The Quotes canon
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Browse all 10,075 quotes or apply filters in different categories to narrow your search.
Browse all 10,075 quotes or apply filters in different categories to narrow your search.
Philosophical literature45 quotes
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. — Lao Tzu · 400 BCNature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. — Lao Tzu · 400 BCWhen one is at ease with himself, one is near Tao. — Zhuang Zhou · 221 BCMoral force never dwells in solitude; it will always bring neighbors. — Confucius · 221 BCI for my part am not one of those who have innate knowledge. I am simply one who loves the past and who is diligent in investigating it. — Confucius · 221 BCIs Goodness indeed so far away? If we really wanted Goodness, we should find that it was at our very side. — Confucius · 221 BCAll 45 quotes →Religious literature13 quotes
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. — Lao Tzu · 400 BCNature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. — Lao Tzu · 400 BCThe sage does not accumulate for himself.
The more he uses for others, the more he has himself.
The more he gives to others, the more he possesses of his own.
The Way of Heaven is to benefit others and not to injure.
The Way of the sage is to act but not to compete. — Lao Tzu · 400 BCEven to be attached to the idea of enlightenment is to go astray. — Jianzhi Sengcan · 606No snowflake ever falls in the wrong place. — Yuanwu Keqin · 1125He who knows does not speak.
He who speaks does not know. — Lao Tzu · 400 BCAll 13 quotes →Military treatise4 quotes
Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be defeated. — Sun Tzu · 475 BCBe extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent's fate. — Sun Tzu · 490 BCTo fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting. — Sun Tzu · 500 BCThe best victory is when the opponent surrenders of its own accord before there are any actual hostilities... It is best to win without fighting. — Sun Tzu · 490 BCPolitical speech3 quotes
Every Communist must grasp the truth: "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." — Mao Zedong · 1938The policy of letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend is designed to promote the flourishing of the arts and the progress of science; it is designed to enable a socialist culture to thrive in our land. — Mao Zedong · 1957Letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend is the policy for promoting progress in the arts and the sciences and a flourishing socialist culture in our land. — Mao Zedong · 1957Historical literature2 quotes
As your ambassador can see for himself we possess all things. I set no value on objects strange or ingenious, and have no use for your country's manufactures. — Qianlong Emperor · 1793Though bitter, good medicine cures illness. Though it may hurt, loyal criticism will have beneficial effects. — Sima Qian · 109 BCPolitical literature2 quotes
A revolution is not the same as inviting people to dinner, or writing an essay, or painting a picture... A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another. — Mao Zedong · 1927Liberalism is extremely harmful in a revolutionary collective. It is corrosive which eats away unity, undermines cohesion, causes apathy, and creates dissension. — Mao Zedong · 1937Autobiography and memoir1 quote
The test of civilization is in the way that it cares for its helpless members. — Pearl S. Buck · 1954Comedy drama1 quote
You're the one with the big mouth, and I would really enjoy closing it, especially in front of all my friends. But my hands are registered as lethal weapons. That means, we get into a fight, I accidentally kill you, I go to jail. — Bruce Lee · 2019Comedy drama (film)1 quote
You're the one with the big mouth, and I would really enjoy closing it, especially in front of all my friends. But my hands are registered as lethal weapons. That means, we get into a fight, I accidentally kill you, I go to jail. — Bruce Lee · 2019