The Master said, “How could one but comply with what model sayings have to say? But the real value lies in reforming one’s ways. How could one but fi… - Confucius

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The Master said, “How could one but comply with what model sayings have to say? But the real value lies in reforming one’s ways. How could one but find pleasure in polite language? But the real value lies in drawing out its meaning. What can possibly be done with people who find pleasure in polite language but do not draw out its meaning, or who comply with model sayings but do not reform their ways.

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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:「法語之言,能無從乎?改之為貴。巽與之言,能無說乎?繹之為貴。說而不繹,從而不改,吾末如之何也已矣。」
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