The book "Mencius" has seven chapters. It is a collection of Mencius' remarks during the Warring States Period. It records Mencius's debates with other schools of thought, his words and deeds to his disciples, his lobbying of the princes, etc. The following is my collection The famous aphorisms from Mencius, I hope it will be helpful to you!
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 use one's will against one's will is to gain it.
5. If you say that you are a great person, you will despise it, but do not look down upon its majesty.
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 it.
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 sends down people to be 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 everything you can 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 pleasures, 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 thieve benevolence are called "thieves", and those who thieve 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.
20. 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, and deplete his heart. Benefit from what it cannot do.
21. Those who have gained the right will get many help, but those who have lost the right will have little help. When there is little help, relatives will be there; when there is much help, the world will follow.
22. By changing the fields and reducing taxes, the people can become rich.
23. 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 his fellow countrymen; if his ministers regard his ministers as earth and mustard, then his ministers will regard him as such. foe.
24. Right, then you know the severity; degree, then you know the length.
25. If you don’t follow the rules, you won’t be able to form a circle.
26. The people are the most important, the country is the second most important, and the king is the least important.
27. Those who enjoy the happiness of the people will also enjoy their happiness; those who care about the worries of the people will also worry about their worries.
28. Born in sorrow and died in happiness.
29. Everyone can be Yao and Shun.
30. Those who love others will always be loved by others; those who respect others will always be respected by others.
31. A respectful person will not insult others, and a thrifty person will not take away from others.
32. For a five-acre house with mulberry trees, a person in his fifties can wear silk. Chickens, dolphins, dogs, and pigs are all animals that have not lost their season. Those who are seventy years old can eat meat. If you do not take away a hundred acres of land, then a family of eight will not be hungry. I sincerely follow the teachings of Xiangxu, apply the meaning of filial piety and brotherhood, and award the white ones to live up to the road.
33. If the farming season is not violated, the grain will not be enough to eat; if a few grains of grain are not brought into the pond, the fish and turtles will not be enough to eat; if the ax weighs a pound of ax and enters the forest at the right time, the timber will not be enough to be used. The grain, fish and turtles cannot be eaten, and the wood cannot be used, so that the people can live and die without regret.
34. If you are not ashamed, why should you be like a human being?
35. A gentleman does not complain about heaven or others.
36. If the king is benevolent, he will be invincible in the world.
37. Fight for land and kill people to fill the fields; fight for cities and kill people to fill the city. This so-called taking advantage of the land and cannibalizing human flesh is a crime not punishable by death.
38. Fish is what I want, and bear’s paws are also what I want; you cannot have both, and you would give up fish and take bear’s paws. Life is what I want, and righteousness is what I want. You cannot have both, and you have to sacrifice life for righteousness.
39. Wealth and honor cannot lead to adultery, poverty and lowliness cannot change, and power cannot yield. This is called a true man.
40. Respect the virtuous and enable the capable, and the heroes will reign.
41. It is better to have no books than to believe in all the books.
42. In a prosperous year, the children will be many and unlucky; in an unlucky 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.
43. Kindness brings honor, while unkindness brings disgrace.
44. The three treasures of princes are: land, people, and political affairs. If you have jewels and jade, disaster will surely come to you.
45. A wise ruler will control the people's property so that they can serve their parents and their wives, and they will be full in happy years and avoid death in bad years.
46. It is not benevolent to kill someone without sin, and it is not righteous to take something that does not exist.
47. When Jie and Zhou lost the world, they also lost their people; when they lost their people, they lost their hearts.
There is a way to win the world: if you win its people, you will win the world; if you win its people, you will win the world; if you win their hearts, you will win the people; if you win their hearts, you will have a way: gather with them what you want, and do not do to them what you want.
48. There is fat meat in the kitchen, fat horses in the stables, the people are hungry, and there are hungry people in the wild. This is how the beasts eat people.
49. People do not do anything, and then they can do something.
50. Don’t be good at keeping one’s desires in mind.
51. Those who advance sharply will retreat quickly.
52. Those who abuse themselves cannot be talked to; those who abandon themselves cannot be talked to.
53. Those who seek happiness and misfortune by themselves.
54. Do not rely on elders, do not rely on nobles, do not rely on brothers but make friends.
55. The organ of the heart is thinking, thinking is what you get, and if you don’t think, you can’t get it.
56. 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 destroy itself, and then others will destroy it.