Mencius Quotes
Friendship is one mind in two bodies.
Men must be decided on what they will not do, and then they are able to act with vigor in what they ought to do.
We survive on adversity and perish in ease and comfort.
Never has a man who has bent himself been able to make others straight.
If the king loves music, there is little wrong in the land.
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.
Truth uttered before its time is always dangerous.
He who soars not, suffers not by a fall.
He who attends to his greater self becomes a great man, and he who attends to his smaller self becomes a small man.
Dig your well before you are thirsty.
Only he who has studied his mental constitution knows his nature; knowing his nature, he knows Heaven.
To nourish the heart there is nothing better than to make the desires few. Here is a man whose desires are few; in some things he may not be able to keep his heart, but they will be few. Here is a man whose desires are many; in some things he may be able to keep his heart, but they will be few.
He whose goodness is part of himself, is what is called a real man.
In abundance prepare for scarcity.
To be incorruptible by riches or honours, unchangeable by poverty. These I call, the qualities of a great man.
Man does not live by experience alone, but by transcending experience.
Kindly words do not enter so deeply into men as a reputation for kindness.
Human nature is good, just as water seeks low ground. There is no man who is not good, just as there is no water that does not flow downward.
The wise embrace all knowledge, but they are most earnest about what is of the greatest importance.
When men die of famine, you say it is the season that is to blame. What does this differ from saying, when you have caused a man's death. "It was not I, but the weapon"?
The labor of duty is easy, yet men seek it in what is difficult.
Friends are the siblings God never gave us.
The Way of Learning is nothing other than seeking the lost mind.
Variant: The object of learning is nothing else but to seek for the lost mind.
Variant: The end of wisdom is to seek the lost mind.
What is whispered in the ear is heard miles away.
A real man is one whose goodness is a part of himself. Of the qualities of the sage, none is greater than that of being a helper of men to right Living. He is ashamed of a reputation beyond his desert. Having found the right way within himself, he rests in it, firm and serene, holding intimate converse with it, and reaching to its fountain-head. He obeys the right and waits for the appointed. His words are plain and simple, yet of widest bearing. His aim is self culture, yet it gives peace to all men.
The wise place virtue in thought.
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 you have not passed the bitterness of starvation, you know not the blessings of abundance; if not through the parting of death, you know not the joy of unbroken union; if not through calamity, the pleasure of security; if not through storms, the Luxury of calm.
There is no greater delight than to be conscious of sincerity on self-examination.
Act with kindness, but do not exact gratitude. Give by day, and your reward shall spring by night.
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.
Sincerity is the way of Heaven.
Think reasonably, be strong for virtue, Lean on humanity, and in all things be content.
The path of duty lies in what is near, and men seek for it in what is remote; the work of duty lies in what is easy, and men seek for it in what is difficult.
To help another helps yourself.
How Long can the opening flower keep its bloom?
All things are already complete in us. There is no greater delight than to be conscious of right within us. If one strive to . treat others as he would be treated by them, he shall not fail to come near the perfect life. Every duty is a charge, but the charge of oneself is the root of all others. The disease of men is to neglect their own fields and go to weeding those of others, to exact much from others and Lay Light burdens on themselves.
Men expect by their own darkness to enlighten others. The artisan may give a man compass and square, but he cannot make him skillful in the use of them.
He who seeks to be rich will not be benevolent. He who wishes to be benevolent will not be rich.
The wise questions himself, the fool others.
To dwell in the wide house of the world; to stand in true attitude therein; to walk in the wide path of men; in success, to share one's principles with the people; in failure, to Live them out alone; to be incorruptible by riches or honors, unchangeable by poverty, unmoved by perils or power, — these I call the qualities of a great man.
We live, not as we wish to, but as we can.
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.
Great is the man who has not lost his childlike heart.
Variant: The great man is he who does not lose his child's-heart