Mencius holds benevolence and righteousness grow from extending innate compassion and moral reluctance. Expanding such inner conscience yields endless virtue. He condemns scholars manipulating speech or silence for favor, equating such hypocrisy to theft.
Mencius distinguishes human nature and fate. Sensory desires are innate yet limited by fate, so gentlemen do not prioritize them. Moral virtues lie in innate nature despite external constraints, so people must persist in cultivating them rather than yielding to fate.
Mencius divides moral levels: Yao and Shun hold virtue naturally; Tang and Wu attain it via self-cultivation; Five Hegemons only borrow morality for power. Yet long-term virtuous practice may turn borrowed goodness into genuine inner virtue.
Mencius puts forward innate knowledge and ability. Children naturally love parents (benevolence) and respect elders (righteousness). These native moral instincts belong to all humans and form the universal foundation of Confucian morality.
Gongduzi asks why people differ morally. Mencius distinguishes the thinking moral heart (greater part) from passive, easily misled senses. Prioritizing the heart secures virtue and makes one noble, while following senses makes a petty person.
Mencius observes people carefully nurture paulownia trees yet neglect cultivating their own moral minds. He laments this absurd imbalance, blaming careless unthinking, and urges people to prioritize nourishing their inner virtuous nature over tending external plants.
Mencius uses barren Mount Niu as a metaphor: innate moral conscience is gradually worn away by daily desires and bad deeds. Morning pure inner vitality fades without constant nurture, urging people to guard their good hearts actively.