When you meet someone better than yourself, turn your thoughts to becoming his equal. When you meet someone not as good as you are, look within and e… - Confucius

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Engraved portrait of Confucius

When you meet someone better than yourself, turn your thoughts to becoming his equal. When you meet someone not as good as you are, look within and examine your own self.

Note: I've also seen this line translated as: "See the worthy and think of equaling them; see the unworthy and look inward."

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About Confucius

Confucius (traditionally 28 September 551 B.C. – 479 B.C.) was a Chinese social philosopher, whose teachings deeply influenced East Asian life and thought. "Confucius" is a latinization of the Chinese 孔夫子, Kong Fu Zi or K'ung-fu-tzu, literally "Master Kong", but he is usually referred to in China with a simpler version of this honorific as 孔子, Kongzi, or Kǒng Zǐ.

Biography information from Wikiquote · Portrait adapted from Wikimedia Commons, Anonymous Chinese painter of the Western Han period (Public domain / CC0)

Also Known As

Native Name: 孔夫子
Alternative Names: Confucio Konfuzius Cheu-kong Chung-ni Cong-tse K'ung Chung-ni K'ung Fu-tse K'ung-fu-tzu K'ung-tzu Kong Fu Zi Kong Fuzi Kong Qiu Kong Zhongni Kongfuzi Kongqiu Kongzi Kung Chung-ni Kung Fu Tzu Kung Fu-tse Kungfutse Zhongni

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Original (Chinese)
子曰:「見賢思齊焉,見不賢而內自省也。」
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Additional quotes by Confucius

The Master said of Gong Yechang, “He is marriageable. Although he was once imprisoned and branded as a criminal, he was in fact innocent of any crime.” The Master gave him his daughter in marriage.
(Analects 5.1)

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