Best 97 quotes of Mencius on MyQuotes

A great man is one who has not lost the child's heart.

All people have the common desire to be elevated in honour, but all people have something still more elevated in themselves without knowing it.

All things are already complete in us. There is no greater delight than to be conscious of right within us. If one strives to treat others as he would be treated by them, he shall not fail to come near the perfect life.

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

A small country cannot contend with a great; the few cannot contend with the many; the weak cannot contend with the strong

Benevolence is one of the distinguishing characters of man.

By exhaustively examining one's own mind,one may understand his nature.One who understands his own nature understands Heaven.

Charity is in the heart of man, and righteousness in the path of men. Pity the man who has lost his path and does not follow it and who has lost his heart and does not know how to recover it. When people's dogs and chicks are lost they go out and look for them and yet the people who have lost their hearts do not go out and look for them. The principle of self-cultivation consists in nothing but trying to look for the lost heart.

Every duty is a charge, but the charge of oneself is the root of all others.

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.

Friends are the siblings God never gave us.

Friendship is one mind in two bodies.

Friendship with a man is friendship with his virtue, and does not admit of assumptions of superiority.

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

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

He who loves others is constantly loved by them. He who respects others is constantly respected by them.

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.

He who wishes to be benevolent will not be rich.

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.

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

If the King loves music, it is well with the land.

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

If you know that a thing is unrighteous, then use all dispatch in putting an end to it--why wait till next year?

If you know the point of balance, You can settle the details. If you can settle the details, You can stop running around. Your mind will become calm. If your mind becomes calm, You can think in front of a tiger. If you can think in front of a tiger, You will surely succeed.

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.

If you love men and they are unfriendly, look into your love; if you rule men and they are unruly, look into your wisdom; if you are courteous to them and they do not respond, look into your courtesy. If what you do is vain, always seek within.

In abundance prepare for scarcity.

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

Is it only the mouth and belly which are injured by hunger and thirst? Men's minds are also injured by them.

It is not difficult to govern. All one has to do is not to offend the noble families.

It is true that water will flow indifferently to east and west, but will it flow equally well up and down? Human nature is disposed toward goodness, just as water tends to flow downwards. There is no water but flows downwards, and no man but shows his tendency to be good. Now, by striking water hard, you may splash it higher than your forehead, and by damming it, you may make it go uphill. But, is that the nature of water? It is external force that causes it to do so. Likewise, if a man is made to do what is not good, his nature is being similarly forced.

Kindly words do not enter so deeply into men as a reputation for kindness.

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.

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

Mankind fears an evil man but heaven does not.

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.

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.

Never lose your child's heart.

One who believes all of a book would be better off without books

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

People are eager to comment on something when they themselves are not in the situation of doing it.

Secure property in hand leads to peace in mind.

Sincerity is the way to heaven.

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

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

The best things in life come in threes, like friends, dreams, and memories.

The disease of men is that they neglect their own fields and go to weed the fields of others.

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.

The feeling of right or wrong is the beginning of wisdom.

The five kinds of grains are considered good plants, but if the grains are not ripe, they are worse than cockles. It is the same with regard to kindness, which must grow into maturity.