“Who is without fault? If one has erred and can correct it, there is no greater good.” The line appears in the second year of Duke Xuan in the Zuo Tradition. Shi Ji is remonstrating with Duke Ling, who has said that he recognises his fault and will change. Shi Ji replies that no one is free of error; the greatest good lies in correcting it.
The narrative immediately adds that the duke still did not change. He later tried to have Zhao Dun killed for repeatedly remonstrating with him. This context prevents the sentence from becoming easy self-comfort. “Who is without fault?” acknowledges human limits, but “can correct it” places responsibility in what follows. Saying “I was wrong” may begin a correction; actual change must stop the harm, address its consequences and prevent the same fault returning under the same excuse.
https://ctext.org/text.pl?if=gb&node=18612&show=parallel
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