子曰,古者言之不出,耻躬之不逮也。
Modern Chinese Guide
孔子说:古人不轻易把话说出口,是因为他们以自己做不到而感到羞耻。
James Legge Translation
The Master said, "The reason why the ancients did not readily give utterance to their words, was that they feared lest their actions should not come up to them."
Source: James Legge, public domain, 1893.
Notes
- 底本:Wikisource 整理的 James Legge《The Chinese Classics》公版中英文本(1893–1895)。
- 简体化:原文由繁体转为简体(OpenCC),与公版英译逐句对应。
- 白话参考底本:《白话论语读本》,张兆瑢、沈元起编译,上海广益书局1948 年新三版。