What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others. — Confucius · Smartyfair

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What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others. — Confucius · Smartyfair

What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.

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

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In plain words

Do not do to other people what you would hate done to you.

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Where these words come from

How sure this is: 92% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
What turned up: Analects, Book XV, Chapter 23, tr. James Legge, The Chinese Classics Vol. 1 (1861/1893), public domain. The 'reciprocity' passage — Confucius's version of the Golden Rule. Fetched and confirmed wording.
Work: The Analects, Book XV
Occasion: c. 500 BCE · China
Sources checked: en.wikisource.orgChecked using claude-sonnet-5, 21 August 2026Legge translation, Chapter XXIII

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More from Confucius

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

More on kindness

Treat all men alike. Give them all the same law. Give them all an even chance to live and grow.

Kindness

Ancient

Study the past if you would define the future.

Confucius

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

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.

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it for any one else.

Charles Dickens

There is only one enduring happiness in life — to live for others.

Among individuals, as among nations, respect for the rights of others is peace.

As to diseases, make a habit of two things — to help, or at least, to do no harm.

The quality of mercy is not strain'd, it droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven.

William Shakespeare