Q0461

Han Feizi

A verified English rendering from the curated archive.

English

A dike a thousand li long can collapse from an ant hole.
Thinker Han Feizi
School Legalism
Source Han Feizi, Illustrations of Laozi
Theme Philosophy
Another quotation More from this thinker

Source context

This English passage is associated with Han Feizi, Illustrations of Laozi, within the tradition of Legalism. The wording below is a verified rendering prepared for careful reading rather than a claim of unique translation authority.

A short reading

Read in the register of philosophy, the sentence asks the reader to test an assumption rather than to collect a slogan. In Han Feizi's wider work, similar claims are usually offered as prompts for judgment: what would have to be true for the sentence to hold, and what would follow if it did?

How to cite this quotation

APA: Han Feizi. (n.d.). A dike a thousand li long can collapse from an ant hole. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0461

MLA: Han Feizi. “A dike a thousand li long can collapse….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0461.

Chicago: Han Feizi. “A dike a thousand li long can collapse….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0461.

Same thinker

More from Han Feizi

  1. When the age changes, affairs change; when affairs change, preparations must change.

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Same theme

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