Analects 15.12
The Analects (論語), BOOK XV. WEI LING KUNG 衞靈公第十五
子曰、已矣乎、吾未見好德如好色者也。
The Master said, "It is all over! I have not seen one who loves virtue as he loves beauty."
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
- 已yǐalready; finished; to stop; then, afterw
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
- 乎hūinterrogative or exclamatory final parti
- 吾wúI, my, our; to resist, to impede
- 未wèinot yet; 8th terrestrial branch
- 見jiànto see, to observe, to meet, to appear
- 好hǎogood, excellent, fine; proper, suitable;
- 德déethics, morality; compassion, kindness
- 如rúas, as if, like, such as, supposing
- 色sècolor, tint, hue, shade; beauty, form; s
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 也yěalso, too
Passages with shared wording
- Analects 9.17
- Analects 4.6
- Analects 5.26
- Mencius 1B.5
- The Great Learning Passage 3
- Zhuangzi The Secret of Life
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.