Analects 12.16
The Analects (論語), BOOK XII. YEN YUAN 顏淵第十二
子曰、君子成人之美、不成人之惡、小人反是。
The Master said, "The superior man seeks to perfect the admirable qualities of men, and does not seek to perfect their bad qualities. The mean man does the opposite of this."
James Legge (1861), Confucian Analects, The Chinese Classics vol. 1 (1861; 2nd ed. 1893) — public domain.
Character glossary
- 子zison, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thin
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 君jūnsovereign, ruler, prince, monarch, chief
- 成chéngto accomplish; to become; to complete, t
- 人rénman, person; people
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 美měibeautiful, pretty; pleasing
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 惡èbad, evil, wicked; to hate, to loathe; f
- 小xiǎosmall, tiny, insignificant
- 反fǎnreverse, opposite; contrary, anti-
- 是shìto be; indeed, right, yes; okay
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi The Old Fisherman
- Zhuangzi The Empire
- Analects 14.13
- Zhuangzi Robber Chê
- The Doctrine of the Mean Passage 2
- Analects 12.8
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.