Analects 17.25
The Analects (論語), BOOK XVII. YANG HO 陽貨第十七
子曰、唯女子與小人、爲難養也、近之則不孫、遠之則怨。
The Master said, "Of all people, girls and servants are the most difficult to behave to. If you are familiar with them, they lose their humility. If you maintain a reserve towards them, they are discontented."
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
- 唯wéionly; sole
- 女nǚwoman, girl; female
- 與yǔand; with; to; for; to give, to grant
- 小xiǎosmall, tiny, insignificant
- 人rénman, person; people
- 爲wèido, handle, govern, act; be
- 難nánhard, difficult, arduous; unable
- 養yǎngto raise, to rear, to bring up; to suppo
- 也yěalso, too
- 近jìnto approach; near, close; intimate
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 則zérule, law, regulation; grades
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 孫sūngrandchild, descendent; surname
- 遠yuǎndistant, remote, far; profound
- 怨yuànto blame, to complain, to hate; enmity,
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi The Empire
- Art of War 9.16
- The Doctrine of the Mean Passage 30
- Mencius 7B.38
- Zhuangzi The Identity of Contraries
- Mencius 3B.1
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.