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Mencius
14 quotes
“If the king loves music, there is little wrong in the land.”
Mencius (372–289 BC) said by 289 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Discourses, as quoted in "I Want to Know!" by Ivan Gogol Esipoff, The Etude, Vol. LXIII, No. 9 (September 1945), p. 496
“Mencius went to see King Huei of Liang. The king said, "Venerable sir, since you have not counted it far to come here, a distance of a thousand li, may I presume that you are provided with counsels to profit my kingdom?" Mencius replied, "Why must your Majesty use that word "profit"? What I am provided with, are counsels to benevolence and righteousness, and these are my only topics.”
Mencius (372–289 BC) said by 289 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Book 1, part 1, as translated by James Legge in The Life and Works of Mencius (1875), p. 124<!--. Variant translation:
“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.”
Mencius (372–289 BC) said by 289 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 1B:8, In relation to righteousness and the overthrow of the tyrannous King Zhou of Shang, as translated by Sir Robert Kennaway Douglas, China (1904), p. 8
“Those who are humane achieve glory. Those who are inhumane suffer disgrace.”
Mencius (372–289 BC) said by 289 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The feeling of commiseration is the beginning of humanity; the feeling of shame and dislike is the beginning of righteousness; the feeling of deference and compliance is the beginning of propriety; and the feeling of right or wrong is the beginning of wisdom. Men have these Four Beginnings just as they have their four limbs. Having these Four Beginnings, but saying that they cannot develop them is to destroy themselves.”
Mencius (372–289 BC) said by 289 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 2A:6, as translated by Wing-tsit Chan in A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (1963), p. 65
“They who accord with Heaven are preserved, and they who rebel against Heaven perish.”
Mencius (372–289 BC) said by 289 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Before a man can do things there must be things he will not do.”
Mencius (372–289 BC) said by 289 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Book 4, part 2, v. 8, as translated by John T. McNeill, A History of the Cure of Souls (New York: Harper & Bros, 1951), p. 59
“If you let people follow their feelings, they will be able to do good. This is what is meant by saying that human nature is good.”
Mencius (372–289 BC) said by 289 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The sense of mercy is found in all men; the sense of shame is found in all men; the sense of respect is found in all men; the sense of right and wrong is found in all men.”
Mencius (372–289 BC) said by 289 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The way of learning is none other than finding the lost mind.”
Mencius (372–289 BC) said by 289 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 6A:11, as translated by Wing-tsit Chan in A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (1963), p. 58
“He who exerts his mind to the utmost knows his nature.”
Mencius (372–289 BC) said by 289 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 7A:1, as translated by Wing-tsit Chan in A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (1963), p. 62
“The superior man has three things in which he delights, and to be ruler over the kingdom is not one of them. That his father and mother are both alive, and that the condition of his brothers affords no cause for anxiety;—this is one delight. That, when looking up, he has no occasion for shame before Heaven, and, below, he has no occasion to blush before men;—this is a second delight. That he can get from the whole kingdom the most talented individuals, and teach and nourish them;—this is the third delight.”
Mencius (372–289 BC) said by 289 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 7A:20, as translated by James Legge in The Chinese Classics, Vol. II (1861), p. 335
“民為貴，社稷次之，君為輕。”
Mencius (372–289 BC) said by 289 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“大人者，不失其赤子之心者也”
Mencius (372–289 BC) said by 289 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source