All figures
Reference corpus author551–479 BC9 lines
Confucius
Chinese teacher and philosopher whose recorded conversations, the Analects, shaped East Asian ethics and statecraft for two and a half millennia. Few thinkers have been quoted longer — or misquoted more cheerfully.
Independently indexed citations from Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (1905) and Wikiquote — cited and licensed, not part of the curated verbatim registry.
“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.”
Quoted by T. W. Pearce, "Western Civilisation in Relation to Protestant Mission Work", The Chronicle of the London Missionary Society (August 1890), p. 237reference only0.60
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“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.”
The Morals of Confucius, 2nd edition (London, 1724), Maxim X, p. 114reference only0.60
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“Men do not stumble over mountains, but over molehills”
Reported in United States Congress House Committee on Agriculture (1973) Hearings Before the Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives, Ninety-second Congress, p. 21reference only0.60
Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0Full provenance →
“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.”
The Analects, as reported in Chambers Dictionary of Quotations (1997), p. 279reference only0.60
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“It is not truth that makes man great, but man that makes truth great.”
As quoted in The Importance of Living (1937) by Lin Yutang, p. vreference only0.60
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“It is more shameful to distrust our friends than to be deceived by them.”
Reportedly in: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Mistrust, Conspiracy, and Lack of Internet Ethics (1980) Hearings Before the Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives, Ninety-second Congress. p. 32reference only0.60
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“The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large.”
Attributed to Confucius in Out of the Blue: Delight Comes Into Our Lives (1996) by Mark Victor Hansen, Barbara Nichols, and Patty Hansen, p. 93reference only0.60
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“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…”
Confucius extolled Jade's virtues this way. Cited in Awake! magazine 1987, 9/22.reference only0.60
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“The superior man loves his soul; the inferior man loves his property.”
Cited in Oriental Philosophy, p. 46reference only0.60
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