100 Famous Sayings by Mencius

1. Confucius climbed to Mount Dong and made Lu small; climbed Mount Tai and made the world small.

2. If you are poor, you will be good for yourself; if you are ambitious, you will be good for the world.

3. I am old, I am old, and I am old, and I am young, and I am young, and I am young.

4. The most important thing for people to know each other is to know each other. The most important thing for people to know each other is to understand each other.

5. Wang Zhifu Miaohu? If there is a drought between July and August, the seedlings will be weak, the sky will be cloudy, and it will rain, and the seedlings will flourish. If it is like this, who can control it?

6. If you are not ashamed and inferior to others, how can you be like a human being?

7. Mencius said that he would order his ministers and common people to abandon their benevolence and righteousness first, and to seek self-interest first, and not to kill each other, so they would not be able to satisfy themselves. If you say it, you will kill and seize.

8. It is not benevolent to kill someone without sin, and it is not righteous to take something that does not exist.

9. Then the world will return, harming the people with government, the people will enjoy their death, and subduing the strong with stilts, which is benevolent and unbenevolent.

10. In a prosperous year, the children will be many and unlucky; in a bad year, the children will be many and violent. This is not because of talent sent from heaven, but because of the indulgence in one's heart.

11. Without rules, there is no way to make a circle.

12. Benevolence is better than unkindness, just like water is better than fire. Nowadays, a person who is benevolent is like using a cup of water to save a load of fire. If it is not extinguished, it is said that water cannot overcome the fire. This is also the case with those who are unkind, and they will eventually perish.

13. Benevolence, justice, propriety and wisdom are not external to me, they are inherent in me.

14. Without rules, it is impossible to build a square garden.

15. Why should the king talk about profit? It is just benevolence and righteousness.

16. There are fat horses in the stables, the people are hungry, and there are hungry weeds in the wild. They lead the beasts to eat people.

17. Chickens, dolphins, dogs and pigs are animals that have not lost their season. People who are seventy years old can eat meat.

18. It is better to have no book at all than to believe in the book.

19. When you look at King Xiang from a distance, he does not look like a human king, and you say that there is no one with the majesty and dignity of a king; when you approach him and you don’t see anything to fear, you say that there is no one with the power of a king to control you.

20. 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.

21. This statement is intended to make future generations search deeply for its meaning in order to understand its text, and it is not only applied to the "Poetry". Nowadays, interpreters often adopt and explain it, and their explanations are often eccentric and different.

22. There are five reasons why a gentleman teaches: those who are transformed by timely rain, those who become virtuous, those who achieve wealth, those who answer questions, and those who are private and courteous. These five are what the gentleman teaches.

23. King Wen’s territory is seventy miles away. Those who eat cud and grass can go as far as they can, and those who avoid pheasants can go as far as they can. It is the same as the people. The people think it is small, which is not appropriate.

24. The wife must insult herself, and then others will insult her; the family must destroy herself, and then others will destroy it; the country must cut down on itself, and then others will cut down on it.

25. A gentleman is always kind to others.

26. I heard that within Jiaoguan, there is an area of ??forty miles, and killing the elk there is like committing murder.

27. If I want to bring peace to the world, who else can I do in this world?

28. Only benevolent people can think of big things as small things. This is the story of Tang and Ge, and King Wen of Kunyi.

29. The king regards his ministers as brothers and sisters, and the ministers regard him as his parents; the king regards his ministers as grass and grass, and the ministers regard him as the enemy.

30. Wealth and honor cannot lead to adultery, poverty and lowliness cannot change, and power cannot yield. This is called a true man.

31. A place of hundreds of miles can be king.

32. Therefore, when Heaven is about to entrust a person with a great responsibility, he must first strain his mind and will, strain his muscles and bones, starve his body and skin, deplete his heart, and disturb his actions. Benefit from what it cannot do.

33. Respect the teachings of Xiangxu, apply the meaning of filial piety and brotherhood, and award the white ones to live up to the road.

34. Mencius retreated from Qi and Liang Dynasties and wrote about the ways of Yao and Shun. This great sage imitated the sage and was the author.

35. The only thing that determines the world is benevolent government.

36. Mencius asked the king: Now there is a warrior, and the weapons have been handed over. The loser abandons his armor and drags his troops away, stopping at fifty paces. Is it enough to laugh at a hundred paces?

37. When he seizes his people, he will not be able to cultivate their land to support their parents. Their parents will be cold and hungry, and their brothers and wives will be separated. He is drowning his people, and the king goes to conquer them. Who can be the enemy of the king?

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

39. Born in sorrow and died in happiness.

40. A gentleman maintains his integrity and cultivates his body and the world is at peace.

41. So he admired Zhongni and worried about the world, so he traveled among the princes with Confucianism and Taoism to help the people. However, because he refused to look for it in vain, the king at that time said that he was too broad-minded and too broad-minded to deal with matters, but in the end he could not be listened to.

42. Wealth and honor cannot lead to adultery, poverty and lowliness cannot move, and power cannot yield.

43. It is used because it resembles a person. This is why the people of Sri Lanka died of hunger.

44. Yang Zi takes it for me, plucking a hair and benefiting the world, it is not for that. Mozi loved all, worked hard to benefit the world, and did so.

45. The heart of compassion is the root of benevolence; the heart of shame and disgust is the root of righteousness; the heart of resignation is the root of courtesy; the heart of right and wrong is the root of wisdom.

46. Those who abuse themselves cannot be talked to; those who abandon themselves cannot be talked to.

47. The Master said, I feel very close to my heart.

48. Grain is a beautiful plant. It is not as good as catkins because it is not ripe. Furen is just about being familiar with it.

49. Father and son are related, monarch and ministers have friendship, husband and wife are separated, elders and children are in order, and friends have trust.

50. Having fun alone or having fun with others, which one is happy?

51. I know my words and I am good at cultivating my awe-inspiring spirit.

52. If the king knows this, it is not enough to laugh at him, and the king’s government is still like this. Although the king has good governance of immigrating to millet, his warlike and remnant people are the same as those of neighboring countries, but the number of people alone is so different. Fifty steps laugh at a hundred steps.

53. 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.

54. I am good at cultivating the awe-inspiring spirit.

55. The empty words I want to entrust are not as profound and clear as the actions contained in them.

56. Therefore, when Heaven is about to entrust a person with a great responsibility, he must first strain his mind and will, strain his muscles and bones, starve his body and skin, deplete his body, and mess up his actions. Therefore, if he is tempted to endure, he has Benefit from what it cannot do.

57. Those who enjoy the people's happiness will also enjoy their happiness; those who worry about the people's worries will also worry about their worries. He is happy with the world and worried about the world. However, there is no one who is not a king.

58. If you don’t follow the rules, you won’t be able to make a circle.

59. 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.

60. The benevolent are invincible.

61. When the king is innocent, all the people in the world are here.

62. Those who speak poetry should not harm their words with words, nor harm their aspirations with words. To use one's will against one's will is to gain it.

63. The one who created the figurines has no descendants.

64. If you are poor, you can help yourself; if you are rich, you can help the world.

65. Mencius said, "How can I prevent Zang's son from meeting me?" Will contract, if this is the case.

66. When I am old, I am old and people are old; when I am young, I am young and people are young.

67. If you respect the virtuous and enable the capable, and if the heroes are in power, then all the people in the world will be happy and willing to serve in your dynasty.

68. Take a thousand out of ten thousand, take out a hundred out of a thousand, don’t get too much.

69. A gentleman has three pleasures, but the king of the world does not share them. Having both parents and brothers without any reason is one kind of happiness; to look up to Heaven and not be ashamed of others is the second kind of happiness; to get the world's talented people and educate them is the third kind of happiness.

70. To nourish the heart, don’t be good at having few desires.

71. After filling up the drum, the weapon is connected, abandoning the armor and dragging the soldiers away, maybe stopping after a hundred steps, or stopping after fifty steps. What if you take fifty steps and laugh at a hundred steps?

72. Just as a thousand chariots capture ten thousand chariots, a hundred chariots capture a thousand chariots, and then you are full.

73. Dogs eat human food without knowing how to detect it;

74. He who promised to rule the world was just a benevolent government. He was not greedy for killing people, and people were returned to their own country. This is why King Wen regarded the people as if they were injured. This is what he said.

75. There are those who conquer the country without benevolence; there are those who conquer the world without benevolence.

76. The propriety of the wind and the righteous words of Erya can be said to be straight but not arrogant, crooked but not yielding, and they are also the great talents of the world's sub-sages.

77. Fish is what I want.

Bear's paw is what I want. You can't have both, it's like giving up the fish for the bear's paw. Life is what I want. Righteousness is what I want. You can't have both, you have to sacrifice your life for righteousness.

78. In a country of ten thousand chariots, the one who kills its king will surely have a house of ten thousand chariots. In a country of a thousand chariots, the one who kills its king will surely have a house of a hundred chariots.

79. For a five-acre house with mulberry trees, a person in his fifties can wear silk.

80. The way of communication is also used, and the reception is also based on courtesy.

81. Nothing is better than the eyes. The eyes cannot hide the evil. If the chest is regular, the eyes will be clear; if the chest is irregular, the eyes will be dim. Listening to his words and looking at his eyes, how can he be thin?

82. Mencius said that there is no one who abandons his relatives out of benevolence, and there is no one who abandons his king out of righteousness.

83. When the cock crows and rises, its breeding is good, this is Shun's disciple; If you want to know the difference between Shun and Zhi, there is no other way but between benefit and goodness.

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

85. With power, you will know the importance, and with degree, you will know the length. This is true for all things, and the heart is very deep.

86. A wise man will be happy with this. Even if an unworthy person has this, he will not be happy.

87. Born with a virtuous nature, he lost his father when he was young. He was taught by his loving mother three times at a young age. He learned from Confucius’s grandson Si, who taught him the way of Confucianism.

88. An adult is one who does not lose his innocent heart.

89. Without regular distance, it cannot form a square member (circle). Without the six rhythms, the five tones cannot be corrected.

90. If the king regards his ministers as his hands and feet, then his ministers will regard him as his heart; if his ministers regard his ministers as dogs and horses, then his ministers will regard him as a countryman; if his ministers regard his ministers as earth and mustard, then his ministers will regard him as their own. Like a bandit.

91. If the king and the people enjoy themselves together, then he is king.

92. Only the wise will enjoy this ear. It is said that if you practice the way of Yao and Shun, the country will be peaceful, so you will feel happy to have this. Unvirtuous people will lose their country and destroy their family. Even if they have this, they will be robbed by others, so they cannot be happy.

93. If animals eat each other, and people hate it, they are the parents of the people. The government cannot avoid leading the beasts and cannibalizing people. The evil is because they are the parents of the people.

94. Right, then determine the severity; degree, then know the length.

95. King Hui now asks me, "How can I benefit my country?" Then the king's officials will ask me, "How can I benefit my family?" Why benefit me?

96. If the king is very happy, then Qi will have almost no common people.

97. Therefore, when Heaven is about to entrust this person with a great responsibility, he must first strain his mind and will, strain his muscles and bones, starve his body and skin, deplete his body, and mess up his actions, so his heart and mind are tempted. Gain what it cannot.

98. Those who gain the right will get many help, while those who lose the right will get little help. When there is little help, relatives will be there; when there is much help, the world will follow.

99. A gentleman has benevolence in his heart and etiquette in his heart. A benevolent person loves others, a polite person respects others. Those who love others will always be loved by others, and those who respect others will always be respected by others.

100. Fish is what I want; bear paws are what I want. You can't have both, it's like giving up the fish for the bear's paw. Life is what I want; righteousness is what I want. You can't have both, you have to sacrifice your life for righteousness.