The Doctrine of the Mean Passage 3
子曰：「中庸其至矣乎！民鮮能久矣！」
The Master said, "Perfect is the virtue which is according to the Mean! Rare have they long been among the people, who could practice it!"
English: James Legge (1861), The Doctrine of the Mean, The Chinese Classics vol. 1 (1861); romanization modernized on Wikisource — public domain. Chinese: Chinese text from the Wikisource bilingual edition.
Character glossary
- 子zison, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thin
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 中zhōngcentral; center, middle; amidst; to hit
- 庸yōngusual, common, ordinary, mediocre
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 至zhìreach, arrive; very, extremely
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
- 乎hūinterrogative or exclamatory final parti
- 民míncitizens, subjects; a nation's people
- 鮮xiānfresh; delicious; attractive
- 能néngcan, may; capable, full of energy
- 久jiǔlong ago; a long time
Similar passages
- Analects 6.27
- The Doctrine of the Mean Passage 4
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 23
- Zhuangzi Tien Tzŭ Fang
- Zhuangzi Hsü Wu Kuei
- Zhuangzi The Tao of God
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.