China

Explore 71 quotes by people from China

The Tao that can be told of is not the eternal Tao;
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The Nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth;
The Named is the mother of all things.

Lao Tzu

Tao Te Ching

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Topic

Tao

Author

Lao Tzu

Source

Tao Te Ching

Genre

Philosophical literature Religious literature

Language

Chinese

Time

400 BC 400s BC 5th century BC

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Laozi [Lao Tzu]. 道德經 [Tao Te Ching]. c. 400 BC, ch. 1.

Current Citation

Laozi [Lao Tzu]. "The Natural Way of Lao Tzu." A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, translated by Wing-Tsit Chan. Princeton University Press, 1969, ch. 1.

To pursue it is to be human, to give it up is to be a beast.

Xunxi

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Topic

Education Self-improvement

Author

Xunxi

Source

An Exhortation to Learning

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Chinese

Time

250 BC 250s BC 3rd century BC

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Xunzi. Xunzi. c. 238 BC.

Current Citation

Xunzi. Xunzi: The Complete Text, translated by Eric L. Hutton. Princeton University Press, 2014, ch. 1.

The superior man will not manifest either narrowmindedness or the want of self-respect.

Mencius

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Topic

Golden mean

Author

Mencius

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Chinese

Time

300 BC 300s BC 4th century BC

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Mencius. Mengzi. c. 300 BC, bk. 2.

Current Citation

Mencius. Mencius, translated by D. C. Lau. Penguin Classics, 2005, bk. 2.

Benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and knowledge are not infused into us from without.

Mencius

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Topic

People are basically good Human nature

Author

Mencius

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Chinese

Time

300 BC 300s BC 4th century BC

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Mencius. Mengzi. c. 300 BC, bk. 6.

Current Citation

Mencius. Mencius, translated by D. C. Lau. Penguin Classics, 2005, bk. 6.

All men have in themselves that which is truly honorable. Only they do not think of it.

Mencius

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Topic

People are basically good Ignorance

Author

Mencius

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Chinese

Time

300 BC 300s BC 4th century BC

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Mencius. Mengzi. c. 300 BC, bk. 6.

Current Citation

Mencius. Mencius, translated by D. C. Lau. Penguin Classics, 2005, bk. 6.

Friendship with a man is friendship with his virtue, and does not admit of assumptions of superiority.

Mencius

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Topic

Equality in friendship Friendship

Author

Mencius

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Chinese

Time

300 BC 300s BC 4th century BC

Authentication Score 0

Original Citation

Mencius. Mengzi. c. 300 BC, bk. 5.

Current Citation

Mencius. Mencius, translated by D. C. Lau. Penguin Classics, 2005, bk. 5.

Liberalism is extremely harmful in a revolutionary collective. It is corrosive which eats away unity, undermines cohesion, causes apathy, and creates dissension.

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Topic

Revolution Liberalism Political intolerance Authoritarianism

Author

Mao Zedong

Source

Combat Liberalism

Genre

Political literature

Language

Chinese

Time

1937 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Zedong, Mao. Combat Liberalism. 1937.

Though bitter, good medicine cures illness. Though it may hurt, loyal criticism will have beneficial effects.

Sima Qian

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Topic

Openness to criticism Criticism Personal growth

Author

Sima Qian

Source

Records of the Grand Historian

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Chinese

Time

109 BC 100s BC 2nd century BC

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Suma Quin. Written sometime around c. 110 BC.

Current Citation

Suma Qian. Records of the Grand Historian of China, translated by Burton Watson. Vol. 2, Columbia University Press, 1961, ch. 118.

People of this world are deluded. They're always longing for something-always, in a word, seeking.

Bodhidharma

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Topic

Seeking Desire Delusion

Author

Bodhidharma

Source

The Zen Teaching of Bodhidarma

Genre

Philosophical literature Religious literature

Language

Chinese

Time

528 BC 520s BC 6th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Bodhidharma. The Zen Teaching of Bodhidarma. c. 550.

Current Citation

Bodhidharma. The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma, translated by Red Pine. North Point Press, 1989.

There are Six Essentials in painting. The first is called spirit; the second, rhythm; the third, thought; the fourth, scenery; the fifth, the brush; and the last is the ink.

Jing Hao

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Topic

Painting Art

Author

Jing Hao

Source

Notes on Brushwork

Language

Chinese

Time

925 920s 10th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Ching Hao. Pi-fa-chi [Notes on Brushwork]. c. 925.

Current Citation

Ching Hao. Ching Hao's Pi-fa-chi: A Note on the Art of Brush, translated by Kiyohiko Munakata. Artebus Asiae Publishers, 1974.

I want to make work so people can be moved by a sense of the possible.

Zhang Huan

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Topic

Purpose of art Artist and audience Art

Speaker

Zhang Huan

Medium

Interview

Language

Chinese

Time

2000 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Huan, Zheng. "Interview with Zhang Huan." Interviewed by Roselee Goldberg. Pilgrimage to Santiago, 2000.