Mencius 4A.23
Mencius (孟子), Book 4, Part I: Li Lou I 離婁上
孟子曰：「人之患在好為人師。」
Mencius said, 'The evil of men is that they like to be teachers of others.'
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
- 患huànsuffering; misfortune; trouble; to suffe
- 在zàiat, in, on; to exist; used to indicate t
- 好hǎogood, excellent, fine; proper, suitable;
- 為wèito do, to act; to handle, to govern; to
- 師shīteacher, professional, master
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi How to Govern
- Zhuangzi Contingencies
- Zhuangzi Robber Chê
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 81
- Mencius 3A.5
- Mencius 4A.28
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.