“To learn and to practise from time to time what one has learned — is this not a pleasure?”
Confucius · Confucianism
knowledgehappiness
Paraphrase or translation
Philosopher
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Confucius
551–479 BCE · Confucianism · Ancient
Part of:How to argue fairly →Part of:Ancient questions, modern life →
Kongzi, known in English as Confucius, was a teacher and sometime official in the state of Lu, traditionally dated 551 to 479 BCE. The Analects are not a book he sat down to write. They are sayings and short scenes collected by later generations, stabilised over centuries, and read as the centre of a classical education across East Asia.
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The ideal figure is the junzi, once translated 'gentleman' and now often 'exemplary person': someone formed by learning, ritual, and a feel for what is fitting. Ren, humaneness, and li, ritual propriety, are the paired terms. A single thread he offers is shu, a reciprocity that checks what you hand to others against what you would not want yourself.
The book is full of students asking for one word, and full of answers that are not systems. D. C. Lau and Arthur Waley are the English translations to name; James Legge's older cadence still hides inside quotations people think are simply 'the Analects'. Mencius and Xunzi both claim him and disagree about human nature. The sayings are a tradition's portrait, which is a reason to cite the section number and a reason not to invent the ones that sound antique.
Start here
Analects, books 1, 2, and 4, in D. C. Lau or Arthur Waley.
Those books hold the opening on learning, the pole star, the stages of a life, and the contrast of rightness and profit.
Quotations
“Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.”
Confucius · Confucianism
ethicsvirtuesociety
Paraphrase or translation
“When you see a worthy person, think of becoming their equal. When you see an unworthy person, turn inward and examine yourself.”
Confucius · Confucianism
selfvirtue
Paraphrase or translation
“The exemplary person understands what is right. The small person understands what is profitable.”
Confucius · Confucianism
ethicsvirtuejustice
Paraphrase or translation
“A ruler who governs by moral example is like the pole star: it stays in its place and the other stars turn towards it.”
Confucius · Confucianism
virtuepower
Paraphrase or translation
“At fifteen I set my heart on learning. At seventy I could follow what my heart desired without going beyond what was right.”
Confucius · Confucianism
selfvirtue
Paraphrase or translation
“Learning without thought is labour lost; thought without learning is perilous.”
Confucius · Confucianism
knowledgemind
Paraphrase or translation
“When I walk with two others, they can serve me as teachers. I pick out their good qualities and follow them, and their bad qualities and avoid them.”
Confucius · Confucianism
knowledgevirtue
Paraphrase or translation
“Repay injury with uprightness, and repay kindness with kindness.”
Confucius · Confucianism
justiceethics
Paraphrase or translation
“Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.”
Confucius · Confucianism
ethicsselfjustice
Misattributed
Key ideas
Learning and practice
The book opens with the pleasure of learning and then, at intervals, putting what was learned to work.
Reciprocity
A guiding thread is not to impose on others what you yourself do not want.
The exemplary person
The junzi reads a situation for what is right, where the small person reads it for what pays.
Rule by example
Virtue is pictured as a pole star: it holds its place, and others turn toward it.
Major works
Analects (Lunyu) (compiled after 479 BCE)
Sayings in twenty books, a school compilation rather than a treatise Confucius published.
Common misreadings
- 'Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves' is not in the Analects.
- Analects 2.4 has six ages, and a quotation that jumps from fifteen to seventy has skipped the path.
Topic hubs
Famous lines Confucius never said
Misattributed means the library does not treat the sentence as theirs. Questionable means there is a real doubt, which is not the same as a proof they never wrote it. Both are listed here.
- Misattributed
“Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.”
This is not in the Analects or other early Confucian texts. It is a modern proverb, sometimes dressed up as Japanese or Chinese wisdom. Confucius does warn against repayng injury with injury in a simple way (Analects 14.34 is a nuanced exchange), which is a different argument.
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FAQ
What is the best book to start with?
Analects, books 1, 2, and 4, in D. C. Lau or Arthur Waley. Those books hold the opening on learning, the pole star, the stages of a life, and the contrast of rightness and profit.
What is the most famous quote?
This library does not measure fame, and it does not rank lines by how often they are shared. The first line it files for Confucius that is not marked Questionable or Misattributed is “To learn and to practise from time to time what one has learned — is this not a pleasure?” (Analects 1.1, Paraphrase or translation).
What is the most misquoted line?
The library marks this as Misattributed: “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.” This is not in the Analects or other early Confucian texts. It is a modern proverb, sometimes dressed up as Japanese or Chinese wisdom. Confucius does warn against repayng injury with injury in a simple way (Analects 14.34 is a nuanced exchange), which is a different argument.
What is one key idea, in a sentence?
Learning and practice: The book opens with the pleasure of learning and then, at intervals, putting what was learned to work.