Mencius Quotes

“So I like life and I like righteousness; if I cannot keep the two together, I will let life go and choose righteousness.”

“Incessant falls teach men to reform, and distress rouses their strength. Life springs from calamity, and death from ease.”

“The regular path of virtue is to be pursued without any bend, and from no view to emolument.”

“Try your best to treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself, and you will find that this is the shortest way to benevolence”

“There is a power in everything; it is the job of the artist to determine it and express it.”

“Water indeed will flow indifferently to the east or west, but will it flow indifferently up or down? The tendency of our nature to good is like the tendency of water to flow downwards. There are none but have this tendency to good, just as all water flows downward.”

“He who outrages benevolence is called a ruffian: he who outrages righteousness is called a villain. I have heard of the cutting off of the villain Chow, but I have not heard of the putting of a ruler to death.”

“Never has a man who has bent himself been able to make others straight.”

“Those who follow the part of themselves which is great are great men; those who follow the part which is little are little men.”

“A small country cannot contend with a great; the few cannot contend with the many; the weak cannot contend with the strong”

“Benevolence is one of the distinguishing characters of man.”

“The five kinds of grains are considered good plants, but if the grains are not ripe, they are worse than cockles. It is the same with regard to kindness, which must grow into maturity.”

“Is it only the mouth and belly which are injured by hunger and thirst? Men's minds are also injured by them.”

“If the prince of a State love benevolence, he will have no opponent in all the empire.”

“The feeling of right or wrong is the beginning of wisdom.”

“To lay hold of the mean without taking into account the occasion is like grasping one thing only.”

“A man must not be without shame, for the shame of being without shame is shamelessness indeed.”

“The root of the kingdom is in the state. The root of the state is in the family. The root of the family is in the person of its head.”

“The feeling of compassion is the beginning of humanity.”

“A real man is he whose goodness is a part of himself.”

“Friendship is one mind in two bodies.”

“I like fish, and I also like bear's paws. If I cannot have the two together, I will let the fish go, and take the bear's paws. So, I like life, and I also like righteousness. If I cannot keep the two together, I will let life go, and choose righteousness.”

“If you love men and they are unfriendly, look into your love; if you rule men and they are unruly, look into your wisdom; if you are courteous to them and they do not respond, look into your courtesy. If what you do is vain, always seek within.”

“Let not a man do what his sense of right bids him not to do, nor desire what it forbids him to desire. This is sufficient. The skillful artist will not alter his measures for the sake of a stupid workman.”

“All things are already complete in us. There is no greater delight than to be conscious of right within us. If one strives to treat others as he would be treated by them, he shall not fail to come near the perfect life.”