莫不

莫不

1. (literary) there is no one who doesn't; there was no one who didn't

   • 是故懷戚者聞之，莫不憯懍慘悽，愀愴傷心。 [MSC, trad.]
     是故怀戚者闻之，莫不憯懔惨凄，愀怆伤心。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 《琴賦》(A Composition on the Qin) by Ji Kang (223–262); 1941 translation by Robert van Gulik

     Shìgù huái qī zhě wén zhī, mòbù cǎnlǐn cǎnqī, qiǎochuàng shāngxīn. [Pinyin]

     If the downcast hear this music, they will all be sorrowful and pained, grief will wound their hearts, and they cannot refrain from mournful wails.

   • 故上悖日月之明，下爍山川之精，中墮四時之施，惴耎之蟲，肖翹之物，莫不失其性。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
     故上悖日月之明，下烁山川之精，中堕四时之施，惴耎之虫，肖翘之物，莫不失其性。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]

     From: Zhuangzi, circa 3^rd – 2^nd centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Gù shàng bèi rìyuè zhī míng, xià shuò shānchuān zhī jīng, zhōng duò sìshí zhī shī, zhuìnuò zhī chóng, xiàoqiào zhī wù, mòbù shī qí xìng. [Pinyin]

     It is just as if, above, the brightness of the sun and moon were darkened; as if, beneath, the productive vigour of the hills and streams were dried up; and as if, between, the operation of the four seasons were brought to an end: in which case there would not be a single weak and wriggling insect, nor any plant that grows up, which would not lose its proper nature.