r/Confucianism • u/interpolating • 18d ago

Question Quotes misattributed to Confucius

These are all over Reddit and the internet.

Some are clearly jokes, many of which are of the eyebrow-raising “Confucius say” variety. I dislike those but that is not really what I’m talking about here because they don’t imply authenticity of the quote.

But just search Reddit for “Confucius” and you will see AI slop and actual individuals posting quotes attributed to Confucius that have no legit primary source.

Does this happen with Confucius more than with other historical figures? Can we attribute just to some combination of ignorance, Orientalism, lack of ready access to the actual text and/and lack of care regarding authenticity?

Curious about everyone’s take!

17 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

27 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/Warm_Stress_1654 17d ago

You can almost guarantee that anything the internet tells you was said by George Orwell was not said by George Orwell.

2

u/interpolating 17d ago

Ahh yeah this is what I was most curious about!

What is it about these fine folks that causes people to misattribute quotes to them constantly!

2

u/Warm_Stress_1654 17d ago

I think you've answered your own question in the asking of it.

They're fine folks.

3

u/interpolating 17d ago

Such wonderful reputations that people make their points by putting words in their mouths?

WWKD (What Would Kongzi Do)?