Analects 14.38 · Xian Wen
“Is that the one who knows it cannot be done and yet keeps doing it?”
Meaning, context, and how to apply it today
是知其不可而爲之者與 (shì zhī qí bù kě ér wéi zhī zhě yú) means “Is that the one who knows it cannot be done and yet keeps doing it?” It is a passage from the Analects of Confucius, Book 14 (Xian Wen), Chapter 38.
是知其不可而爲之者與
- Pinyin
- shì zhī qí bù kě ér wéi zhī zhě yú
- Translation
- Is that the one who knows it cannot be done and yet keeps doing it?
- Source
- Analects, Book 14 (Xian Wen), Chapter 38
What does this passage mean?
This episode comes from the thirty-eighth chapter of Xian Wen. Zilu spent a night at the Stone Gate, and at dawn the gatekeeper asked where he had come from. When Zilu said he came from the house of Confucius, the gatekeeper replied: is that the one who knows it cannot be done and yet keeps doing it? This remark by a nameless gatekeeper is considered the most accurate summary of Confucius’s life. Knowing that the Way was not practiced in the world, Confucius nevertheless traveled among the states trying to spread it, and in the end he did not succeed. Yet the refusal to stop doing what is right, even knowing the outcome, is what made Confucius who he was. Because we cannot tell whether the remark was mockery or admiration, it resonates all the more deeply.
How can we apply it today?
People who only do what will succeed look wise, but those who changed the world were mostly people who did what seemed impossible. Some things cannot even be begun if you calculate only the odds of success: standing against injustice, research no one recognizes, creative work that brings in no money now. The gatekeeper’s remark may have been mockery, but Confucius’s life turned it into a badge of honor. Doing what you know cannot be done is not foolishness; it is living by the standard of rightness rather than results. The way to read this passage is to ask whether there is one such thing in your own life.
Questions to reflect on
- ·Is there something you are doing because it is right, even knowing it may not succeed?
- ·Have you given up something right because of the odds?
- ·When results and rightness collide, which is your standard?
Character-by-character breakdown
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning | Strokes | Radical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 是 | shì | this | 9 | 日 (sun) |
| 知 | zhī | know | 8 | 矢 (arrow) |
| 其 | qí | that; he | 8 | 八 (eight) |
| 不 | bù | not | 4 | 一 (one) |
| 可 | kě | right | 5 | 口 (mouth) |
| 而 | ér | and; but | 6 | 而 (and) |
| 爲 | wéi | do | 12 | 爪 (claw) |
| 之 | zhī | go; possessive particle | 4 | 丿 (slash) |
| 者 | zhě | person | 8 | 老 (old) |
| 與 | yú | question particle | 14 | 臼 (mortar) |
Frequently asked questions
Q. What does “Is that the one who knows it cannot be done…” mean?
是知其不可而爲之者與 (shì zhī qí bù kě ér wéi zhī zhě yú) means “Is that the one who knows it cannot be done and yet keeps doing it?” It comes from the Analects, Book 14 (Xian Wen), Chapter 38.
Q. Where does this passage appear in the Analects?
It is Analects 14.38: Book 14 (Xian Wen), Chapter 38.
Q. How can this teaching be applied today?
People who only do what will succeed look wise, but those who changed the world were mostly people who did what seemed impossible.