Mencius 4B.17
Mencius (孟子), Book 4, Part II: Li Lou II 離婁下
孟子曰：「言無實不祥。不祥之實，蔽賢者當之。」
Mencius said, 'Words which are not true are inauspicious, and the words which are most truly obnoxious to the name of inauspicious, are those which throw into the shade men of talents and virtue.'
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
- 言yánwords, speech; to speak, to say
- 無wúno, not; lacking, -less
- 實shíreal, true; honest, sincere
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 祥xiánghappiness, good fortune; auspicious
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 蔽bìto cover, to hide, to shelter
- 賢xiánvirtuous, worthy; good, able
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 當dāngappropriate, timely; to act, to serve; t
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi Tsê Yang
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 31
- Zhuangzi The Great Supreme
- Analects 8.5
- Mencius 7A.37
- Zhuangzi Hsü Wu Kuei
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.