Analects 19.8
The Analects (論語), BOOK XIX. TSZE-CHANG 子張第十九
子夏曰、小人之過也、必文。
Tsze-hsia said, "The mean man is sure to gloss his faults."
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
- 小xiǎosmall, tiny, insignificant
- 人rénman, person; people
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 過guòpass; to go across, to pass through
- 也yěalso, too
- 必bìsurely, certainly; must; will
- 文wénculture, literature, writing
Passages with shared wording
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.