Confucius – Phrases – Part 6 – Irony, Justice and Death

 

Irony

By nature men are pretty much alike; it is learning and practice that set them apart.

There is no use whatsoever trying to help people who do not help themselves.

Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.

There is nothing more cynical than advice which the applicability of it is impossible.

Everything is a lot for those who consider a little to be enough.

He who esteems gold more than virtue will have to lose both.

‏It is not the bad weeds that smother the grain, is the negligence of the farmer.

He who says he can and he who says he can’t are both usually right.

What would your age be if you didn’t know how many years old you are?

Justice

There is only one step to be taken in the use of force to do justice.

A benefit is answered by a benefit.

Do not avenge yourself, for vengeance brings regret.

To kill a man to save the world is not acting in benefit of the world. One kills oneself to benefit the world.

Anyone can judge a crime as well as I can, but what I want is to correct the motives that led this crime to being committed.

A governor must be careful to avoid crime so as to not be obligated to have to punish them.

Recompense injury with justice, and recompense kindness with kindness

On Health, Life and Death

In the morning, comprehend the teachings of wisdom; in the evening, die content!

If we don’t understand life, how can we understand death?

Why worry ourselves with death when life has so many problems that we have to resolve first.

Learn to live as you should, then you will know how to die well.

People lose their health to make money; then lose their money to try and restore their health. By thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present, such that they live in neither the present nor the future.

Live as if you will never die and die as if you had never lived. 

When the doctors diverge, the patient dies.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, everyone around you is crying you‘re the only one smiling.