Disciple He Ji grieves over widespread slander. Mencius consoles him that such gossip harms nothing, citing two Book of Songs verses: even Confucius and King Wen endured petty men’s resentment yet retained their noble reputations.
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.
Confucius remarks women and petty folk are hard to get along with: too close and they grow disrespectful; too distant and they resent him. This much-debated line reflects ancient social limits and a lesson on balanced interpersonal boundaries.
Meng Xianzi said:“A family that keeps a team of four horses for chariots should not concern itself with raising chickens and pigs for profit;a household entitled to cut ice for ancestral rites should not raise cattle and sheep for gain;a state possessing a hundred war chariots should not employ ministers who amass wealth through…