Zigong asked about the true gentleman. The Master said: "He preaches only what he practices."
This quote jumped out at me because I've always heard the phrase the other way around: practice what you preach. With the reversal, the quote's meaning completely changes. Instead of preaching goodness and then going home and trying to practice it yourself, you must first have mastered goodness before having the right to tell others to practice it as well. I definitely like Confucius' version of the quote better.
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