Gongsun Chou asked Mencius, “If you should hold the power of government in Qi, could you achieve great deeds like Guan Zhong and Yanzi?”
When King Zhou ordered chopsticks made of ivory, Ji Zi was most perturbed. He reasoned: “Ivory chopsticks demand rhino horn cups; rhino cups demand exotic delicacies; delicacies demand silk robes and palace halls. This insatiable chain will end in tyranny and ruin.”