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The Analects

Lunyu

Confucius·Chinese

About this text

A collection of conversations between Confucius and his students, compiled after his death. Not a systematic treatise but a portrait of a man thinking out loud about how to live.

The Master said: To study and at due times to practice what one has studied, is this not a pleasure? To have friends come from distant places, is this not a joy? To remain unsoured when one's merits are not recognized, is this not the mark of a gentleman?

The Master said: What you do not wish done to yourself, do not do to others.

The Master said: To study without thinking is vain. To think without studying is dangerous.

The Master said: At fifteen, I set my heart on learning. At thirty, I took my stand. At forty, I had no doubts. At fifty, I knew the will of Heaven. At sixty, my ear was attuned. At seventy, I could follow my heart's desire without overstepping the boundaries of right.