怨天尤人

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Chinese

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blame; complain day; sky; heaven outstanding; particularly; especially man; person; people
trad. (怨天尤人)
simp. #(怨天尤人)
Literally: “to blame the gods and accuse others”.

Etymology

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From the Analects, Book 14 (《論語·憲問》):

子曰:「怨天尤人!」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
子曰:「怨天尤人!」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
Zǐyuē: “Bù yuàn tiān, bù yóu rén, xià xué ér shàng dá, zhī wǒ zhě, qí tiān hū!” [Pinyin]
The Master replied, "I do not murmur against Heaven. I do not grumble against men. My studies lie low, and my penetration rises high. But there is Heaven - that knows me!"

Pronunciation

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Idiom

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怨天尤人

  1. to blame god and man; to blame everyone and everything but oneself