君子は周して比せず小人は比して周せず

Japanese

Etymology

From Middle Chinese: 君子周而不比、小人比而不周

Proverb

君子は周して比せず小人は比して周せず (hiragana くんしはしゅうしてひせずしょうじんはひしてしゅうせず, romaji kunshi wa shūshite hisezu shōjin wa hishite shūsezu)

1. a gentleman encompasses all and remains impartial. A petty mind is partial and does not encompass all. That is, a gentleman shows kindness to all with fairness, but a petty person is only kind to a few friends.

References

• The Kōjien (広辞苑) Dictionary of the Japanese Language, 5th edition, Iwanami Shoten Publishing, Tokyo.