Analects 15.8
The Analects (論語), BOOK XV. WEI LING KUNG 衞靈公第十五
子曰、志士、仁人、無求生以害仁、有殺身以成仁。
The Master said, "The determined scholar and the man of virtue will not seek to live at the expense of injuring their virtue. They will even sacrifice their lives to preserve their virtue complete."
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
- 志zhìdetermination, will; mark, sign; to reco
- 士shìscholar, gentleman; soldier
- 仁rénbenevolent, humane, kind
- 人rénman, person; people
- 無wúno, not; lacking, -less
- 求qiúto seek; to request, to demand; to besee
- 生shēnglife, lifetime; birth; growth
- 以yǐaccording to; so as to; because of; then
- 害hàito injure, to harm; to destroy, to kill
- 有yǒuto have, to own, to possess; to exist
- 殺shāto kill, to murder, to slaughter; to hur
- 身shēnbody, torso; person; pregnancy
- 成chéngto accomplish; to become; to complete, t
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi On Declining Power
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 75
- Mencius 2B.8
- Zhuangzi Kêng Sang Ch’u
- Analects 1.14
- Analects 18.10
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.