Book 15: 《衛靈公》 Wei Ling Gong (Duke Ling of Wey)
《衛靈公》 Passage 15.27
Legge Translation (1861)
The Master said: "Specious words confound virtue. Want of forbearance in small matters confounds great plans."Word by word
- 子曰 zǐ yuē
the Master said
- 子 master, teacher (title for Confucius)
- 曰 said, spoke
- 巧言 qiǎo yán
clever, glib words, smooth talk
- 巧 clever, artful, glib
- 言 words, speech
- 亂 luàn
to confound, ruin, throw into disorder
亂 is the main verb of both clauses in this passage, taking 德 here and 大謀 in the second clause as its object.
- 德 dé
virtue, moral character
Ames & Rosemont renders de as 'excellence' rather than 'virtue', reflecting a distinct interpretive choice.
- 小 xiǎo
small, minor, trivial (matters)
- 不忍 bù rěn
fail to forbear, be impatient, lack self-restraint
- 不 not
- 忍 to endure, forbear, tolerate
- 則 zé
conditional-result conjunction: then, in that case
none of the eight translators render it lexically.
- 亂 luàn
to confound, ruin, throw into disorder
- 大謀 dà móu
great plan, grand strategy
- 大 great, large
- 謀 plan, scheme, stratagem
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