Analects 4.18
The Analects (論語), BOOK IV. LE JIN 里仁第四
子曰、事父母幾諫、見志不從、又敬不違、勞而不怨。
The Master said, "In serving his parents, a son may remonstrate with them, but gently; when he sees that they do not incline to follow his advice, he shows an increased degree of reverence, but does not abandon his purpose; and should they punish him, he does not allow himself to murmur."
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
- 事shìaffair, matter, business; to serve; acci
- 父fùfather, dad
- 母mǔmother; female elders; female
- 幾jǐsmall table; how many; a few, some
- 諫jiànto admonish, to remonstrate
- 見jiànto see, to observe, to meet, to appear
- 志zhìdetermination, will; mark, sign; to reco
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 從cóngfrom, by, since, whence, through
- 又yòuand, also, again, in addition
- 敬jìngto respect, to honor; respectfully
- 違wéito violate, to disobey, to defy; to sepa
- 勞láoto labor, to toil; to do manual work
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 怨yuànto blame, to complain, to hate; enmity,
Passages with shared wording
- The Doctrine of the Mean Passage 36
- Zhuangzi On Declining Power
- Zhuangzi The Identity of Contraries
- Zhuangzi The Universe
- Zhuangzi The Secret of Life
- Mencius 5A.1
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.