Mencius Quotes

All tongues savor the same flavors, all ears hear the same music, and all eyes see the same beauty.

The great man is he who does not lose his child's-heart.

The great man does not think beforehand of his words that they may be sincere, nor of his actions that they may be resolute; — he simply speaks and does what is right.

If a man does great deeds, then amongst his descendants in generations to come there will be one who will become a true King. All a gentleman can do in starting an enterprise is to leave behind a tradition which can be carried on. Heaven alone can grant success. What can you do about [your endeavours]? You can only try your best to do good.

It’s simple: To say anything about the nature of things, you must attend to the facts, facts in their original form. The trouble with knowledge is that it keeps chiseling things away.

If someone stops where they should not, they’ll stop anywhere. If someone slights a person they should treat generously, they’ll slight anyone. And if someone races ahead, they retreat in a hurry.

We live, not as we wish to, but as we can.

There are things a person wants more than life and there are also things he or she loathes more than death.

As for the people, if they lack a constant livelihood, it follows that they will lack a constant heart. No one who lacks a constant heart will avoid dissipation and evil. When they thereupon sink into crime, to go and punish the people is to trap them.

They agree with the current customs. They consent with an impure age. Their principles have a semblance of right-heartedness and truth. Their conduct has a semblance of disinterestedness and purity. All men are pleased with them, and they think themselves right, but you cannot enter into the Way of Yao and Shun with them. For this reason they are called “The thieves of virtue.

Friends are the siblings God never gave us.

Je lepší nemít žádné knihy, než věřit všemu, co je v nich napsáno.

When someone dies, You say, ‘It wasn’t me. It was due to the harvest.’ How is this different from killing someone by stabbing him and saying, ‘It wasn’t me. It was due to the weapon’? If Your Majesty does not blame the harvest, then the people of the world will come to You.

when people put profit before righteousness, they cannot be satisfied without grasping for more.

La amistad es una mente en dos cuerpos.