Analects 12.5
The Analects (論語), BOOK XII. YEN YUAN 顏淵第十二
司馬牛憂曰、人皆有兄弟、我獨亡。子夏曰、商聞之矣。死生有命、富貴在天。君子敬而無失、與人恭而有禮、四海之內、皆兄弟也、君子何患乎無兄弟也。
1. Sze-ma Niu, full of anxiety, said, "Other men all have their brothers, I only have not."
2. Tsze-hsia said to him, "There is the following saying which I have heard:—
3. "'Death and life have their determined appointment; riches and honours depend upon Heaven.'
4. "Let the superior man never fail reverentially to order his own conduct, and let him be respectful to others and observant of propriety:—then all within the four seas will be his brothers. What has the superior man to do with being distressed because he has no brothers?"
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
- 憂yōusad, grieving; melancholy, grief
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 人rénman, person; people
- 皆jiēall, every, everybody
- 有yǒuto have, to own, to possess; to exist
- 兄xiōngelder brother
- 弟dìyoung brother, junior
- 我wǒI, me, my; our, us
- 獨dúalone, independent, only, single, solita
- 亡wángdeath, destruction; to lose; to perish
- 子zison, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thin
- 夏xiàsummer; the Xia or Hsia dynasty
- 商shāngcommerce, business, trade
- 聞wénnews; to hear, to smell; to make known
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
- 死sǐdead; death; impassable, inflexible
- 生shēnglife, lifetime; birth; growth
- 命mìnglife; destiny, fate, luck; an order, ins
- 富fùabundant, ample; rich, wealthy
- 貴guìexpensive, costly; valuable, precious
- 在zàiat, in, on; to exist; used to indicate t
- 天tiānsky, heaven; god, celestial
- 君jūnsovereign, ruler, prince, monarch, chief
- 敬jìngto respect, to honor; respectfully
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 無wúno, not; lacking, -less
- 失shīto lose; to make a mistake, to neglect
- 與yǔand; with; to; for; to give, to grant
- 恭gōngpolite, respectful, reverent
- 禮lǐcourtesy, manners, social customs
- 四sìfour
- 海hǎisea, ocean; maritime
- 內nèiinside
- 也yěalso, too
- 何héwhat, why, where, which, how
- 患huànsuffering; misfortune; trouble; to suffe
- 乎hūinterrogative or exclamatory final parti
Passages with shared wording
- Mencius 1B.15
- Zhuangzi Tien Tzŭ Fang
- Zhuangzi On Declining Power
- Zhuangzi Self-Conceit
- Analects 12.3
- Analects 12.4
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.
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