Mencius 4B.12
Mencius (孟子), Book 4, Part II: Li Lou II 離婁下
孟子曰：「大人者，不失其赤子之心者也。」
Mencius said, 'The great man is he who does not lose his child's-heart.'
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
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 失shīto lose; to make a mistake, to neglect
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 赤chìred, scarlet; blushing; bare, naked
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 心xīnheart; mind; soul
- 也yěalso, too
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi Mountain Trees
- Zhuangzi The Universe
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 55
- Mencius 3A.5
- The Great Learning Passage 11
- Zhuangzi Joined Toes
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.
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