Li Lou I · Passage 23 / 28 · 孟子 4A.23
Mencius 4A.23: the trouble with loving to teach others
In a single short sentence Mencius identifies a common moral distortion: people often fail not because they cannot reason.
孟子曰：「人之患在好爲人師。」
Mencius said, 'The evil of men is that they like to be teachers of others.'
Priority note
A human-edited reading layer
Central question
Why does Mencius say that people's trouble is their love of teaching others?
Direct answer
Because once a person installs himself first as an instructor, attention shifts from correcting the self to correcting others. Knowledge may increase, but self-examination contracts.
First principle
One of the deepest barriers to learning is not ignorance itself, but the premature certainty of already being the one who knows.
Why it matters
This short line is highly quotable and serves search intent around teaching others, self-righteousness, and learning with humility.
Further reading
What this passage is doing
This is passage 23 of 28 in Li Lou I. The cleanest entry point is "The evil of men is that they like…". In context, it works as part of Mencius's argument about self-examination, disorder, and keeping the way and can be read alongside Human nature.
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Human nature is good: the starting point of moral growth
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Open the full-text hubBook context
Li Lou I often approaches disorder through self-examination and the standards for keeping the way.
Related principles
Citation note
Do not read it as anti-education or anti-sharing. Mencius is criticizing the posture that rushes to instruct before it has undergone self-correction.