Mencius Quotes

There is no greater delight than to be conscious of sincerity on self-examination.

The great man is he that does not lose his child-heart.

The great man is he who does not lose his childlike heart.

If someone stops where they should not, they’ll stop anywhere. If someone slights a person they should treat generously, they’ll slight anyone. And if someone races ahead, they retreat in a hurry.

The great man is he who does not lose his child's-heart.

For nurturing the mind, there’s nothing like paring your desires away to a very few. If you have few desires, there may still be some capricious whims in your mind, but they’ll be few. If you have many desires, there may be some enduring principles in your mind, but they’ll be few indeed.

There are people dying from famine on the roads, and you do not issue the stores of your granaries for them. When people die, you say, 'it is not owing to me, it is owing to the year.' In what does this differ from stabbing a man and killing him, and then saying, 'it was not I, it was the weapon?

Integrity, wisdom, skill, intelligence – such things are forged in adversity.