kiến ngãi bất vi vô dõng dã

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Meaning · English

To see the right thing and not do it is to lack courage — inaction before duty is its own cowardice.

Literally: seeing the righteous undone: no valor

Examples

Thấy chuyện bất bình mà làm ngơ, kiến ngãi bất vi vô dõng dã.Watching an injustice and doing nothing — to see the right undone is to lack courage.

Editorial example (VI sweep batch 040, illustrative)

Sources & notes

Discovered via Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897; public domain, via vi.wikisource); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Attested in Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897). Definition is an original editorial synthesis, not copied from the source.

Common questions

What does “kiến ngãi bất vi vô dõng dã” mean?

To see the right thing and not do it is to lack courage — inaction before duty is its own cowardice. Literally: seeing the righteous undone: no valor

Is “kiến ngãi bất vi vô dõng dã” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.