Analects 6.17
The Analects (論語), BOOK VI. YUNG YEY 雍也第六
子曰、人之生也直、罔之生也、幸而免。
The Master said, "Man is born for uprightness. If a man lose his uprightness, and yet live, his escape from death is the effect of mere good fortune."
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
- 人rénman, person; people
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 生shēnglife, lifetime; birth; growth
- 也yěalso, too
- 直zhístraight, vertical; candid, direct, fran
- 罔wǎngnone; to deceive; to slander
- 幸xìngfavor, fortune, luck; surname
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 免miǎnto spare, to excuse from; to evade
Passages with shared wording
- Analects 7.30
- Mencius 2B.2
- Mencius 4B.20
- Zhuangzi The Evidence of Virtue Complete
- Zhuangzi Robber Chê
- Analects 17.16
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.