Analects 19.11
The Analects (論語), BOOK XIX. TSZE-CHANG 子張第十九
子夏曰、大德不踰閑、小德出入可也。
Tsze-hsia said, "When a person does not transgress the boundary line in the great virtues, he may pass and repass it in the small virtues."
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
- 夏xiàsummer; the Xia or Hsia dynasty
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 大dàbig, great, vast, high, deep
- 德déethics, morality; compassion, kindness
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 踰yúexceed, transgress; cross over
- 閑xiánfence, guard; to defend; idle time
- 小xiǎosmall, tiny, insignificant
- 出chūto go out, to send out; stand; produce
- 入rùto enter, to come in; to join
- 可kěmay, can, -able; possibly
- 也yěalso, too
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi Kêng Sang Ch’u
- Zhuangzi The Identity of Contraries
- Mencius 4A.7
- The Doctrine of the Mean Passage 31
- Zhuangzi On Letting Alone
- Analects 2.4
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.