This is a sentence said by Mencius, from "Mencius: Devoting Your Mind to the Heart".

(1) If you don’t follow the rules, you won’t be able to form a circle.

Without compasses and rulers, squares and circles cannot be drawn correctly.

(2) Right, then determine the severity; degree, then know the length.

Only when the translation is weighed can one know its importance; only by measuring it can one know its length.

(3) People do not do anything, and then they can do something.

The translator must not do anything before he can do something.

(4) 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.

Translation Even if there is a plant that is the easiest to grow, if it is exposed to the sun for one day and then frozen for ten days, it will not grow again.

(5) Those who advance sharply will retreat quickly.

Those who move forward too quickly will retreat too quickly.

(6) The organ of the heart is thinking, and thinking is what you get, and if you don’t think, you can’t get it.

Translation: The organ of the heart is responsible for thinking. Only by thinking can we obtain, but without thinking we cannot obtain.

(7) Born in sorrow and died in happiness.

Translation: Sorrow and suffering are enough to make people survive, and comfort and happiness are enough to make people die.

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

Translation Only benevolent people with high moral standards should be in a dominant position. If an unkind person with low morals is in a dominant position, his evil will be spread to the masses.

(9) 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.

Translation: If the emperor is not benevolent, he cannot preserve his empire; if the princes are not benevolent, they cannot preserve their country; if ministers and officials are not benevolent, they cannot preserve their ancestral temples; if ordinary people are not benevolent, they cannot preserve their own country. Body.

(10) If the king is benevolent, he will be invincible in the world.

Translation: If the monarch of a country loves benevolence, there will be no rivals in the world.

(11) Save penalties, reduce taxes, and make farming easier (n^u).

The translation reduces penalties and reduces taxes, so that people can cultivate deeply and carefully and get rid of filthy weeds early.

(12) The benevolent are invincible.

Translation: A virtuous person is invincible in the world.

(13) For a five-acre house with mulberry trees, a person in his fifties can wear silk clothes. Chickens, dolphins, dogs, and pigs will not lose 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 and apply the meaning of filial piety and brotherhood. Those who are awarded white will live up to the road.

Translation: Each family is given five acres of land to live in, and mulberry trees are planted around it. Then, people over fifty years old can wear silk cotton-padded jackets. Domestic animals such as chickens, dogs, and pigs have the power to raise and reproduce. Then, people over the age of seventy will have meat to eat. The family gave him one hundred acres of land and did not hinder his production, so that the family of eight could have enough to eat. Run schools at all levels well and educate them repeatedly with the principles of filial piety and respect for elders. Then the old people with gray hair and beards will have someone to do the work for them, and they will no longer have to walk on the road with things on their heads and shoulders.

(14) By changing the fields and reducing taxes, the people can become rich.

Translation: Doing farming well and reducing taxes can make the people rich.

(15) 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 unrighteous.

Translation: If the monarch is benevolent, no one will be unkind; if the monarch is righteous, no one will be unjust; if the monarch is upright, no one will be unjust.

(16) If you enjoy the people's happiness, the people will also enjoy their happiness; if you care about the people's worries, the people will also worry about their worries.

Translation: He who takes the happiness of the people as his own happiness, the people will also take the happiness of the king as their own happiness; he who takes the sorrow of the people as his own sorrow, the people will also take the sorrow of the king as their own of sorrow.

(17) Being benevolent is an honor, being unkind is a disgrace.

Translation If the princes and ministers implement benevolent government, they will have glory; if they implement unbenevolent government, they will suffer humiliation.

(18) 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.

Translation Only those who have a certain amount of industrial income will have certain moral concepts and codes of conduct. People who do not have a certain amount of industrial income will not have certain moral concepts and codes of conduct. If you don’t have certain moral concepts and codes of conduct, you will act recklessly, break laws and disciplines, and do anything.

(19) Fight for land and kill people to fill the fields; fight for cities and kill people to fill the city. This is called taking advantage of the land and eating human flesh, and the crime is not punishable by death.

Translation: Fighting for the land, killing people everywhere; fighting for the city, killing people all over the city, this is leading the land to eat human flesh, and even the death penalty is not enough to redeem them. sin.

(20) 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; You are like a bandit.

Translation: If the monarch regards his ministers as his brothers and sisters, the ministers will regard the monarch as their confidant; If the monarch regards his ministers as cattle and horses, the ministers will regard the monarch as an ordinary person they meet on the road; The monarch will regard his ministers as ordinary people they meet on the road. If it turns into soil or weeds, the ministers will regard the monarch as an enemy.

(21) 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.

Translation: Fish is what I like to eat, and bear paws are also what I like to eat; if I cannot eat both, I will throw away the fish and eat bear paws. Life is what I love, and righteousness is what I love; if I cannot have both, I will give up life and take righteousness.

(22) Old people, I am old, and people are old; young people, I am young, and people are young.

The translation of respecting my elders extends to respecting other people’s elders; caring for one’s own juniors extends to caring for other people’s juniors.

(23) Those who have gained the right will get many help, while 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.

Those who practice benevolent government will have many people to help them; those who do not practice benevolent government will have few people to help them. When the number of people helping him is extremely small, even his relatives will oppose him; when the number of people helping him is extremely large, the whole world will submit to him.

(24) The weather is not as good as the right place, and the right place is not as good as the people.

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

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

It is unkind to kill an innocent person; it is unjust to take something that is not yours.

(26) 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.

Translation: People who destroy benevolence are called "thieves", and people who destroy morality are called "cruel". We call such a person a "lonely husband". I only heard that King Wu of Zhou killed the only man Yin Zhou, but I never heard that he committed regicide with his ministers.

(27) The wise are in office and the capable are in office.

The translation places virtuous people in appropriate official positions and talented people in certain positions.

(28) Respect the virtuous and enable the capable, and the heroes will reign.

The translation respects moral people and uses capable people. Outstanding people have official positions.

(29) The people are the most important, the country is the second most important, and the king is the least important.

Translation: The people are the most important, the god of earth and valley, who represents the country, is second, and the monarch is the least important.

(30) Civil matters cannot be postponed.

Translation Caring for the people is the most urgent task.

(31) If it does not violate the farming season, the grain will not be enough to eat; if the number of grains (shu^g()) is not entered into the pond (w&), the fish and turtles will not be able to eat; if the ax and catty enter the forest in time, Timber and wood cannot be used. Grain, fish and turtles cannot be used for food. Timber and wood cannot be used for good.

Don’t recruit soldiers and do corvee during the busy season of farming and harvesting. , hindering production, then the food produced will not be enough. Don't use fine fishing nets to catch fish in large ponds, then there will be not enough fish to eat. Cut down trees in the mountains at the right time, and there will be not enough wood. . Food and fish will not be exhausted, and wood will not be used up. This will make the people have no dissatisfaction with life, death, and burial.

(32) There are fat meat in the kitchen, fat horses in the stables, and hunger among the people. Color, there are hungry people in the wild, so they lead the beasts to eat people.

Translation Now you have thin-skinned and fat meat in your kitchen, and you have strong horses in your stables, but the people have ugly faces. Starving bodies are lying in the wild, which is equivalent to the superiors leading the beasts to eat people.

(33) Jie and Zhou lost the world and lost their people; There is a way to win the world: to win the people, you can win the world; to win the people, you can win the people; to win the people, there is a way: to gather with them what you want, and to hate them. Don't do it, Erye.

Translation: Jie and Zhou lost the world because they lost the support of the people; they lost the support of the people because they lost the support of the people. There is a way to win the world: win the people. If you gain the support of the people, you will gain the support of the world; if you gain the support of the people, you will gain the support of the people; if you gain the support of the people, you will gain the support of the people; if you gain the support of the people, you will gain the support of the people; if you gain the support of the people, you will gain the support of the people; if you gain the support of the people, you will gather them for them; if you gain the support of the people, do not add to them what they hate. That's all for them.

(34) The wealth of a wise ruler will ensure that he can serve his parents, feed his wife, and be satisfied all his life.

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Translation: When a wise monarch stipulates the property of the people, he must ensure that they can support their parents when they are above, and their wives and children when they are below.

(35) Protecting the people and being king, no one can control it.

Translation: All efforts are made to stabilize the lives of the people, and no one can unify the world in this way. Can stop it.

(36) The three treasures of princes: land, people, and political affairs. The treasures of the princes will be harmed.

Translation: The treasures of princes are three things: land and people. And politics, the kind of person who treasures pearls and jade, disaster will definitely come to him.

(37) Heaven sends people to be kings and teachers, only to be favored by God. Of.

Translation: For ordinary people born in the sky, monarchs and masters were born for them. The only responsibility of these monarchs and masters is to help God and love the people.

(38) Everyone can be Yao and Shun.

Everyone can be a good person like Yao and Shun.

(39) A wife must insult herself, and then others will insult her; a family must destroy herself, and then others will destroy it; a country must destroy itself, and then others will destroy it.

Translator: A person must first cause self-inflicted insult before others can insult him; a family must first have a cause of self-destruction before others can destroy it; a country must first have a cause of self-destruction before others can destroy it. Talent crusades against it.

(40) He who seeks all misfortunes and blessings by himself.

There is no misfortune or happiness that is not brought about by oneself.

(41) A gentleman does not complain about heaven or others.

Translation: A gentleman does not complain about heaven or blame others.

(42) Wealth and honor cannot lead to sexual immorality, poverty and lowliness cannot move, and power cannot yield. This is called a true man.

Translation Wealth cannot disturb my heart, poverty and lowliness cannot change my aspirations, and power cannot bend my integrity. Only in this way can I be called a real man.

(43) Those who abuse themselves cannot be talked to; those who give up on themselves cannot be talked to.

Translation: People who harm themselves cannot have valuable conversations with them; people who abandon themselves (extremely irresponsible to themselves) cannot do valuable things with them.

(44) To nourish the heart, don’t be good at having few desires.

The best way to cultivate your mind is to reduce material desires.

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

When you give advice to the princes, you must despise him and do not take his superior position into consideration.

(46) Therefore, when Heaven is about to entrust a person with a great responsibility, he must first strain his mind, strain his muscles and bones, starve his body and skin, and deplete his heart. It has been beneficial to what it cannot do.

Translation: When God is going to assign an important task to someone, he must first trouble his mind, work his muscles and bones, starve his stomach, and impoverish his body, and his every behavior Always unsatisfactory, this can shake his mind, strengthen his temperament, and increase his ability.

(47) A respectful person will not insult others, and a thrifty person will not take away from others.

Translation A person who is respectful to others will not insult others, and a person who is thrifty will not rob others.

(48) Those who love others will always be loved by others; those who respect others will always be respected by others.

Translation: Those who love others will be loved by others; those who respect others will be respected by others.

(49) Do not rely on elders, do not rely on nobles, do not rely on brothers but be friends.

When making friends, don’t rely on your age, your high status, or the wealth of your brothers.

(50) The sage uses his enlightenment to make others enlighten, but now he uses his dimness to make others enlighten.

A wise person must first understand himself and then make others understand; today’s people are still confused themselves but insist on making others understand.

(51) 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 being obsessed with it.

Translation: In years of good harvests, young people tend to be lazy; in years of famine, young people tend to be violent. This is not because of a difference in natural aptitude, but because the environment has turned their hearts bad. .

(52) 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.

Doing something is like digging a well. If the well is dug six or seven feet deep and there is no spring water, it is still an abandoned well.

(53) 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; 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.

Translation A gentleman has three kinds of happiness, but conquering the world with virtue is not one of them. Having both parents healthy and brothers free from disasters is the first pleasure; raising one's head to be worthy of heaven and bowing one's head to be worthy of man is the second pleasure; obtaining the world's outstanding talents and educating them is the third pleasure.

(54) If you are not ashamed, why should you be like a human being?

If you are not ashamed of not being able to catch up with others, how can you catch up with others?

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

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

(56) 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.

People who translate and interpret poems should not be constrained by words and misunderstand the words, nor should they be constrained by words and misunderstand the original meaning. It is right to use your own personal experience to speculate on the author's original intention.

(57) It is better to have no faith in the "Book" than to have no "Book" at all.

If the translator completely believes in the "Book", it would be better not to have the "Book" at all.