君子喻於義，小人喻於利

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Chinese[edit]

 
junzi; man of virtue; high-minded person
junzi; man of virtue; high-minded person; noble person; superior person
 allegory
 
in; at; to
in; at; to; from; by; than; out of; surname
 justice; righteousness; meaning scoundrel or villain; person of low position allegory
 
in; at; to
in; at; to; from; by; than; out of; surname
 
advantage; benefit; profit
advantage; benefit; profit; sharp
trad. (君子喻於義，小人喻於利) 君子 喻 於 義 ， 小人 喻 於 利
simp. (君子喻于义，小人喻于利) 君子 喻 于 义 ， 小人 喻 于 利
Literally: “A high-minded person knows with regard to righteousness, a small-minded person knows with regard to profit”.

Etymology[edit]

From the Analects, Book 4 (《論語·里仁》):

子曰、君子喻於義、小人喻於利。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
子曰、君子喻于义、小人喻于利。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
Zǐ yuē, jūnzǐ yù yú yì, xiǎorén yù yú lì. [Pinyin]
The Master said, "The mind of the superior man is conversant with righteousness; the mind of the mean man is conversant with gain."

Pronunciation[edit]

Proverb[edit]

君子喻於義，小人喻於利

  1. High-minded people value doing the right thing, but low-minded people value doing the profitable thing
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