立戒 · 知足不辱
Lì Jiè
Classical Chinese Text
名与身孰亲？身与货孰多？得与亡孰病？甚爱必大费，多藏必厚亡。故知足不辱，知止不殆，可以长久。
Translation & Meaning
外在虚名与自身性命，究竟哪个更亲近切要？身心健康与金银财货，究竟哪个更珍贵重要？贪求外物与丧失本真，究竟哪个才是真正的祸害？ 过分贪恋外物必定耗费巨大的心神代价，过度聚敛囤藏必定招致惨重的损失败亡。 所以懂得满足就不会遭受屈辱，懂得适可而止就不会陷入危险，如此方能平安长久。
Linguistic & Character Analysis
- 名 (míng): name / conceptual label / to name
- 与 (yǔ): classical character (yǔ)
- 身 (shēn): classical character (shēn)
- 孰 (shú): classical character (shú)
- 亲 (qīn): classical character (qīn)
- 货 (huò): goods / treasure / items
- 多 (duō): classical character (duō)
- 得 (dé): obtain / acquire / gain
- 亡 (wáng): classical character (wáng)
- 病 (bìng): classical character (bìng)
- 甚 (shèn): classical character (shèn)
- 爱 (ài): classical character (ài)
- 必 (bì): classical character (bì)
- 大 (dà): classical character (dà)
- 费 (fèi): classical character (fèi)
- 藏 (cáng): classical character (cáng)
- 厚 (hòu): classical character (hòu)
- 故 (gù): therefore / thus / consequence
- 知 (zhī): know / distinguish / recognize
- 足 (zú): classical character (zú)
- 不 (bù): not / un- / without
- 辱 (rǔ): classical character (rǔ)
- 止 (zhǐ): classical character (zhǐ)
- 殆 (dài): classical character (dài)
- 可 (kě): can / capable of being
- 以 (yǐ): in order to / by means of
- 长 (cháng): long / enduring / grow
- 久 (jiǔ): classical character (jiǔ)
Commentary
青禾散人评注：三问振聋发聩！世人常以性命换虚名、拿健康赌财货，此乃本末倒置。“知足不辱，知止不殆”是守护内在主权的清醒底线。