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小人(xiǎorén)

“小人”最初用以表明人的社會身份與地位，通常指被統治者或地位低下之人。后世又以人的德行高下來界定“小人”。德行卑下者被稱作“小人”(與“君子”相對)，“小人”只關注和追逐個人的權力或利益，為了獲取私利不惜違背道義，缺乏對“道”的理解與尊重。

Petty Man

The term was originally used to indicate a person’s social status, usually referring to the rulers’ subjects or those low in social ranking. Later generations also used the term to indicate one’s moral standard in a disapproving way. Those of base character were called petty men as opposed to men of virtue. A petty man only pursues his personal interests or profits, even by violating morality and righteousness; and such people have no understanding of or regard for Dao.

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【引例】

君子喻于義，小人喻于利。(《論語•里仁》)

A man of virtue understands and observes what is morally right; while a petty man only has his eyes on and goes after what brings him personal gains. (The Analects)

茍安務得，所以為小人。(朱熹《論語集注》)

They are petty men because they only seek ease and comfort of the moment and pursue personal gains. (Zhu Xi: The Analects Variorum)