Analects 8.9
The Analects (論語), BOOK VIII. T'AI-PO 泰伯第八
子曰、民可使由之、不可使知之。
The Master said, "The people may be made to follow a path of action, but they may not be made to understand 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
- 民míncitizens, subjects; a nation's people
- 可kěmay, can, -able; possibly
- 使shǐcause, mission, orders; envoy, messenger
- 由yóucause, reason; from
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 知zhīto know, to perceive, to comprehend
Passages with shared wording
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.