Quotes from Mencius

He who loves others is always loved by them, and he who respects others is always respected by them.

To feed men and not to love them is to treat them as if they were barnyard cattle. To love them and not respect them is to treat them as if they were household pets.

The sole concern of learning is to seek one's original heart.

The way of learning is none other than finding the lost mind.

To act without clear understanding, to form habits without investigation, to follow a path all one's life without knowing where it really leads; such is the behavior of the multitude.

Secure property in hand leads to peace in mind.

People can have a long-term life plan only if they know their private property is secure.

Evil exists to glorify the good. Evil is negative good. It is a relative term. Evil can be transmuted into good. What is evil to one at one time, becomes good at another time to somebody else.

When one by force subdues men, they do not submit to him in heart. They submit because their strength is not adequate to resist.

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

The people are the most important element in a nation; the spirits of the land and grain are the next; the sovereign is the least.

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.

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

If the king loves music, there is little wrong in the land.

Truth uttered before its time is dangerous.

The way of truth is like a great road. It is not difficult to know it. The evil is only that men will not seek it.

Sincerity is the way to heaven.

Truth uttered before its time is always dangerous.

The ways are two: love and want of love. That is all.

Only when a man will not do some things is he capable of doing great things.

The great man is he who does not lose his childlike heart.

The great man is he that does not lose his child-heart.

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.

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