Analects 9.18
The Analects (論語), BOOK IX. TSZE HAN 子罕第九
子曰、譬如爲山、未成一簣、止、吾止也、譬如平地、雖覆一簣、進、吾往也。
The Master said, "The prosecution of learning may be compared to what may happen in raising a mound. If there want but one basket of earth to complete the work, and I stop, the stopping is my own work. It may be compared to throwing down the earth on the level ground. Though but one basketful is thrown at a time, the advancing with it is my own going forward."
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
- 譬pìexample; metaphor, simile
- 如rúas, as if, like, such as, supposing
- 爲wèido, handle, govern, act; be
- 山shānmountain, hill, peak
- 未wèinot yet; 8th terrestrial branch
- 成chéngto accomplish; to become; to complete, t
- 一yīone; a, an; alone
- 簣kuìa bamboo basket for carrying soil
- 止zhǐto stop, to halt; to detain; to desist
- 吾wúI, my, our; to resist, to impede
- 也yěalso, too
- 平píngflat, level, even; peaceful
- 地deearth, ground, soil; land, region; struc
- 雖suīalthough, even though
- 覆fùto cover; to overturn; to repeat; to rep
- 進jìnto advance, to make progress; to come in
- 往wǎngto go, to depart; past, former
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi The Universe
- Zhuangzi Knowledge travels North
- Mencius 2A.2
- Zhuangzi The Circling Sky
- Analects 19.23
- Zhuangzi The Identity of Contraries
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.