Analects 8.17
The Analects (論語), BOOK VIII. T'AI-PO 泰伯第八
子曰、學如不及、猶恐失之。
The Master said, "Learn as if you could not reach your object, and were always fearing also lest you should lose it."
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
- 學xuélearning, knowledge, science; to study,
- 如rúas, as if, like, such as, supposing
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 及jíto extend; to reach; and; in time
- 猶yóusimilar to, just like, as
- 恐kǒngfearful, apprehensive; to fear, to dread
- 失shīto lose; to make a mistake, to neglect
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
Passages with shared wording
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.