见利忘义

見利忘義

jiànlì-wàngyì

idiom HSK 7-9

Meanings

1 to abandon moral principles for profit
2 to forget righteousness at the sight of gain

Characters

Examples

HSK 4

做生意不能见利忘义。

Zuòshēngyì bùnéng jiànlì-wàngyì.

In business, you can't ditch ethics the moment profit appears.

HSK 7-9

他见利忘义，出卖了朋友。

Tā jiànlì-wàngyì, chūmài le péngyou.

He betrayed his friend out of greed.

Tips

history

From 《汉书·樊郦滕灌傅靳周传》 - 'selling out a friend is called seeing profit and forgetting righteousness.' The idiom preserves the Han-era moral contrast between 义 and 利.

Stroke Order

见 jiàn

利 lì

忘 wàng

义 yì