Virtue increases along with magnanimity; magnanimity arises from the increase in man’s knowledge.
Therefore, if you wish to increase your virtue you must make yourself more magnanimous, and to do so you must increase your knowledge.
德随量进，量由识长，故欲厚其德，不可不弘其量，欲弘其量，不可不大其识。
Notes
This passage from Cai Gen Tan (Tending the roots of wisdom) unravels the progressive synergy of virtue, magnanimity, and wisdom.
- Virtue elevates as magnanimity broadens;
- Magnanimity expands as wisdom deepens;
- To cultivate virtue, first widen your magnanimity;
- To widen magnanimity, first deepen your wisdom.
The more profoundly one comprehends the world, the greater their acceptance of imperfection and diversity. The weight of one’s virtue is measured by how much difference they embrace and injustice they endure.
Moral growth is never a castle in the air — it rises solely from the bedrock of earned wisdom and tempered magnanimity.
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