Confucius said, “Suppose you are piling up earth to make a mountain. If you stop just one basket short of completion – that stopping is my own doing. Suppose you are leveling ground, and even if you have only dumped one basket – you are advancing, because I am moving forward.”
Chu Zi asked Mencius: “The king sent someone to secretly observe you – does he really have any qualities that make him different from ordinary people?”
Mencius said: “What distinguishes the noble person from ordinary people lies in what they hold in their heart. The noble person keeps benevolence and ritual propriety in mind. One who embodies benevolence loves others; one who embodies ritual respects others. Those who love others are constantly loved in return; those who respect others are…
Mencius said: “One who harms himself cannot be reasoned with; one who abandons himself cannot be partnered with in meaningful action.”
7.30 The Master said, “Is benevolence indeed so far away? If we really wanted benevolence, we should find that it was at our very side.” 子曰：「仁遠乎哉？我欲仁，斯仁至矣。」 Notes This statement from the Analects by Confucius by no means denies the loftiness of benevolence, but rather emphasizes its attainability. Benevolence does not belong exclusively to sages…