Analects 19.2
The Analects (論語), BOOK XIX. TSZE-CHANG 子張第十九
子張曰、執德不弘、信道不篤、焉能爲有、焉能爲亡。
Tsze-chang said, "When a man holds fast to virtue, but without seeking to enlarge it, and believes right principles, but without firm sincerity, what account can be made of his existence or non-existence?"
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
- 張zhāngto display; to expand, to open; to stret
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 執zhíto execute; to grasp, to hold; to keep;
- 德déethics, morality; compassion, kindness
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 弘hóngto enlarge, to expand; liberal, great
- 信xìnto trust, to believe; letter, sign
- 道dàomethod, way; path, road
- 篤dǔdeep, serious; genuine, sincere, true
- 焉yānwhy? where? how?; strange; thereupon, th
- 能néngcan, may; capable, full of energy
- 爲wèido, handle, govern, act; be
- 有yǒuto have, to own, to possess; to exist
- 亡wángdeath, destruction; to lose; to perish
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi The Universe
- Zhuangzi The Identity of Contraries
- Analects 15.5
- Mencius 4A.1
- Mencius 7A.35
- The Doctrine of the Mean Passage 17
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.