Analects 15.16
The Analects (論語), BOOK XV. WEI LING KUNG 衞靈公第十五
子曰、群居終日、言不及義、好行小慧、難矣哉。
The Master said, "When a number of people are together, for a whole day, without their conversation turning on righteousness, and when they are fond of carrying out the suggestions of a small shrewdness;—theirs is indeed a hard case."
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
- 群qúngroup, crowd; multitude, mob
- 居jūto live, to reside; to dwell; to sit
- 終zhōngend; finally, in the end
- 日rìsun; day; daytime
- 言yánwords, speech; to speak, to say
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 及jíto extend; to reach; and; in time
- 義yìright conduct, propriety; justice
- 好hǎogood, excellent, fine; proper, suitable;
- 行xíngto go, to walk, to move; professional
- 小xiǎosmall, tiny, insignificant
- 慧huìbright, intelligent; intelligence
- 難nánhard, difficult, arduous; unable
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
- 哉zāifinal exclamatory particle
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi Tsê Yang
- Zhuangzi Tien Tzŭ Fang
- Analects 17.22
- Zhuangzi Contingencies
- Analects 9.11
- Analects 13.9
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.