Skip to content

For the world is impure and envious of the able,
And eager to hide men's good and make much of their ill.

世溷浊而嫉贤兮，好蔽美而称恶。

Original text (Chinese)

Another quote →

Notes from Wikiquote

Line 127

More quotes by Qu Yuan

Long, long had been my road and far, far was the journey;
I would go up and down to seek my heart's desire.

The muddy, impure world, so undiscriminating,
Seeks always to hide beauty, out of jealousy.

How well I know that loyalty brings disaster.

The fools enjoy their careless pleasure,
But their way is dark and leads to danger.

O Soul come back to watch the birds in flight!
He who has found such manifold delights
Shall feel his cheeks aglow
And the blood-spirit dancing through his limbs.

All Qu Yuan quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Qu Yuan (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.