Mencius 4A.22
Mencius (孟子), Book 4, Part I: Li Lou I 離婁上
孟子曰：「人之易其言也，無責耳矣。」
Mencius said, 'Men's being ready with their tongues arises simply from their not having been reproved.'
James Legge (1861), The Works of Mencius, The Chinese Classics vol. 2 (1861; 2nd ed. 1895); romanization modernized on Wikisource — public domain.
Character glossary
- 孟mèngfirst in a series; great, eminent
- 子zison, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thin
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 人rénman, person; people
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 易yìto change; to exchange, to trade; simple
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 言yánwords, speech; to speak, to say
- 也yěalso, too
- 無wúno, not; lacking, -less
- 責zéone's responsibility, duty
- 耳ěrear; to hear, to hear of; handle
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi The Great Supreme
- Zhuangzi Robber Chê
- Zhuangzi Man Among Men
- Zhuangzi Kêng Sang Ch’u
- Mencius 1A.3
- Mencius 6A.6
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0); Chinese Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.