousand and one.I don't believe the sky is blue: I don't believe in thunder's echoes; I don't believe that dreams are false: I don't believe that death has no revenge."
"I am no hero In an age without heroes I just want to be a man"
"I will not kneel on the ground Allowing the executioners to look tall The better to obstruct the wind of freedom"
"Freedom is nothing but the distance between the hunter and the hunted"
"we are not guiltless long ago we became accomplices of the history in the mirror"
"a perpetual stranger am I to the world I don't understand its language my silence it can't comprehend"
"It is only through contact and comparison that the relative value or worthlessness of the various cultural elements can be clearly and critically seen and understood. What is sacred among one people may be ridiculous in another; and what is despised or rejected by one cultural group, may in a different environment become the cornerstone for a great edifice of strange grandeur and beauty."
"The original dispute was one of poetic diction... From an interest in the minor problem of poetic diction I was led to see that the problem was really one of a suitable medium for all branches of Chinese literature. The question now became: In what language shall the New China produce its future literature? My answer was: The classical language, so long dead, can never be the medium of a living literature of a living nation; the future literature of China must be written in the living language of the people. "No dead language can produce a living literature." And the living language I proposed as the only possible medium of the future literature of China, was the pei-hau, the vulgar tongue of the vast majority of the population, the language which, in the last 500 years, had produced the numerous novels read and loved by the people, though despised by the men of letters. I wanted this much despised vulgar tongue of the people and the novels to be elevated to the position of the national language of China, to the position enjoyed by all the modern national languages in Europe."
"India conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having to send a single soldier across her border."
"Literary translation may be considered as rivalry between two languages (or even between two cultures) which vie to express the original idea better. It should be faithful to the original at least, and beautiful at best. A literary translator should exploit the advantage of the target language, that is to say, make the fullest possible use of the best expressions of the target language in order to make the reader understand, enjoy and delight in the translated text."
"To face the powder, not powder the face."
"The best way to regain poetry is to recreate it."
"A verse translation should be faithful to the original, less in form than in sense. Or in other words, a poetic translation should be as beautiful as the original in sense, in sound and, if possible, in form."
"By riverside are cooing A pair of turtledoves; A good young man is wooing A maiden fair he loves."
"The sun beyond the mountains glows; The Yellow River seawards flows. You can enjoy a grander sight By climbing to a greater height."
"中国的出路，只有铲除封建遗物，才能实现自由平等。"
"China is learning more technology from Israel, trading more China finally decided to establish former diplomatic relations with Israel [in 1992] because they believed that being friendly with Jews is good for China’s development and to change China’s image internationally."
"By being such a fearless voice fighting for human rights and fundamental freedoms in China, Ilham Tothi fully embodies the spirit of the Sakharov prize. Over the years, he advocated for the implementation of regional autonomy laws in China, encouraged greater awareness of the situation and treatment of the Uyghur community and fought against its exclusion from Chinese society. Ilham Tohti now risks spending the rest of his life in prison. The Renew Europe group sends today a strong message of support for his fight for human rights and freedoms of the Uyghur population by nominating him for the Sakharov prize."
"回望今年的国庆盛典和我们年轻一代展现出的爱国激情和民族自信，这次庆典也可能就是中国社会走向集体成熟的一个“成人礼”。"
"Since 1997, I think the human rights situation in Hong Kong has been regressing slowly. It could be that in China, the situation has been improving slowly, and when both sides eventually meet, they can move forward together. My hope is that the regression in Hong Kong will be a little slower, and the improvement in China a little faster, so that both sides meet at a higher point."
"My trust towards China was both built up and broken down by Deng Xiaoping. There was hope due to his economic reforms, but the 4 June massacre killed all that."
"We show that the introduction of a charged scalar particle into the standard theory leads to numerous phenomenological consequences. In particular, muon-neutrino scattering on electron can resonate in the s-channel, a fact which is potentially important in high-energy neutrino experiments and conceivably relevant in explaining the recently reported underground muon events from Cygnus X-3. We focus on the violation of various quantum numbers, including electron, muon, and tauon numbers."
"In the last few years, an interesting new subject, the study of topological quantum fluids, has emerged. Examples of topological quantum fluids include the Hall fluid, the chiral spin fluid, and the anyon superfluid."
"We discuss the problem of adding random matrices, which enable us to study Hamiltonians consisting of a deterministic term plus a random term. Using a diagrammatic approach and introducing the concept of "gluon connectedness," we calculate the density of energy levels for a wide class of probability distributions governing the random term, thus generalizing a result obtained recently by Brézin, Hikami, and Zee. The method used here may be applied to a broad class of problems involving random matrices."
"One reason I went to Princeton University as an undergraduate was that I had read about a Professor John Wheeler suggesting that the atomic nucleus might take on the form of a doughnut. When I got there, I learned that Wheeler was going to give a novel type of course for freshmen. A group of us were asked a few physics questions by Wheeler, and those who answered correctly were allowed into the course. The first homework assignment consisted of standing for 15 minutes in front of the house that Albert Einstein had lived in. It turned out that we were to learn physics from the top down: For example, we were taught “F = ma” as a limiting case of special relativity. If I remember correctly, the department did not allow Wheeler to teach the course again. But I learned a lot; in particular, I learned to “never calculate without first knowing the answer.”"
"Ah, group theory! The entire subject is amazing and amusing. Who would have expected that three Platonic solids—the cube, tetrahedron, and icosahedron—would pop up in constructing the Dynkin diagrams of the exceptional Lie algebras? Or that finite group theory could determine the remainder when 1010 is divided by 11?"
"That the exchange of a particle can produce a force was one of the most profound conceptual advances in physics. We now associate a particle with each of the known forces: for example, the photon with the electromagnetic force and the graviton with the gravitational force; the former is experimentally well established and while the latter has not yet been detected experimentally hardly anyone doubts its existence."
"It is difficult to overstate the importance (not to speak of the beauty) of what we have learned: The exchange of a spin 0 particle produces an attractive force, of a spin 1 particle a repulsive force, and of a spin 2 particle an attractive force, realized in the hadronic strong interaction, the electromagnetic interaction, and the gravitational interaction, respectively. The universal attraction of gravity produces an instability that drives the formation of structure in the early universe. ... Denser regions become denser yet. The attractive nuclear force mediated by the spin 0 particle eventually ignites the stars. Furthermore, the attractive force between protons and neutrons mediated by the spin 0 particle is able to overcome the repulsive electric force between protons mediated by the spin 1 particle to form a variety of nuclei without which the world would certainly be rather boring. The repulsion between likes and hence attraction between opposites generated by the spin 1 particle allow electrically neutral atoms to form. The world results from a subtle interplay among spin 0, 1, and 2. In this lightning tour of the universe, we did not mention the weak interaction. In fact, the weak interaction plays a crucial role in keeping stars such as our sun burning at a steady rate."
"It is almost an article of faith among theoretical physicists, enunciated forcefully by Einstein among others, that the fundamental laws should be orderly and simple, rather than arbitrarily and complicated."
"In a course on nonrelativistic quantum mechanics you learned about the Pauli exclusion principle2 and its later generalization stating that particles with half integer spins, such as electrons, obey Fermi-Dirac statistics and want to stay apart, while in contrast particles with integer spins, such as photons or pairs of electrons, obey Bose-Einstein statistics and love to stick together. From the microscopic structure of atoms to the macroscopic structure of neutron stars, a dazzling wealth of physical phenomena would be incomprehensible without this spin-statistics rule. Many elements of condensed matter physics, for instance, band structure, Fermi liquid theory, superfluidity, superconductivity, quantum Hall effect, and so on and so forth, are consequences of this rule."
"As was emphasized by Feynman ... among others, the physics of superfluidity lies not in the presence of gapless excitations, but in the paucity of gapless excitations. (After all, the Fermi liquid has a continuum of gapless modes.) There are too few modes that the superfluid can lose energy and momentum to."
"... The quantum Hall system consists of a bunch of electrons moving in a plane in the presence of an external magnetic field B perpendicular to the plane. The magnetic field is assumed to be sufficiently strong so that the electrons all have spin up, say, so they may be treated as spinless fermions. As is well known, this seemingly innocuous and simple physical situation contains a wealth of physics, the elucidation of which has led to two Nobel prizes."
"The goal of condensed matter physics is to understand the various states of matter. States of matter are characterized by the presence (or absence) of order: a ferromagnet becomes ordered below the transition temperature. In the Landau-Ginzburg theory ... , order is associated with spontaneous symmetry breaking, described naturally with group theory. Girvin and MacDonald first noted that the order in Hall fluids does not really fit into the Landau-Ginzburg scheme: We have not broken any obvious symmetry. The topological property of the Hall fluids provides a clue to what is going on. As explained in the preceding chapter, the ground state degeneracy of a Hall fluid depends on the topology of the manifold it lives on, a dependence group theory is incapable of accounting for. Wen has forcefully emphasized that the study of topological order, or more generally quantum order, may open up a vast new vista on the possible states of matter."
"Electromagnetism becomes stronger as we go to higher energies, or equivalently shorter distances. Physically, the origin of this phenomenon is closely related to the physics of dielectrics. Consider a photon interacting with an electron, which we will call the test electron to avoid confusion in what follows. Due to quantum fluctuations ... , spacetime is full of electron-positron pairs, popping in and out of existence. Near the test electron, the electrons in these virtual pairs are repelled by the test electron and thus tend to move away from the test electron while the positrons tend to move toward the test electron. Thus, at long distances, the charge of the test electron is shielded to some extent by the cloud of positrons, causing a weaker coupling to the photon, while at short distances the coupling to the photon becomes stronger. The quantum vacuum is just as much a dielectric as a lump of actual material."
"... the fight for credit goes on in every field, but in theoretical physics, it is almost a way of life, since ideas are by nature ethereal. And the stakes are high: the victor gets to go to Stockholm, while the loser is consigned to the dustbin of history; a history largely written by the victor with the help of an army of idolaters and science writers."
"Normally, the entropy of a system is extensive, that is, proportional to its volume. Somehow, a black hole has an entropy proportional to its surface rather than to its volume. This fact has led to the so-called holographic principle. Many fundamental physicists believe that this mysterious property of black holes holds the key to quantum gravity."
"Although group theory is certainly relevant for nineteenth-century physics, it really started to play an important role with the work of Lorentz and Poincaré, and became essential with quantum mechanics. Heisenberg opened up an entirely new world with his vision of an internal symmetry, the exploration of which continues to this day in one form or another. Beginning in the 1950s, group theory has come to play a central role in several areas of physics, perhaps none more so than in what I call fundamental physics ..."
"Rotations in 3-dimensional Euclidean space ... form the poster child of group theory and are almost indispensable in physics. Think of rotating a rigid object, such as a bust of Newton. After two rotations in succession, the bust, being rigid, has not been deformed in any way; it merely has a different orientation. Thus, the composition of two rotations is another rotation."
"Selection rules governing the disintegration of a particle into two photons are derived from the general principle of invariance under rotation and inversion. The polarization state of the photons is completely fixed by the selection rules for initial particles with spin less than 2. These results which are independent of any specific assumption about the interactions may possibly offer a method of deciding the symmetry nature of mesons which decay into two photons."
"The spontaneous magnetization of a two-dimensional Ising model is calculated exactly. The result also gives the long-range order in the lattice."
"With the advent of special and general relativity, the symmetry laws gained new importance. Their connection with the dynamic laws of physics takes on a much more integrated and interdependent relationship than in classical mechanics, where logically the symmetry laws were only conse- quences of the dynamical laws that by chance possess the symmetries. Also in the relativity theories the realm of the symmetry laws was greatly enriched to include invariances that were by no means apparent from daily experience. Their validity rather was deduced from, or was later confirmed by complicated experimentation. Let me emphasize that the conceptual simplicity and intrinsic beauty of the symmetries that so evolve from complex experiments are for the physicists great sources of encouragement. One learns to hope that Nature possesses an order that one may aspire to comprehend. It was, however, not until the development of quantum mechanics that the use of the symmetry principles began to permeate into the very language of physics. The quantum numbers that designate the states of a system are often identical with those that represent the symmetries of the system. It in- deed is scarcely possible to overemphasize the role played by the symmetry principles in quantum mechanics."
"The repulsive δ interaction problem in one dimension for N particles is reduced, through the use of Bethe's hypothesis, to an eigenvalue problem of matrices of the same sizes as the irreducible representations R of the permutation group S'N. For some Rs this eigenvalue problem itself is solved by a second use of Bethe's hypothesis, in a generalized form. In particular, the ground-state problem of spin-½ fermions is reduced to a generalized Fredholm equation."
"In a letter to Ampère dated 3 September 1822, Faraday lamented, "I am unfortunate in a want of mathematical knowledge and the power of entering with facility into abstract reasoning, I am obliged to feel my way by facts closely placed together." ... Faraday's "facts" were his experiments, both published and unpublished. During a period of 23 years, 1831–54, he compiled the results of those experiments into three volumes, called Experimental Researches in Electricity ... A most remarkable thing is that there was not a single formula in this monumental compilation, which showed that Faraday was feeling his way, guided only by geometric intuition without any precise algebraic formulation."
"Many physicists recall October 1957 as a time of excitement and legend. In that year, at the age of 35, Yang won the Nobel Prize in Physics. Yang and Lee thereby became the first Chinese laureates. The significance of the award lay not only in the academic achievement, but also in the boost it provided to the self-belief of a nation. Before that, the scientific talent of the Chinese had been questioned. Ching-Wu Chu, a distinguished physicist specialized in superconductivity and a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, was in high school at the time. He spent his spare time reading every news report he could find about Yang, and talked earnestly to his classmates about “parity non-conservation” – a subject on which they could understand nothing. Tsu-Teh Chou, a professor of physics at the University of Georgia, was dining at a tiny Chinese restaurant in Liverpool, England, 12 years later, and overheard both the chef and the owner talking proudly about Yang’s achievements."
"真理，哪怕只见到一线，我们也不能让它的光辉变得暗淡。"
"聪明在于勤奋，天才在于积累。"
"We have stayed committed to the Party's decision to establish Comrade Xi Jinping's core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole."