Confucius Quotes on Truth
Confucius treated truth as inseparable from sincerity and from the moral seriousness of the person who seeks it, and the quotes gathered here show that emphasis. He prized intellectual honesty above the appearance of knowledge, teaching that to know what one knows and to acknowledge what one does not know is itself true knowledge. He also held that truth must be loved and not merely possessed: those who know the truth, he said, are not equal to those who love it, and they who love it are not equal to those who delight in it. His devotion to the Way was absolute: if he could hear it in the morning, he would be content to die that evening. Drawn from the Analects, these passages present truth as something pursued with humility and wholehearted commitment.
Quotes
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Attributed to Confucius:
“When you know a thing, to hold that you know it; and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it — this is knowledge.”
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“It is not truth that makes man great, but man that makes truth great.”
As quoted in The Importance of Living (1937) by Lin Yutang , p. v -
“They who know the truth are not equal to those who love it, and they who love it are not equal to those who delight in it.”
Analects -
“Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue.”
Analects -
“You [a disciple], shall I teach you about knowledge ? What you know, you know, what you don't know, you don't know. This is true knowledge.”
Analects -
“If I hear the Way [of truth] in the morning, I am content even to die in that evening.”
Analects