Analects 17.14
The Analects (論語), BOOK XVII. YANG HO 陽貨第十七
子曰、道聽而塗說、德之棄也。
The Master said, "To tell, as we go along, what we have heard on the way, is to cast away our virtue."
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
- 道dàomethod, way; path, road
- 聽tīngto hear, to listen; to understand; to ob
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 塗túto smear, to scribble, to daub; surname
- 說shuōto speak, to say; to scold, to upbraid
- 德déethics, morality; compassion, kindness
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 棄qìto abandon, to discard, to reject; to de
- 也yěalso, too
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi Robber Chê
- Zhuangzi The Tao of God
- Zhuangzi Mountain Trees
- Zhuangzi How to Govern
- Zhuangzi Hsü Wu Kuei
- The Great Learning Passage 9
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.