Study the past if you would define the future. — Confucius · Smartyfair

Leave without saving?

You have a change that hasn’t been saved yet. Clicking out of the box saves it — closing now throws that change away.

Study the past if you would define the future. — Confucius · Smartyfair

Study the past if you would define the future.

Confucius551–479 BC · philosopher · Ancient ChinaConfucius was a teacher and philosopher who lived in ancient China more than 2,500 years ago. He taught that kindness, respect, and lifelong learning build a good life and a fair society.8 quotes

Source not found yetLearning

In plain words

Look at what already happened to work out what to do next.

Look up a word

study
past
define
future

Where these words come from

How sure this is: 34% sureLots of sources credit Confucius with this, and they agree with each other. The book or the speech it first came from hasn't turned up yet.
What turned up: Not found in the Analects or anywhere on Wikiquote's Confucius page. Widely circulated but with no traceable primary or classical source.
Sources checked: en.wikiquote.orgChecked using claude-sonnet-5, 20 August 2026

Nothing made from these words yet — Storyfaire is where they get made.

More from Confucius

It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.

More on learning

A single conversation with a wise man is worth a month's study of books.Chinese proverb

Ancient

By three methods we may learn wisdom: first, by reflection; second, by imitation; third, by experience.

Confucius

If you see what is right and fail to act on it, you lack courage.

Only after Winter comes do we know that the pine and the cypress are the last to fade.

Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.

Is it not delightful to have friends coming from distant quarters?

The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.

Aristotle

Do not be guilty of possessing a library of learned books while lacking learning yourself.

Learning is a kind of natural food for the mind.

Men learn while they teach.

Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardour and attended to with diligence.