Confucius, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi: Selected Passages from the Chinese Philosophers in The Path

The Analects : Confucius

The Analects is a series of dialogues between Confucius and his disciples. It presents Confucius as someone striving to be a great teacher and a good human being. Confucius’s ideas focus on overcoming the self through ritual cultivation. He emphasizes the capriciousness of the world, which is why he also encourages us to remember the deep joy that can come from the work of building extraordinary communities at all levels, from those immediately around us to the world at large.

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Confucius said, To learn and then at the appropriate time put into practice what you have learned: Is this not a pleasure? To have friends arrive from afar: Is this not a joy? To be patient even when others do not understand: Is this not the way of an accomplished person? (1/1)

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When it comes to the practice of ritual, it is harmonious ease that is valued. . . . If you merely stick rigidly to ritual in all matters, great and small, there will remain that which you cannot accomplish. Yet if you know enough to value harmonious ease but try to attain it without being regulated by the rites, this will not work either. (1/12)

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Confucius said, At age fifteen, I set my intention upon studying; at thirty I established myself in society; at forty I freed myself of delusions; at fifty I understood the mandates of Heaven; at sixty I could hear with clarity; and at age seventy what my heart desired and what was right came into alignment. (2/4)

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He sacrificed as if present. He sacrificed to the spirits as if the spirits were present. Confucius said, If I do not participate in the sacrifice, it is as if I did not sacrifice. (3/12)

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Confucius said, One who is not good can neither endure adversity nor feel enduring joy. Those who are good feel at home in goodness; those who are crafty seek profit from goodness.