Analects 9.22
The Analects (論語), BOOK IX. TSZE HAN 子罕第九
子曰、後生可畏、焉知來者之不如今也、四十五十而無聞焉、斯亦不足畏也已。
The Master said, "A youth is to be regarded with respect. How do we know that his future will not be equal to our present? If he reach the age of forty or fifty, and has not made himself heard of, then indeed he will not be worth being regarded with respect."
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
- 後hòuafter; behind, rear; descendants
- 生shēnglife, lifetime; birth; growth
- 可kěmay, can, -able; possibly
- 畏wèifear, dread, awe, reverence
- 焉yānwhy? where? how?; strange; thereupon, th
- 知zhīto know, to perceive, to comprehend
- 來láito arrive, to come, to return; in the fu
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 如rúas, as if, like, such as, supposing
- 今jīnmodern, current; today, now
- 也yěalso, too
- 四sìfour
- 十shíten, tenth; complete; perfect
- 五wǔfive; surname
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 無wúno, not; lacking, -less
- 聞wénnews; to hear, to smell; to make known
- 斯sīthis, thus, such; emphatic particle; use
- 亦yìalso, too; likewise
- 足zúfoot; to attain, to satisfy; enough
- 已yǐalready; finished; to stop; then, afterw
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi The Secret of Life
- Analects 1.15
- Zhuangzi Mountain Trees
- Mencius 3B.10
- Mencius 1B.9
- Mencius 3B.4
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.