Li Lou II · Passage 09 / 33 · 孟子 4B.9
Mencius 4B.9: when speaking of what is bad
Mencius warns that speaking of another's faults is not morally costless; one must ask what consequences the speech will set in motion.
孟子曰：「言人之不善，當如後患何？」
Mencius said, 'What future misery have they and ought they to endure, who talk of what is not good in others!'
Priority note
A human-edited reading layer
Central question
Why does Mencius ask, when speaking of what is not good in others, what of the future trouble that follows?
Direct answer
Because exposing another's fault is easy, while bearing the damage it may unleash in relationships, resentment, and habitual fault-finding is much harder. Mencius forces the consequence question first: does this speech serve the good, or merely amplify the bad?
First principle
Speech should be judged not only by whether it is factually right, but by what direction it pushes persons and situations toward.
Why it matters
This passage serves searches around speech ethics, criticism, and Mencius on consequences of speech. It is unusually relevant to modern communication culture.
Further reading
What this passage is doing
This is passage 9 of 33 in Li Lou II. The cleanest entry point is "What future misery have they and ought they…". 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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Human nature is good: the starting point of moral growth
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Li Lou II offers concrete judgments about seeing people, handling relationships, and the discipline of ritual.
Related principles
Citation note
Do not read it as banning criticism altogether. Mencius is not cancelling criticism, but requiring the critic to think from consequences rather than consume fault-telling as moral entertainment.