Analects 13.21
The Analects (論語), BOOK XIII. TSZE-LU 子路第十三
子曰、不得中行而與之、必也狂狷乎、狂者進取、狷者有所不爲也。
The Master said, "Since I cannot get men pursuing the due medium, to whom I might communicate my instructions, I must find the ardent and the cautiously-decided. The ardent will advance and lay hold of truth; the cautiously-decided will keep themselves from what is wrong."
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
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 得déto obtain, to get, to acquire; suitable,
- 中zhōngcentral; center, middle; amidst; to hit
- 行xíngto go, to walk, to move; professional
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 與yǔand; with; to; for; to give, to grant
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 必bìsurely, certainly; must; will
- 也yěalso, too
- 狂kuánginsane, mad; violent; wild
- 狷juànrash, irritable, impulsive, impetuous
- 乎hūinterrogative or exclamatory final parti
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 進jìnto advance, to make progress; to come in
- 取qǔto take, to receive, to obtain; to selec
- 有yǒuto have, to own, to possess; to exist
- 所suǒplace, location; "that which", a particl
- 爲wèido, handle, govern, act; be
Passages with shared wording
- Mencius 7B.37
- Zhuangzi Knowledge travels North
- Zhuangzi On Letting Alone
- Zhuangzi Kêng Sang Ch’u
- Zhuangzi Autumn Floods
- Analects 17.8
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.