Interpretation
What this Confucius quote asks you to notice
The operative phrase is “see what is right and not do it is.” Read this as an ethical proposal rather than a decorative maxim. Ask what kind of person or action it commends, which competing duties it leaves unstated, and how the principle would look in a small decision today.
This page does not treat one sentence as a complete account of Confucius’s philosophy. It uses the quote as a reading prompt: identify the claim, test its limits, and follow the source before applying it as advice.
Source Lens
Follow the attribution, not just the image.
- Author
- Confucius
- Catalog source
- Analects 2:24
- Record
674336d0f44700430b573c4f- Reading status
- The catalog gives a named work and a more specific book, part, letter, or section label. That is a stronger starting point, but wording can still vary by translation and edition.
Attribution note: Philosophia’s public record supplies the wording, author, and source label. It does not specify an edition or translator. Before academic use or republication, verify the line in a complete edition and cite that edition directly.
About Confucius
Confucius (551-479 BCE), known in Chinese as Kong Qiu or Kongzi ("Master Kong"), was a Chinese philosopher, educator, and political advisor whose teachings have profoundly influenced East Asian thought, social relations, education, and governance for over two millennia. Born in the state of Lu (modern-day Shandong province) during the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius lived in an era of political fragmentation and moral decline, which shaped his philosophy of social harmony and moral governance. Unlike Western…
A three-step reflection
- Name the quality or duty the line appears to value.
- Test it against a case where two good obligations conflict.
- Translate the principle into one observable action rather than an intention.
Return to the exact wording after answering. If your conclusion could have been reached without reading the quote, look again for a distinction or assumption you missed.
Use this quote in Philosophia
Find Confucius in the app, save the line to a Virtue and character collection, and keep the source visible when you revisit it.
Use a widget or notification as the reminder, then open the app when the sentence deserves more than a glance. Compare it with another quote from the same thinker or school before deciding what it means for your day.