Mencius

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

"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.""

"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."

"Those who are humane achieve glory. Those who are inhumane suffer disgrace."

"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."

"They who accord with Heaven are preserved, and they who rebel against Heaven perish."

"Before a man can do things there must be things he will not do."

"大人者，不失其赤子之心者也"

"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."

"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."

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

"He who exerts his mind to the utmost knows his nature."

"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."

"民為貴，社稷次之，君為輕。"

"How lamentable is it to neglect the path and not pursue it, to lose the mind and not know to seek it again! When men’s fowls and dogs are lost, they know to seek for them again, but they lose their mind and do not know to seek for it."

"Benevolence brings under its sway whatever hinders its power, just as water subdues fire: they only doubt the power of water to quench flames who try to extinguish with a cupful a whole burning wagon-load of fagots."

"The feeling of distress is the root of benevolence, therefore a benevolent man is ever mindful of those who are suffering and in distress."

"The virtues are not poured into us, they are natural. Seek, and you will find them: neglect, and you will lose them."

"The great end of learning is nothing else but to seek for the lost mind."

"At forty, I had attained the unperturbed mind."

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

"The principles of great men illuminate the universe."

"Never has there been one possessed of complete sincerity who did not move others. Never has there been one who had not sincerity who was able to move others."

"Benevolence is the tranquil habitation of man, and righteousness is his straight path."

"It would be better to be without the Shu-King than to believe every word of it."

"Tsze-Kung asked Confucius, saying, "Master, are you a sage?" Confucius answered him: "A sage is what I cannot rise to. I learn without satiety, and teach without being tired." Tsze-Kung said: "You learn without satiety: that shows your wisdom. You teach without being tired: that shows your benevolence. Benevolent and wise:— Master, you a sage.""

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

"A man with definite aims to be accomplished may be compared to one digging a well. To dig the well to the depth of seventy-two cubits and stop without reachin the spring is, after all, throwing away the well."

"There are many services, but the service of parents is the root of all others. There are many charges, but charge of one’s self is the root of all others."

"The most important development of the Confucian School was in the teachings of Mencius (372–289 B.C.). After the death of Confucius, the teachings were divided into two schools, one of Hsuntse and one of Mencius, the former believing in the wickedness of human nature and the necessity of restraint, and the latter believing in the sheer expansiveness of the good heart of man. Mencius said, "The great man is one who has not lost the heart of a child." He started out from the assumption that man has the innate capacity for good and loves what is good, that it is through corruption that man deteriorates, and that therefore the essence of self-cultivation, of preserving one's moral character, consists merely in "finding the lost heart of the child." This has become the orthodox school. Mencius has been given a place next only to Confucius, and it is common to speak of Confucian doctrines as "the teachings of Kung-Meng," meaning Confucius (Kung) and Mencius (Meng)."