Some Selections from the Analects of Confucius

(see also another collection online and another rendering, and some excerpts, more analytical and sorted by themes. These are well worth exploring and comparing to appreciate the opportunities translation affords...). You should know that there's a very interesting controversy about the Analects, and indeed about Master Kung himself!
The Master said, 'The gentleman seeks neither a full belly nor a comfortable home. He is quick in action but cautious in speech, he goes to men possessed of the Way to be put right. Such a man can be described as eager to learn. (I.14)

[Another translation of the same passage, to give you an idea of the range of possible interpretation]
Confucius said, "The superior man (chun tzu) does not seek fulfillment of his appetite nor comfort in his lodging. He is diligent in his duties and careful in his speech. He associates himself with people of moral principles, and thereby realizes his own true principles."

Meng Wu Po asked about being filial. The Master said, "Give your father and mother no other cause for anxiety than illness." (II.6)

Tzu-hsia asked about being filial. The Master said, "What is difficult to manage is the expression on one's face. As for the young taking on the burden when there is work to be done or letting the old enjoy the wine and the food when these are available, that hardly deserves to be called filial." (II.8)

The Master said, "If one learns from others but does not think, one will be bewildered. If, on the other hand, one thinks but does not learn from others, one will be in peril." (II.15)

The Master said, "The Gentleman understands what is moral. The small man understands what is profitable." (IV.16)

Tzu Kung asked: "What would you say about me as a person?" The master said, "You are a utensil." "What sort of utensil?" "A sacrificial vase of jade." (V.4)

Tzu Kung asked about how friends should be treated. the Master said, "Advise them to the best of your ability and guide them properly, but stop when there is no hope of success. Do not ask to be snubbed." (XII.23)

The Master said, "The Gentleman is at ease without being arrogant; the small man is arrogant without being at ease." (XIII.26)

Yüan Jang sat waiting with his legs spread wide. The Master said, "To be neither modest nor deferential when young, to have passed on nothing worthwhile when grown up, and to refuse to die when old, that is what I call a pest." So saying, the Master tapped him on the shin with his stick. (XIV.43)

The Master said, "If by the age of forty a man is still disliked there is no hope for him." (XVII.26)

(from the Penguin Classics collection, translated by D.C. Lau)