小人喻于利

小人喻於利

xiǎorényùyúlì

phrase

Meanings

1 the petty person is motivated by profit
2 the low-minded understand things only through self-interest
3 (lit.) the small person is enlightened by profit

Characters

person (小人 = petty / base person)

to understand / be enlightened by

Examples

君子喻于义，小人喻于利——孔子区分两种人的根本标准。

Jūnzǐ yù yú yì, xiǎorén yù yú lì — Kǒngzǐ qūfēn liǎng zhǒng rén de gēnběn biāozhǔn.

'The gentleman is motivated by righteousness, the petty person by profit' — Confucius's fundamental distinction between the two.

他只看钱，果然小人喻于利。

Tā zhǐ kàn qián, guǒrán xiǎorén yù yú lì.

He only looks at money — truly the petty man is moved only by profit.

Tips

history

From 《论语·里仁》: 子曰：君子喻于义，小人喻于利。(The Master said: the gentleman understands through righteousness; the petty person understands through profit.) One of the Analects' sharpest moral distinctions — 小人 is not 'little person' but 'morally petty / narrow-minded.'

usage

Always quoted alongside its partner 君子喻于义. 喻于 ('to be enlightened by / understand through') is classical usage — the idea is that profit is the lens through which the 小人 sees everything.

Stroke Order

小 xiǎo

人 rén

喻 yù

于 yú

利 lì