人必自侮而後人侮之
Chinese edit
| man; person; people | certainly; must; will certainly; must; will; necessarily |
from; self; oneself from; self; oneself; since |
insult | after that; then | man; person; people | insult | 's; him/her/it; this | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (人必自侮而後人侮之) | 人 | 必 | 自 | 侮 | 而後 | 人 | 侮 | 之 | |
| simp. (人必自侮而后人侮之) | 人 | 必 | 自 | 侮 | 而后 | 人 | 侮 | 之 | |
| alternative forms | 人必自侮然後人侮之／人必自侮然后人侮之 | ||||||||
Etymology edit
From Mencius:
- 夫人必自侮，然後人侮之；家必自毀，而後人毀之；國必自伐，而後人伐之。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
- From: Mencius, c. 4th century BCE
- Fú rén bì zì wǔ, ránhòu rén wǔ zhī; jiā bì zì huǐ, érhòu rén huǐ zhī; guó bì zì fá, érhòu rén fá zhī. [Pinyin]
- A man must first despise himself, and then others will despise him. A family must first destroy itself, and then others will destroy it. A State must first smite itself, and then others will smite it.
夫人必自侮，然后人侮之；家必自毁，而后人毁之；国必自伐，而后人伐之。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
Pronunciation edit
Proverb edit
人必自侮而後人侮之
- One is humiliated by others always because one has brought humiliation upon oneself first.