Mencius Quotes - Page 2

I dislike death, however, there are some things I dislike more than death. Therefore, there are times when I will not avoid danger.

He who attends to his greater self becomes a great man, and he who attends to his smaller self becomes a small man.

The great person never loses a childlike spirit.

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

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.

Listen to a man's words and look at the pupil of his eye. How can a man conceal his character?

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.

There is the work of great men and there is the work of little men. Therefore it is said, 'Some labor with their minds and some labor with their strength. Those who labor with their minds govern others; those who labor with their strength are governed by others.'1 Those who are governed by others support them; those who govern them are supported by them. This is a universal principle.

A man must not be without shame, for the shame of being without shame is shamelessness indeed.

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.

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

Never lose your child's heart.

The Way lies at hand yet it is sought afar off; the thing lies in the easy yet it is sought in the difficult.

When Heaven is about to confer a great office upon you, it first exercises your mind with suffering and your sinews and bones with toil.

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.

Where it is permissible both to die and not to die, it is an abuse of valour to die.

Sincerity is the way to heaven; to think how to be sincere is the way of man.

He who goes to the bottom of his own heart knows his own nature; And knowing his own nature, he knows heaven.

The way of truth is like a great highway. It is not hard to find.

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.

So I like life and I like righteousness; if I cannot keep the two together, I will let life go and choose righteousness.

Sincerity is the way to heaven.

Only those who develop their minds and spirits to the utmost can serve Heaven and fulfill their own destinies.

The Tao is near and people seek it far away.