A supposedly virtuous man who pretends to do good deeds is no better than a selfish scoundrel.
When a virtuous man abandons his moral principles, he is not worth as much as a mean person who has turned over a new leaf.
君子而诈善，无异小人之肆恶；君子而改节，不及小人之自新。
Notes
Hypocrisy corrodes nobility
When a “gentleman” performs good deeds deceptively, it equals the moral harm of a villain’s unrestrained evil. True nobility demands authenticity — aligning actions with conscience, not using virtue to mask ignoble motives.
Betrayal vs. Redemption
A moral exemplar who abandons integrity inflicts deeper societal damage than a repentant wrongdoer. The latter’s humility in transformation outweighs the former’s broken covenant with virtue.
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