Sharing excerpts of Mencius’ famous aphorisms 1

1. The benevolent are invincible.

2. The wise are in office and the capable are in office.

3. When we are old, we are in harmony with others; when we are young, we are in harmony with others.

4. Those who speak poetry should not harm their words with words, nor harm their aspirations with words. To achieve it is to use your will against your will.

5. If you say that you are a great person, you will despise it, but do not regard it as majestic.

6. Civil matters cannot be postponed.

7. The weather is not as good as the right place, and the right place is not as good as the people.

8. Only benevolent people should be in high positions. Being unkind and holding a high position is spreading evil to others.

9. To protect the people and become king, no one can control them.

10. Although there are things that are easy to grow in the world, if they are violent in one day and cold in ten days, nothing can survive.

11. Save penalties, reduce taxes, and make farming easier.

12. If you are poor, you will be good for yourself; if you are rich, you will be good for the world.

13. Heaven descends upon the people to serve as kings and teachers, only to say that they are helped by God and favored by them.

14. Those who have permanent property have perseverance, and those who do not have perseverance have no perseverance. If you don't have perseverance, you will do anything to ward off evil spirits.

15. If the emperor is unkind, he will not protect the world; if the princes are unkind, he will not protect the country; if the ministers and officials are unkind, they will not protect the ancestral temple; if the scholars and common people are unkind, they will not protect the four bodies.

16. If a king is benevolent, he will never be unkind; if a king is righteous, he will never be unjust; if he is upright, he will never be unjust.

17. A promising person is like digging a well. If the well is dug nine times and fails to reach the spring, it is like abandoning the well.

18. A gentleman has three kinds of happiness, but the king of the world does not share them. Having both parents and brothers without any reason is one kind of happiness; looking up to Heaven and not being ashamed of others is the second kind of happiness; being able to educate the talented people from all over the world is the third kind of happiness.

19. Those who rebel against benevolence are called "thieves", and those who rebel against righteousness are called "crippling". Those who are crippled thieves are called "one husband". I have heard of the execution of one husband, Zhou, but I have not heard of regicide.