Analects 2.24
The Analects (論語), BOOK II. WEI CHANG 爲政第二
子曰、非其鬼而祭之、諂也。見義不爲、無勇也。
1. The Master said, "For a man to sacrifice to a spirit which does not belong to him is flattery.
2. "To see what is right and not to do it is want of courage."
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
- 非fēinot, negative, non-; to oppose
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 鬼guǐghost; demon; sly, mischievous
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 祭jìto sacrifice to, to worship
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 諂chǎnto flatter, to cajole; toady, yes-man
- 也yěalso, too
- 見jiànto see, to observe, to meet, to appear
- 義yìright conduct, propriety; justice
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 爲wèido, handle, govern, act; be
- 無wúno, not; lacking, -less
- 勇yǒngbrave, courageous, fierce
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi The Old Fisherman
- Zhuangzi Kêng Sang Ch’u
- Analects 3.18
- Art of War 4.12
- Zhuangzi Hsü Wu Kuei
- Zhuangzi Autumn Floods
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.