The original of the Chinese title of the “Lun Yu” is literally “Discourses and Dialogues.”  By Legge and most British Chinese scholars this work is called “The Confucian Analects,” the word “analect” denoting things chosen, in the present case from the utterances of the master.

The “Lun Yu” is arranged in twenty chapters or books, and gives, ostensibly in his own words, the teaching of Confucius and that of his leading disciples.  It is here that we learn nearly all that we know about Confucius.  Since the work was composed, as we have it, within a century of the master’s death, there seems good reason for believing that we have here a bona-fide record of what he thought and said.  We may compare with the “Lun Yu” the Christian Gospels which profess to give the doctrines and sayings of Jesus, and also the traditional utterances of Mohammed edited by Al-Bokhari, who died in 870 A.D.  The utterances which follow are by the master (Confucius) himself, unless it is otherwise stated.  Other speakers are generally disciples of Confucius.

GENERAL MAXIMS

I care little who makes a nation’s laws if I have the making of its ballads.

The young child ought to be obedient at home, modest from home, attentive, faithful, full of benevolence, spending spare time mostly upon poetry, music, and deportment.

A son ought to study his father’s wishes as long as the father lives; and after the father is dead he should study his life, and respect his memory.

A man who is fond of learning is not a glutton, nor is he indolent; he is earnest and sincere in what he says and does, seeks the company of the good, and profits by it.

At fifteen my whole mind was on study.  At thirty I was able to stand alone.  At forty my speculative doubts came to an end.  At fifty I understood Heaven’s laws.  At sixty my passions responded to higher instincts.  At seventy my better nature ruled me altogether.

Mere study without thought is useless, but thought without study is dangerous.

Fine words and attractive appearances are seldom associated with true goodness.

If a man keeps cultivating his old knowledge and be ever adding to it new, that man is fit to be a teacher of others.

The superior man is broad-minded, and no partisan.  The mean man is biased and narrow.

Tze-chang studied with a view to official promotion.  The master said, “This is wrong,” adding, “Thou shouldest listen much, keep silent when there is doubt, and guard thy tongue.  See much, beware of dangers, and walk warily.  Then shalt thou have little cause for repentance.”

I do not know how a man can get on without truth.  It is easier for a waggon to go without a cross-pole, or a carriage to be drawn without harness.

Neither courtesy nor music avail a man if he has not virtue and love.

Worship the dead as though they stood alive before you.  Sacrifice to the spirits as if they were in your immediate presence.