Analects 17.15
The Analects (論語), BOOK XVII. YANG HO 陽貨第十七
子曰、鄙夫、可與事君也與哉。其未得之也、患得之、既得之、患失之。苟患失之、無所不至矣。
1. The Master said, "There are those mean creatures! How impossible it is along with them to serve one's prince!
2. "While they have not got their aims, their anxiety is how to get them. When they have got them, their anxiety is lest they should lose them.
3. "When they are anxious lest such things should be lost, there is nothing to which they will not proceed."
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
- 鄙bǐrustic, vulgar; to despise, to scorn
- 夫fūman, husband; worker; those
- 可kěmay, can, -able; possibly
- 與yǔand; with; to; for; to give, to grant
- 事shìaffair, matter, business; to serve; acci
- 君jūnsovereign, ruler, prince, monarch, chief
- 也yěalso, too
- 哉zāifinal exclamatory particle
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 未wèinot yet; 8th terrestrial branch
- 得déto obtain, to get, to acquire; suitable,
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 患huànsuffering; misfortune; trouble; to suffe
- 既jìalready, since, then; both; de facto
- 失shīto lose; to make a mistake, to neglect
- 苟gǒucareless, frivolous, illicit; but, if on
- 無wúno, not; lacking, -less
- 所suǒplace, location; "that which", a particl
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 至zhìreach, arrive; very, extremely
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
Passages with shared wording
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.