Mencius Quotes

84 quotes in 840 categories

• The tendency of mans nature to good is like the tendency of water to flow downward.
• Kindly words do not enter so deeply into men as a reputation for kindness.
• Friends are the siblings God never gave us.
• Charity is in the heart of man, and righteousness in the path of men. Pity the man who has lost his path and does not…
• There is no greater delight than to be conscious of sincerity on self-examination.
• People are eager to comment on something when they themselves are not in the situation of doing it.
• He who respects others is respected by them.
• Only when someone refuses to do certain things will he be capable of doing great things.
• To act without clear understanding, to form habits without investigation, to follow a path all one's life without knowing where it really leads; such is…
• I dislike death, however, there are some things I dislike more than death. Therefore, there are times when I will not avoid danger.
• The Tao is near and people seek it far away.
• He who attends to his greater self becomes a great man, and he who attends to his smaller self becomes a small man.
• Sincerity is the way to heaven.
• Mankind fears an evil man but heaven does not.
• If the King loves music, it is well with the land.
• All things are already complete in us. There is no greater delight than to be conscious of right within us. If one strives to treat…
• When I say that all men have the mind which cannot bear to see the suffering of others, my meaning is illustrated this way: when…
• The Way lies at hand yet it is sought afar off; the thing lies in the easy yet it is sought in the difficult.
• A man must not be without shame, for the shame of being without shame is shamelessness indeed.
• The way of truth is like a great road. It is not difficult to know it. The evil is only that men will not seek…

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