Q0139

Confucius

A verified English rendering from the curated archive.

English

The Master said: When you see the worthy, think of equaling them; when you see the unworthy, examine yourself within.
Thinker Confucius
School Confucianism
Source Analects, Li Ren
Theme Self-examination
Another quotation More from this thinker

Source context

This English passage is associated with Analects, Li Ren, within the tradition of Confucianism. The wording below is a verified rendering prepared for careful reading rather than a claim of unique translation authority.

A short reading

Read in the register of self-examination, the sentence asks the reader to test an assumption rather than to collect a slogan. In Confucius's wider work, similar claims are usually offered as prompts for judgment: what would have to be true for the sentence to hold, and what would follow if it did?

How to cite this quotation

APA: Confucius. (n.d.). The Master said: When you see the worthy, think of equaling them; when you see the unworthy, examine yourself within. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0139

MLA: Confucius. “The Master said: When you see the worthy,….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0139.

Chicago: Confucius. “The Master said: When you see the worthy,….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0139.

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: 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.
  4. 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.
  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 self-examination

  1. The unexamined life is not worth living for a human being.
  2. I searched for myself.
  3. Thinking is the habit of examining whatever happens to come to pass or to attract attention.
  4. 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.
  5. Zengzi said: Each day I examine myself on three counts: In acting on behalf of others, have I been loyal? In dealings with friends, have I been trustworthy? Have I practiced what was passed on to me?

Browse the self-examination theme