Learning without thought is labour lost; thought without learning is perilous.
- Source
- Analects, 2.15, trans. James Legge
- Written
- c. 5th century BC
About this quotation
The saying is recorded in Book 2 of the Analects as a single remark of “the Master”. Legge uses “labour lost” where other translators write “wasted” or “fruitless”.