Mencius 7A.5
Mencius (孟子), Book 7, Part I: Jin Xin I 盡心上
孟子曰：「行之而不著焉，習矣而不察焉，終身由之而不知其道者，眾也。」
Mencius said, 'To act without understanding, and to do so habitually without examination, pursuing the proper path all the life without knowing its nature - this is the way of multitudes.'
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
- 行xíngto go, to walk, to move; professional
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 著zheto show, to prove, to make known
- 焉yānwhy? where? how?; strange; thereupon, th
- 習xíto study, to practice; habit
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
- 察cháto examine, to investigate, to observe
- 終zhōngend; finally, in the end
- 身shēnbody, torso; person; pregnancy
- 由yóucause, reason; from
- 知zhīto know, to perceive, to comprehend
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 道dàomethod, way; path, road
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 眾zhòngmultitude, crowd; masses, public
- 也yěalso, too
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi On Letting Alone
- Mencius 3B.9
- The Great Learning Passage 15
- Zhuangzi The Empire
- Zhuangzi Contingencies
- Analects 15.27
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.