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Mencius – Chapter 8.19 Acting from, not performing, virtue
Mencius said: “The difference between humans and birds or beasts is extremely slight – just a tiny bit. Ordinary people tend to lose this small distinction, while noble persons preserve it. Shun understood the principles of all things and clearly discerned human relationships. He acted from benevolence and righteousness, not merely performing benevolence and…
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Mencius – Chapter 8.18 Rooted like a Spring, Not a Storm
Xu Zi asked: “Confucius often praised water, exclaiming, ‘Ah, water! Ah, water!’ What did he admire about it?”
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Mencius – Chapter 8.17 Moral cost of empty speech and Peril of suppressing the worthy
Mencius said: “Speech without factual basis brings misfortune. And the one who bears the consequences of this misfortune is the person who blocks or suppresses the worthy.”
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Crossing the Lingding Ocean
– Wen Tianxiang By virtue of the classics, painstakingly I rose to serve my state;Four years of war have passed, with our banners desolate.Our land, torn asunder, drifts like catkins in the gale;My life, adrift and battered, like duckweed in the rain’s assail.At Huangkong Shoal, I sighed for the fears that once prevailed;On Lingding…
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Mencius – Chapter 8.15 The scholar’s journey: From breadth to essence
Mencius said: “One studies broadly and explains in detail, precisely in order to return to a concise and essential understanding.”