Believe every book and you'd be better off without books.

What it means

Mencius said this about the Book of Documents, a revered classic, when one of its accounts struck him as impossible. Reading without judgment is worse than not reading at all. Respect what you read, and still test it.

The source

"Believe every book and you'd be better off without books." Mencius said it in Mencius 7B3 (盡心下). Translated from the original Chinese by Spartan Surfers.

"盡信《書》，則不如無《書》。"

Original Chinese, Mencius 7B3 (盡心下). Text read at zh.wikisource.org.

Who said it

Mencius (c. 372-289 BC). The most important Confucian after Confucius himself. He argued that human nature is good and that a ruler's first duty is to the people.

Questions

What does "Believe every book and you'd be better off without books." mean?

Mencius said this about the Book of Documents, a revered classic, when one of its accounts struck him as impossible. Reading without judgment is worse than not reading at all. Respect what you read, and still test it.

Who said "Believe every book and you'd be better off without books."?

Mencius (c. 372-289 BC). Source: Mencius 7B3 (盡心下).

What is the original Chinese?

盡信《書》，則不如無《書》。. Translated from the original Chinese by Spartan Surfers.

Is "Believe every book and you'd be better off without books." on a shirt?

Yes. We print it to order on our tees in 7 illustrated looks, from $44, with free US shipping.

"Believe every book and you'd be better off without books." (Mencius, Mencius 7B3 (盡心下), translated by Spartan Surfers). https://spartansurfers.com/quotes/believe-every-book-and-youd-be-better-off