Mencius 4B.11
Mencius (孟子), Book 4, Part II: Li Lou II 離婁下
孟子曰：「大人者，言不必信，行不必果，惟義所在。」
Mencius said,'The great man does not think beforehand of his words that they may be sincere, nor of his actions that they may be resolute - he simply speaks and does what is right.'
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
- 大dàbig, great, vast, high, deep
- 人rénman, person; people
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 言yánwords, speech; to speak, to say
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 必bìsurely, certainly; must; will
- 信xìnto trust, to believe; letter, sign
- 行xíngto go, to walk, to move; professional
- 果guǒfruit, nut; result
- 惟wéibut, however, nevertheless; only
- 義yìright conduct, propriety; justice
- 所suǒplace, location; "that which", a particl
- 在zàiat, in, on; to exist; used to indicate t
Passages with shared wording
- Analects 13.20
- Zhuangzi The Great Supreme
- Mencius 2A.2
- Zhuangzi Knowledge travels North
- Zhuangzi The Old Fisherman
- Analects 15.5
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.