Analects 15.31
The Analects (論語), BOOK XV. WEI LING KUNG 衞靈公第十五
子曰、君子謀道不謀食、耕也、餒在其中矣、學也、祿在其中矣、君子憂道、不憂貧。
The Master said, "The object of the superior man is truth. Food is not his object. There is plowing;—even in that there is sometimes want. So with learning;—emolument may be found in it. The superior man is anxious lest he should not get truth; he is not anxious lest poverty should come upon him."
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
- 謀móuto plan, to scheme; strategem
- 道dàomethod, way; path, road
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 食shífood; to eat
- 耕gēngto plow, to cultivate
- 也yěalso, too
- 餒něifamished, hungry, starving
- 在zàiat, in, on; to exist; used to indicate t
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 中zhōngcentral; center, middle; amidst; to hit
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
- 學xuélearning, knowledge, science; to study,
- 祿lùblessing, happiness, prosperity
- 憂yōusad, grieving; melancholy, grief
- 貧pínpoor, needy, impoverished; lacking
Passages with shared wording
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.