Analects 12.4
The Analects (論語), BOOK XII. YEN YUAN 顏淵第十二
司馬牛問君子。子曰、君子不憂不懼。曰、不憂不懼、斯謂之君子矣乎。子曰、內省不疚、夫何憂何懼。
1. Sze-ma Niu asked about the superior man. The Master said, "The superior man has neither anxiety nor fear."
2. "Being without anxiety or fear!" said Nui;—"does this constitute what we call the superior man?"
3. The Master said, "When internal examination discovers nothing wrong, what is there to be anxious about, what is there to fear?"
James Legge (1861), Confucian Analects, The Chinese Classics vol. 1 (1861; 2nd ed. 1893) — public domain.
Character glossary
- 司sīto take charge of, to control, to manage
- 馬mǎhorse; surname
- 牛niúox, cow, bull
- 問wènto ask about, to inquire after
- 君jūnsovereign, ruler, prince, monarch, chief
- 子zison, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thin
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 憂yōusad, grieving; melancholy, grief
- 懼jùto fear, to dread
- 斯sīthis, thus, such; emphatic particle; use
- 謂wèito call, to say, to tell; name, title; m
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
- 乎hūinterrogative or exclamatory final parti
- 內nèiinside
- 省shěngprovince; frugal; to save, to leave out
- 疚jiùchronic disease; guilt, remorse; sorrow
- 夫fūman, husband; worker; those
- 何héwhat, why, where, which, how
Passages with shared wording
- Analects 12.3
- The Doctrine of the Mean Passage 35
- Mencius 2B.2
- Zhuangzi On Declining Power
- Zhuangzi The Universe
- Analects 12.5
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.