Li Lou II · Passage 17 / 33 · 孟子 4B.17
Mencius 4B.17: false words hide the worthy
Mencius says empty words are dangerous, but the worst case is speech that obscures the worthy, blinding a community at the point of judgment and selection.
孟子曰：「言無實，不詳。不詳之實，蔽賢者當之。」
Mencius said, 'Words which are not true are inauspicious, and the words which are most truly obnoxious to the name of inauspicious, are those which throw into the shade men of talents and virtue.'
Priority note
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Central question
Why does Mencius say that the most inauspicious false words are those that hide worthy people?
Direct answer
Because ordinary falsehood misleads about events, but hiding the worthy corrupts the very channel by which a community recognizes whom it should hear and trust. It injures the order of judgment itself.
First principle
The danger of language lies not only in whether it is true, but in whether it distorts who is seen and who is obscured.
Why it matters
This passage serves searches around false speech, worthy people, and distorted public judgment while strengthening the site's treatment of language and leadership.
Further reading
What this passage is doing
This is passage 17 of 33 in Li Lou II. The cleanest entry point is "Words which are not true are inauspicious, and…". In context, it works as part of Mencius's argument about seeing people clearly, ritual restraint, and governing relationships and can be read alongside Human nature.
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Related principles
Citation note
Do not hear 'inauspicious' as mere superstition. Mencius is naming a concrete political harm: once the worthy are obscured, judgment itself goes dark.