Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations. 1989.
NUMBER:
1317
AUTHOR:
Confucius (c. 551–479? B.C.)
QUOTATION:
When things are investigated, then true knowledge is achieved; when true knowledge is achieved, then the will becomes sincere; when the will is sincere, then the heart is set right (or then the mind sees right); when the heart is set right, then the personal life is cultivated; when the personal life is cultivated, then the family life is regulated; when the family life is regulated, then the national life is orderly; and when the national life is orderly, then there is peace in this world.
ATTRIBUTION:
CONFUCIUS, Liki (Record of Rites), chapter 42.—The Wisdom of Confucius, ed. and trans. Lin Yutang, chapter 4, pp. 139–40 (1938).
