“攻乎异端，斯害也已！” explained!
As I was writing this article in September 2025, a recent event that happened in the United States and continued to unfold had deeply disturbed people around the world. A prominent political activist was shot dead on a university campus.
This was not the first case, only the latest in a long list of unsettling events. It is not only in the United States either. Many other Western countries have had their own heartbreaking moments.
From frequent verbal abuse online to one after another instance of physical violence in the streets, it is clear that people are inadvertently and deeply bogged down in a culture war of everyone against everyone.
Outwardly, there are countless ways to label people, political labels, biological labels, social labels, religious labels, ideological labels, ethnic labels, class labels, immigration status labels, national labels, sexual labels, and many more. Inwardly, the bitterness tied to these labels gives everyone ample reasons to attack others while simultaneously exposing them to attack.
The results are devastating.
This makes Confucius's teachings from over 2,500 years ago strikingly relevant today: 攻乎异端，斯害也已！“Attacking those who hold different views is itself a great harm!”
异端
It does not mean 'evil doctrine' or 'heresy' in a religious sense. Instead, it simply refers to beliefs, opinions, stances, or views that differ from our own. The literal translation is “the other end”.
攻
Attack. Criticise.
This is a behaviour full of hostility, intended to humiliate, hurt or embarrass.
斯害也已
This attacking in itself is a harm, a damage, and a destruction.
Stop attacking, stop the harm.
The doom loop
The core message of this quote is not about whether or not these 异端 are right or wrong. The focus is on the act of “attacking” itself.
Confucius pointed out that elevating different viewpoints into opposing camps and resorting to personal attacks causes far more severe damage to society than the differences in opinions ever could.
The first example. In multi-party political systems, people vote against each other just for the sake of opposing each other. The quality of policies becomes second. The goal of “attacking” is not to find the truth or some practical solutions to existing challenges. It is solely to discredit the other side and to grab power. This leads to a malfunctioning government and a paralysed system. The entire country becomes the victim.
Another example. Identity politics started out as a way to pursue social equality, such as equal access to universities, business opportunities, or jobs. But it is gradually devolved into another form of 攻乎异端. Discrimination and reverse discrimination exist at the same time. New social injustice springs up constantly.
Because people are divided into myriad niches, one specific niche group often foster internal identity by attacking “the opposite” side. Thus, people grow angry at society while feeling compelled to defend themselves from it.
Nobody is free from this doom loop.
Social media platforms have exacerbated the situation. Anger generates engagement, outrage drives online traffic, and societal division fuels profits. Algorithms trap us in our own echo chambers, magnifying hostility.
Conclusion
We must stop the attacks in order to stop the harm these attacks bring upon us. We need to understand that we have our differences, and our differences are no justification for attacking one another.
攻乎异端，斯害也已！This is a stark warning against this social ill. When internal members of a society spend a massive amount of energy and time to attack one another, this society will not become stronger. It will consume itself and weaken.
This isn't just a Western issue, either. For instance, in Asia, different online clashes echo the same harms. It shows Confucius's wisdom is timeless and universal.
Extending this further, the quote also warns nations worldwide. Countries are different from one another. Don’t attack one other for political, ideological or any other kind of differences. Instead, respect and understand these differences.
Confucius invites us to embrace this ancient social wisdom: abandon culture wars and accommodate others who are different from us.
Dive Deeper
This article is part of an e-course, The Self: 5 Lessons from Confucius for Cultivating Inner Peace in a Noisy World, which uses quotes from The Analects to help us anchor and develop ourselves in the fluctuating digital world.
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