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Who really said it

When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them

Written by Confucius 551–479 BCE · Chinese philosopher & teacher
Verified Free to reuse

This is the closing sentence of the Analects, Book 1, Chapter 8, in James Legge’s 1861 English translation — his rendering of the Chinese “過則勿懚改.” The attribution to Confucius is genuine; the exact English wording is Legge’s.

Last verified 10 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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“When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them” Confucius, The Analects, Book 1, Chapter 8 (trans. James Legge, 1861)

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In context

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Provenance

The source

Work
The Analects (論語, Lúnyǔ), Book 1 (“Xue Er” 學而), Chapter 8
Original
過則勿懚改 (compiled 5th–3rd c. BCE)
Translation
James Legge, The Chinese Classics, Vol. 1 (1861)
Attribution
Genuine — canonical Confucian text

The Master said, ‘If the scholar be not grave, he will not call forth any veneration, and his learning will not be solid. Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles. Have no friends not equal to yourself. When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them.’

The familiar line is the final clause of a four-part maxim; it is almost always quoted on its own, stripped of the sentences before it.

Analects 1.8 with Legge’s translation (Chinese Text Project)

How we know

Public domain

The Chinese original is ancient and long out of copyright. The exact English wording shown is James Legge’s translation, first published in The Chinese Classics, Vol. 1 (Hong Kong & London, 1861) — well before 1931 — so this specific rendering is also in the public domain in the United States.

This reflects the original work, which is public domain. If your exact English wording comes from a specific modern translation, that translation may itself still be under copyright — check the edition you quote.

Fact-check

Often misattributed

This one is genuinely Confucius — the usual problem isn’t who said it but how it’s presented.

Quote-aggregator sites context stripped

Sites such as Goodreads circulate the line as a free-floating aphorism with no chapter or translator, and often only a vague book title — obscuring that it is the last clause of Analects 1.8.

The English phrasing translator-specific

“When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them” is James Legge’s Victorian rendering of 過則勿懚改; other translators phrase the same line differently, so the exact words are Legge’s, not a fixed ‘original.’

The thought and the attribution are authentic: it is Confucius, from Analects Book 1, Chapter 8, in Legge’s 1861 translation.

Context

Why it endures

The maxim belongs to a compact set of instructions on character: be earnest, keep faithfulness and sincerity central, choose worthy friends, and — the enduring last line — when you find a fault in yourself, don’t cling to it out of fear or pride. Self-correction, for Confucius, is not a weakness to hide but the very engine of moral growth.

When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Growth Courage Humility

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Analects 1.8 (Chinese + Legge)ctext.org

Chinese Text Project: the original 過則勿懚改 beside James Legge’s English.
The Analects, Book 1classics.mit.edu

MIT Internet Classics Archive full text containing the exact sentence.
Confucius (sourced quotes)en.wikiquote.org

Wikiquote lists the line among sourced Analects quotations.
The Chinese Classics, Vol. 1gutenberg.org

Project Gutenberg edition of Legge’s 1861 translation (public domain).
Confucian Analects (Legge)en.wikisource.org

Wikisource transcription of Legge’s translation.

The true source

About Confucius

Confucius

551–479 BCE · Chinese philosopher, teacher & political thinker

Confucius (Kong Qiu, “Kongzi”) was a philosopher of China’s Spring and Autumn period whose teaching on ethics, family, and good governance shaped East Asian civilisation for two millennia. He wrote no book himself; his sayings survive in the Analects (論語, Lúnyǔ), compiled by his disciples after his death.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source — Chicago

Confucius, The Analects, Book 1, Chapter 8, trans. James Legge, in The Chinese Classics, Vol. 1 (Hong Kong & London, 1861).

MLA (9th ed.)

Confucius. The Analects. Translated by James Legge, in The Chinese Classics, vol. 1, 1861, bk. 1, ch. 8.

APA (7th ed.)

Confucius. (1861). The Analects (J. Legge, Trans.). In The Chinese classics (Vol. 1). (Original work compiled 5th–3rd century BCE)

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Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them’?” Last verified 10 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/when-you-have-faults-do-not-fear-to-abandon-them

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