Analects 14.7
The Analects (論語), BOOK XIV. HSIEN WAN 憲問第十四
子曰、君子而不仁者有矣夫、未有小人而仁者也。
The Master said, "Superior men, and yet not always virtuous, there have been, alas! But there never has been a mean man, and, at the same time, virtuous."
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
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 仁rénbenevolent, humane, kind
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 有yǒuto have, to own, to possess; to exist
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
- 夫fūman, husband; worker; those
- 未wèinot yet; 8th terrestrial branch
- 小xiǎosmall, tiny, insignificant
- 人rénman, person; people
- 也yěalso, too
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi Robber Chê
- Zhuangzi The Identity of Contraries
- Zhuangzi Joined Toes
- Zhuangzi Knowledge travels North
- Analects 9.21
- Zhuangzi The Old Fisherman
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.