In the "Analects" Confucius' thoughts about society, politics, philosophy and human relationships are explained. There are also some few historical accounts of Confucius' life and his travels to the courts of the various feudal lords. Confucius talked about offerings, but refused to say anything about souls and spirits of the ancestors. He even declined to define or describe Heaven, which became under Mengzi an important part of the Confucian worldview, especially in the concept of the Heavenly mandate (tianming 天命), which is only bestowed to rulers of virtuous conduct. The lifespan, Confucius said, is defined by fate, but wealth and statues were influenced by Heaven. Confucius made some statements about cognition, especially about a kind of innate knowledge that is given to man without having learnt it. Yet Confucius preferred to hear and select what is good and to follow it because he rated himself as not one who was born in the possession of knowledge. He said that he was one who is fond of antiquity and earnest in seeking knowledge there. Confucius instructed his discipleZizhang 子张 in the method of learning: "Hear much and put aside the points of which you stand in doubt, while you speak cautiously at the same time of the others; then you will afford few occasions for blame." He is described as a man who had no forgone conclusions, no arbitrary predeterminations, no obstinancy, and no egoism. From these statements it can be seen that constant learning and objective rationality was of greatest importance for Confucius. "Learning without thought", he ascertained, "is labour lost; thought without learning is perilous." Confucius' most famous statement is that he understood himself as a "transmitter and not a maker". There were many ways of learning, for instance, silently treasuring up knowledge, to learn without satiety, or, as Confucius did, instructing others without being wearied. Confucius was also willing to learn from other, as he said in another famous statement: "When I walk along with two others, they may serve me as my teachers."

Very enlightening indeed is Confucius' attempt to adapt definitions always to the situation and the context. Important terms like filial piety (xiao 孝), kindheartedness (ren 仁), or the art of ruling (zheng 政) are in the Lunyudifferently explained to questioners of various backgrounds. Confucius explains this approach in the following way: "When a man may be spoken with, not to speak to him is to err in reference to the man. When a man may not be spoken with, to speak to him is to err in reference to our words."

Behaviour in human society was Confucius' most important content of teaching. He said that the practical expressions of kindheartedness (ren) are truthfulness (zhong 忠) and benevolence (shu 恕). Rituals are the instrument to express kindheartedness in a ritual context. This doctrine was, in Confucius' words, of an all-pervading unity. Asked about kindheartedness, Confucius replied that it means "to subdue one's self and return to propriety (li)". This means not looking at what is not propriety, listening not at what is contrary to propriety, speaking not at what is contrary to propriety, and making no movement which is contrary to propriety. In the field of government, propriety is fulfilled when the ruler is a ruler, the minister a minister, the father a father, and a son like a son. In this way state and society will be stable. The people will trust that ruler who feeds it and defends it. Concerning one’s own kindheartedness, Confucius said that every man has to consider virtue as what devolves of himself; he may not yield the performance of it even to his teacher. This strong will to perform well is also stressed in another statement where the Master said that the commander of an army might be carried off, but the will of even a common man cannot be taken from him.

Compared to older classical texts like the Shangshu 尚书 "Book of Documents", the language in the Lunyu is much more vivid. It is characterised by the intensive use of modal particles, reiterative sentences, parallelisms, antithetic sentences, and a language of affects and moods. In one instance, Confucius even said angrily: "He (Ran Qiu 冉求) is no disciple of mine (because he collected imposts from the usurpatorious family Jisun季孙). My little children, beat the drum and assail him." On another occasion, the disappointed Master sighed desperately: "It passes on just like the waters of a river, not ceasing day or night." He did not refrain from calling his disciple Zilu 子路 as uncultivated. Yan Hui 颜回, his most beloved disciple, enthusiastically said that as long as the Master lives, how would he dare dying!

Yet in many places, the Lunyu is only very sparing in describing the historical context of the situation in which the Master and his disciples found themselves.