Verified Quotes
Every quote on this page is verified against the named source work.
Zhuge Liang, Chancellor of Shu Han and one of history's most celebrated strategist administrators, sought out three, gets quoted everywhere and sourced almost nowhere. The 6 quotes below are different: each one is checked word for word against the cited work, starting with Zhuge Liang, Letter of Admonition to His Son (Jie Zi Shu), not copied from aggregator sites that pass misattributions along. The source is named under every line, so you can trace each quote back to the page it came from.
Read Zhuge Liang's full profile and how they reason →2 verified quotes
On accepting an opportunity someone fought hard to give you:
You did not think me unworthy, but condescended to visit me three times in my thatched cottage.Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Liang, Memorial on Setting Out to War (Chu Shi Biao)
On carrying a responsibility someone trusted you with before they died:
Since the Former Emperor entrusted me with this great task, I have not rested day or night, fearing only that I might fail to fulfill it.Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Liang, Memorial on Setting Out to War (Chu Shi Biao)
1 verified quote
On staying committed to a mission bigger than you:
I will bend my back to this task, and only stop when I die.Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Liang, Second Memorial on Setting Out to War (Hou Chu Shi Biao)
3 verified quotes
On choosing stillness over chasing every opportunity:
Without calm detachment, there is no way to fulfill one's ambition. Without stillness, there is no way to achieve far reaching goals.Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Liang, Letter of Admonition to His Son (Jie Zi Shu)
On carving out quiet time to actually improve your craft:
Learning requires calm. Talent requires learning. Without learning, one cannot broaden one's talent. Without calm, one cannot accomplish one's learning.Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Liang, Letter of Admonition to His Son (Jie Zi Shu)
On realizing you drifted away from your own ambitions:
As the years pass, will and ambition fade with age. In the end one withers, out of touch with the world, grieving in a shabby house. What use is regret then.Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Liang, Letter of Admonition to His Son (Jie Zi Shu)