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A classical Chinese line for “Stand by your principles”

These matches come from a curated corpus of real Chinese poetry and philosophy. The source line is fixed; the English wording is provided to make its meaning accessible.

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6 source-verified results
✓ Verified sourceBilingual

富贵不能淫，贫贱不能移，威武不能屈。

Fù guì bù néng yín, pín jiàn bù néng yí, wēi wǔ bù néng qū.

Close English reading

Wealth and honor cannot corrupt him, poverty and low status cannot move him, and force cannot make him bend.

Plain meaningHold your principles through temptation, hardship, and pressure.

Source
Mencius· Warring States period · Mencius: Teng Wen Gong II
Mencius
Why it fitsIt defines integrity by the pressures it can withstand.
Original context and translation note
富贵不能淫，贫贱不能移，威武不能屈。

English wording on Gu Ren Said is an original reading aid, not a claim that there is only one valid literary translation.

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✓ Verified sourceBilingual

温故而知新，可以为师矣。

Wēn gù ér zhī xīn, kě yǐ wéi shī yǐ.

Close English reading

Review what is old and understand what is new; then one can serve as a teacher.

Plain meaningReturn to what you know until it yields a new understanding.

Source
Confucius· Pre-Qin China · Analects 2: Wei Zheng
The Analects
Why it fitsReview is valuable here because it creates insight, not because repetition alone is virtuous.
Original context and translation note
温故而知新，可以为师矣。

English wording on Gu Ren Said is an original reading aid, not a claim that there is only one valid literary translation.

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✓ Verified sourceBilingual

知人者智，自知者明。

Zhī rén zhě zhì, zì zhī zhě míng.

Close English reading

To know others is intelligence; to know oneself is clarity.

Plain meaningUnderstanding yourself is the deeper wisdom.

Source
Laozi· Spring and Autumn period · Tao Te Ching, Chapter 33
Tao Te Ching
Why it fitsIt distinguishes social intelligence from the harder achievement of honest self-knowledge.
Original context and translation note
知人者智，自知者明。

English wording on Gu Ren Said is an original reading aid, not a claim that there is only one valid literary translation.

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✓ Verified sourceBilingual

法不阿贵，绳不挠曲。

Fǎ bù ē guì, shéng bù náo qū.

Close English reading

Law does not bend toward the powerful; the marking line does not curve around what is crooked.

Plain meaningRules should apply equally, even to the powerful.

Source
Han Fei· Warring States period · You Du (Having Standards)
Han Feizi
Why it fitsThe measuring line becomes an image of a standard that refuses to bend for status.
Original context and translation note
法不阿贵，绳不挠曲。

English wording on Gu Ren Said is an original reading aid, not a claim that there is only one valid literary translation.

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✓ Verified sourceBilingual

井蛙不可以语于海者，拘于虚也；夏虫不可以语于冰者，笃于时也。

Jǐng wā bù kě yǐ yǔ yú hǎi zhě, jū yú xū yě; xià chóng bù kě yǐ yǔ yú bīng zhě, dǔ yú shí yě.

Close English reading

You cannot speak of the sea to a frog in a well, constrained by its place; nor of ice to a summer insect, bound by its season.

Plain meaningPeople can be limited by the world they have experienced.

Source
Zhuangzi· Warring States period · Autumn Floods
Zhuangzi
Why it fitsPlace and time become metaphors for the limits that experience can place on understanding.
Original context and translation note
井蛙不可以语于海者，拘于虚也；夏虫不可以语于冰者，笃于时也。

English wording on Gu Ren Said is an original reading aid, not a claim that there is only one valid literary translation.

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✓ Verified sourceBilingual

燕雀安知鸿鹄之志哉！

Yàn què ān zhī hóng hú zhī zhì zāi!

Close English reading

How could sparrows and swallows know the ambition of a great swan?

Plain meaningPeople with small horizons may not understand a larger dream.

Source
Sima Qian· Western Han dynasty · The House of Chen She
Records of the Grand Historian
Why it fitsThe contrast between small birds and the great swan gives defiant language to misunderstood ambition.
Original context and translation note
燕雀安知鸿鹄之志哉！

English wording on Gu Ren Said is an original reading aid, not a claim that there is only one valid literary translation.

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Translation note: The English readings are original explanatory translations for this product. They are designed for clarity and source verification, not presented as definitive literary translations.

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Related themes

CourageClassical Chinese sayings about integrity under wealth, hardship, pressure, praise, and criticism.WisdomSource-verified teachings on priorities, patience, judgment, principles, and learning from others.

Original Chinese line, pinyin, a readable English explanation, and a traceable source—without inventing an ancient quotation.

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A Classical Chinese Line for “Stand by your principles” | Gu Ren Said