If you desire what is good, the people will be good. The character of a ruler is like wind and that of the people is like grass. In whatever direction the wind blows the grass always bends.

Confucius

Quoted in Analects

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More information about this quote

Topic

Political leadership The masses Grass

Speaker

Confucius

Source

Analects

Genre

Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

Chinese

Time

221 BC 220s BC 3rd century BC

Occupation

Philosopher

From

China Asia

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Kongzi [Confucius]. The Analects. 3rd century BC, 12:19.

Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote about The masses

For who can be secure of private right,
If sovereign sway may be dissolved by might?
Nor is the people's judgement always true:
The most may err as grossly as the few.

John Dryden

Absalom and Achitophel

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More information about this quote
Topic
The masses Rule of law Democracy

Author

John Dryden
Source
Absalom and Achitophel
Medium
Poem
Genre
Satire
Language
English
Time
1681 1680s 17th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Dryden, John. Absalom and Achitophel. J. T, 1681, pt. 1, I. 779.

Current Citation

Dryden, John. "Absalom and Achitophel." John Dryden Selected Poems. Penguin Classics, 2002, pt. 1, I. 779.

Another quote originally in Chinese

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

Lao Tzu

Tao Te Ching

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More information about this quote
Topic
Patience All in good time Nature Teleology

Author

Lao Tzu
Source
Tao Te Ching
Genre
Philosophical literature Religious literature
Language
Chinese
Time
400 BC 400s BC 5th century BC
Authentication Score 0
Original Citation

Lao Tzu. Tao Te Ching. 4th century BC, ch. 37.

Current Citation

Lao Tzu. Tao Te Ching: The Essential Translation of the Ancient Chinese Book of the Tao. Translated by John Minford. Penguin, 2019.

Another quote of the following type Metaphor, analogy and simile

A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us.

Franz Kafka

More information about this quote
Topic
Self-discovery Power of literature Books

Author

Franz Kafka
Source
Letters of Franz Kafka
Medium
Letter
Statement Type
Metaphor, analogy and simile
Language
German
Time
1904 1900s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Kafka, Franz. Letter to Oskar Pollak, January 27, 1904.

Current Citation

Kafka, Franz. "A Letter to Oskar Pollak," January 27, 1904. Franz Kafka: Letters to Friends, Family, and Editors. 1977. Translated by Richard and Clara Winston. Schocken, 1990.