圣人之所以為圣，愚人之所以為愚，其皆出于此乎？

This explains what makes a wise man and what makes a foolish man．

愛其子，擇師而教之；于其身也，則恥師焉，惑矣。

It is absurd that a person would choose a teacher for his son out of his love for him, and yet refuse to learn from the teacher himself, thinking it a disgrace to do so.

彼童子之師，授之書而習其句讀者，非吾所謂傳其道、解其惑者也。

The teacher of his son teaches the child only reading and punctuation, which is not propagating the doctrine or resolving doubts as the aforementioned.

句讀之不知，惑之不解，或師焉，或不焉，小學而大遺，吾未見其明也。

I don't think it wise to learn from the teacher when one doesn't know how to punctuate, but not when one has doubts unresolved, for that I find to be the folly of learning in small matters, but neglecting the big ones.

巫醫(yī)、樂師、百工之人，不恥相師。

Even medicine men, musicians and handicraftsmen do not think it disgraceful to learn from each other.

士大夫之族，曰“師”曰“弟子”云者，則群聚而笑之。

When one of the literati calls another man his“teacher”and himself his“student”people will get together and invariably laugh at him.

問之，則曰：彼與彼年相若也，道相似也，位卑則足羞，官盛則近諛。

If you ask them why they are laughing, they will say that since he is almost of the same age and as erudite as another man, it would be degrading for him to call the other man "teacher" if the other man's social rank is lower than his; and it would be flattering if the other man's social rank is higher.

嗚呼！師道之不復，可知矣。

Alas! It is clear that the tradition of learning from the teacher can no longer be restored.

巫醫(yī)、樂師、百工之人，君子不齒，今其智乃反不能及，其可怪也歟！

Medicine men, musicians and handicraftsmen are despised by the gentlemen. How strange it is that gentlemen are less wise than these people!

圣人無常師。

The ancient sages did not limit themselves to particular teachers.

孔子師郯子、萇弘、師襄、老聃。郯子之徒，其賢不及孔子。

Confucius had learned from people like Tanzi, Changhong, Shixiang, and Laodan, who were not as virtuous and talented as Confucius.

孔子曰“三人行，則必有我?guī)??！?/span>

Confucius said “If three men are walking together, one of them is bound to be good enough to be my teacher.”

是故弟子不必不如師，師不必賢于弟子。

A student is not necessarily inferior to his teacher, nor does a teacher necessarily be more virtuous and talented than his student.

聞道有先后，術(shù)業(yè)有專攻，如是而已。

The real fact is that one might have learned the doctrine earlier than the other, or might be a master in his own special field.

李氏子蟠，年十七，好古文，六藝經(jīng)傳皆通習之，不拘于時，學于余。

Pan, the son of Li's family, who is only seventeen years old, loves to study Chinese classics of the Qin and Han dynasties, and masters the six jing and their annotations. He does not follow conventions and is willing to learn from me.

余嘉其能行古道，作《師說》以貽之。

I appreciate his ability to act in accordance with the old tradition of learning. Therefore I dedicate this piece to him.