Mencius 4B.9
Mencius (孟子), Book 4, Part II: Li Lou II 離婁下
孟子曰：「言人之不善，當如後患何？」
Mencius said, 'What future misery have they and ought they to endure, who talk of what is not good in 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
- 言yánwords, speech; to speak, to say
- 人rénman, person; people
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 善shàngood, virtuous, charitable, kind
- 當dāngappropriate, timely; to act, to serve; t
- 如rúas, as if, like, such as, supposing
- 後hòuafter; behind, rear; descendants
- 患huànsuffering; misfortune; trouble; to suffe
- 何héwhat, why, where, which, how
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi The Old Fisherman
- Analects 14.14
- Zhuangzi The Evidence of Virtue Complete
- Analects 13.15
- Analects 13.20
- 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.