A Human Fault Is the Desire to Instruct Others

“A human fault lies in being eager to instruct others.” The sentence comes from Li Lou I in the Mencius. Here, “fault” means a recurring human failing, while the desire to teach refers not to careful education but to assuming the superior position of an instructor before understanding another person.

Sharing knowledge remains valuable. Before giving advice, however, we can first ask what the other person is actually trying to understand and how much we ourselves know. Teaching and listening do not conflict. Without listening, the more experience we have, the easier it becomes to fit our own answer onto somebody else's question.

https://ctext.org/mengzi/li-lou-i/zh