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苟非吾之所有

gǒufēiwúzhīsuǒyǒu
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 if something is not mine to have
  2. 2 (fig.) the principle of taking nothing that does not belong to you
  3. 3 (lit.) if-not I's thing-possessed

Examples

苟非吾之所有，虽一毫而莫取，苏子夜游赤壁的话最是清明。
Gǒu fēi wú zhī suǒyǒu, suī yī háo ér mò qǔ, Sū Zǐ yè yóu Chìbì de huà zuì shì qīngmíng.
'If it is not what is mine, then not even a hair's breadth may I take' — Su Shi's night outing at Red Cliff speaks with luminous clarity.
做人要守规矩，苟非吾之所有便不可妄取。
Zuò rén yào shǒu guīju, gǒu fēi wú zhī suǒyǒu biàn bùkě wàng qǔ.
A person must keep to principle — 'if it is not what is mine,' one must not take it unwarranted.

Tips

history
From 苏轼《前赤壁赋》(Su Shi, 'Former Red Cliff Rhapsody,' Northern Song, 1082), in the passage where Su consoles his troubled guest on the boat by distinguishing what we may own from what the universe lends freely: 且夫天地之间，物各有主，苟非吾之所有，虽一毫而莫取。惟江上之清风，与山间之明月... 是造物者之无尽藏也，而吾与子之所共适 (Between heaven and earth, everything has its owner; if it is not mine, then not even a hair may I take. Only the clear wind on the river and the bright moon in the hills... are Creator's inexhaustible treasury, and what you and I may share together). Written during exile at Huangzhou.
usage
Always followed by 虽一毫而莫取 — the complete clause is the moral. 苟 here = 'if / supposing' (classical), not 'carelessly.' 吾之所有 = 'what I possess,' where 之 is the possessive linker.

Stroke Order

苟 gǒu
非 fēi
吾 wú
之 zhī
所 suǒ
有 yǒu