Analects 5.19
The Analects (論語), BOOK V. KUNG-YE CH'ANG 公冶長第五
季文子三思而後行。子聞之曰、再、斯可矣。
Chi Wan thought thrice, and then acted. When the Master was informed of it, he said, "Twice may do."
James Legge (1861), Confucian Analects, The Chinese Classics vol. 1 (1861; 2nd ed. 1893) — public domain.
Character glossary
- 季jìa quarter-year, a season; surname
- 文wénculture, literature, writing
- 子zison, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thin
- 三sānthree
- 思sīto think, to ponder, to consider; final
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 後hòuafter; behind, rear; descendants
- 行xíngto go, to walk, to move; professional
- 聞wénnews; to hear, to smell; to make known
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 再zàiagain, twice, re-
- 斯sīthis, thus, such; emphatic particle; use
- 可kěmay, can, -able; possibly
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
Passages with shared wording
- The Doctrine of the Mean Passage 18
- Analects 15.5
- Mencius 4B.27
- Zhuangzi Tien Tzŭ Fang
- Analects 14.19
- Analects 2.15
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.