Analects 15.16 · Wei Ling Gong
“For one who never asks, ‘What should I do? What should I do?’, there is nothing I can do.”
Meaning, context, and how to apply it today
不曰如之何 如之何者 吾末如之何也已矣 (bù yuē rú zhī hé, rú zhī hé zhě, wú mò rú zhī hé yě yǐ yǐ) means “For one who never asks, ‘What should I do? What should I do?’, there is nothing I can do.” It is a passage from the Analects of Confucius, Book 15 (Wei Ling Gong), Chapter 16.
不曰如之何 如之何者 吾末如之何也已矣
- Pinyin
- bù yuē rú zhī hé, rú zhī hé zhě, wú mò rú zhī hé yě yǐ yǐ
- Translation
- For one who never asks, ‘What should I do? What should I do?’, there is nothing I can do.
- Source
- Analects, Book 15 (Wei Ling Gong), Chapter 16
What does this passage mean?
This passage comes from the sixteenth chapter of Wei Ling Gong: for one who never asks, ‘What should I do? What should I do?’, there is nothing that even I can do. The repeated question expresses the attitude of pondering deeply before a problem. In Shu Er, Confucius says that he does not enlighten those who are not eager and does not prompt those who are not struggling to express themselves, and this passage carries the same view of teaching. Instruction enters only those who wrestle with a problem themselves; even a sage can do nothing for those who want only answers. It declares that the initiative in learning belongs to the learner.
How can we apply it today?
However many good teachers, books, and lectures there are, they are useless to a person who does not ask questions on their own. In an age when a search yields an answer, we have lost the time spent holding a problem and asking what to do. Getting the answer at once is comfortable, but an answer obtained without struggle never becomes our own. Confucius’s words are stern but honest: no one can grow a person who does not wrestle with problems, not a boss, not a mentor, not an artificial intelligence. The time spent holding a problem and repeating ‘what should I do’ is exactly where learning happens.
Questions to reflect on
- ·How much do you wrestle with a problem before looking up the answer?
- ·Is there a question you have recently held onto for a long time?
- ·How differently have answers obtained without struggle and answers won through struggle stayed with you?
Character-by-character breakdown
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning | Strokes | Radical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 不 | bù | not | 4 | 一 (one) |
| 曰 | yuē | speak | 4 | 曰 (say) |
| 如 | rú | same; like | 6 | 女 (woman) |
| 之 | zhī | go; possessive particle | 4 | 丿 (slash) |
| 何 | hé | how | 7 | 人 (person) |
| 如 | rú | same; like | 6 | 女 (woman) |
| 之 | zhī | go; possessive particle | 4 | 丿 (slash) |
| 何 | hé | how | 7 | 人 (person) |
| 者 | zhě | person | 8 | 老 (old) |
| 吾 | wú | I; me | 7 | 口 (mouth) |
| 末 | mò | nothing; no way | 5 | 木 (tree) |
| 如 | rú | same; like | 6 | 女 (woman) |
| 之 | zhī | go; possessive particle | 4 | 丿 (slash) |
| 何 | hé | how | 7 | 人 (person) |
| 也 | yě | grammatical particle | 3 | 乙 (second) |
| 已 | yǐ | already | 3 | 己 (self) |
| 矣 | yǐ | grammatical particle | 7 | 矢 (arrow) |
Frequently asked questions
Q. What does “For one who never asks, ‘What should I do?…” mean?
不曰如之何 如之何者 吾末如之何也已矣 (bù yuē rú zhī hé, rú zhī hé zhě, wú mò rú zhī hé yě yǐ yǐ) means “For one who never asks, ‘What should I do? What should I do?’, there is nothing I can do.” It comes from the Analects, Book 15 (Wei Ling Gong), Chapter 16.
Q. Where does this passage appear in the Analects?
It is Analects 15.16: Book 15 (Wei Ling Gong), Chapter 16.
Q. How can this teaching be applied today?
However many good teachers, books, and lectures there are, they are useless to a person who does not ask questions on their own.