Mencius stresses self-exemplification. If one fails to live by the moral Way, even his spouse and children won’t follow it; commanding others against the Way makes one’s orders unheeded at home, proving self-cultivation is the root of leadership.
Mencius puts forward graded love: cherish creatures without full benevolence, treat people kindly yet less intimately than family. True virtue starts with loving relatives, expands to caring for people, and finally extends affection to all natural things.
Confucius said, “Those who understand by birth are the highest; those who understand through learning come next; those who learn only after encountering difficulties are yet lower; and those who encounter difficulties but still do not learn – these are the lowest of the people.”