Trusting every word in books is worse than having no books at all.
📜 Origin
《孟子》
💡 Detailed Explanation
"Believing everything in books is worse than having no books at all" comes from the "Jin Xin II" chapter of Mencius. It originally referred to the record in the "Wu Cheng" chapter of The Book of Documents that King Wu's conquest of Zhou caused "blood to flow so profusely that it floated pestles," which should not be wholly believed. Mencius used this to emphasize that reading should be accompanied by an independent spirit of thought, and that one must not blindly trust books. Its deeper meaning lies in this: although book knowledge is important, if it is accepted wholesale without analysis, it will instead shackle the mind and may even lead to mistaken understanding. It is mostly used in scenarios of admonishing others or self-reflection, reminding people to maintain critical thinking toward authority, classics, or information, and it is especially applicable in fields such as academic research, education and learning, and information evaluation. In terms of cultural background, it embodies the Confucian scholarly tradition of "combining learning with thought" and "seeking truth through doubt," echoing "Learning without thought is labor lost." Its emotional tone is relatively neutral, carrying a sense of rational and prudent exhortation. It neither completely denies books nor advocates nihilism, but rather encourages maintaining independent judgment while respecting knowledge.
📝 Example
1. When faced with various health-preserving recipes online, we should adopt the attitude that "believing everything in books is worse than having no books at all," and consult professional doctors more often. (It means not blindly trusting books or authoritative information, but maintaining critical thinking.)
2. When doing research, my supervisor often reminds us that "believing everything in books is worse than having no books at all," and that we should dare to question existing literature and verify it. (It means not completely trusting book knowledge, but verifying it independently.)