Q0136

“The Master said: You, shall I teach you what knowing is? To…” — Confucius (Analects 2.17)

Verified English quotation. Primary source: Analects 2.17. Theme: knowledge.

English

The Master said: You, shall I teach you what knowing is? To know what you know, and to know what you do not know — that is true knowing.
Thinker Confucius
School Confucianism
Source Analects 2.17
Theme Knowledge
Another quotation More from this thinker

Source and attribution

The archive attributes this English wording to Analects 2.17 and files it under Confucianism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.

About Confucius

Confucius (Kong Qiu, 551–479 BCE) taught in the late Spring and Autumn period amid the Zhou order’s political fragmentation. Born in the state of Lu, he briefly held local office and then spent years seeking rulers who would adopt ritual-based, virtue-centered government.

How to read this passage

Epistemology asks whether knowledge is justified true belief, reliable tracking of the world, or something else; it also asks how perception, testimony, memory, and reason contribute. This passage enters that discussion through knowledge, humility.

Concepts in this quote

Knowledge
Knowledge is the philosophical study of what we can justifiably claim to know—and where certainty ends.
Humility
Humility appears in this archive as a live philosophical concern—not a slogan. These verified English passages show how thinkers treat humility as a problem of judgment, practice, or explanation.

How to cite this quotation

APA: Confucius. (n.d.). The Master said: You, shall I teach you what knowing is? To know what you know, and to know what you do not know — that is true knowing. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0136

MLA: Confucius. “The Master said: You, shall I teach you….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0136.

Chicago: Confucius. “The Master said: You, shall I teach you….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0136.

Frequently asked questions

What is the source of the quotation “The Master said: You, shall I teach you…”?

The passage is attributed to Confucius, Analects 2.17. The archive attributes this English wording to Analects 2.17 and files it under Confucianism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.

What does Confucius mean by knowledge?

Epistemology asks whether knowledge is justified true belief, reliable tracking of the world, or something else; it also asks how perception, testimony, memory, and reason contribute. This passage enters that discussion through knowledge, humility.

Same thinker

More from Confucius

  1. The Master said: Is it not a pleasure to learn and to practice what one has learned in due time? Is it not a joy to have friends come from afar? Is it not the mark of a gentleman to remain unresentful when others fail to appreciate one?
  2. The Master said: What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.
  3. The Master said: When three people walk together, one of them is sure to be my teacher. I select what is good in them and follow it; what is not good, I correct in myself.
  4. The Master said: When you see the worthy, think of equaling them; when you see the unworthy, examine yourself within.
  5. The Master said: If one hears the Way in the morning, one may die content that evening.

All quotations by Confucius

Same theme

More on knowledge

  1. What I do not know, I do not claim to know.
  2. No one errs willingly.
  3. What then is time? If no one asks me, I know; if I wish to explain it to one who asks, I do not know.
  4. What do I know?
  5. Once in a lifetime, everything must be doubted.

Browse the knowledge theme