The Master said, “If you truly love someone, can you refrain from making him work hard? If you are sincerely devoted to someone, can you avoid instructing him?”
Mencius said: “Even with Li Lou’s sharp eyes and Gongshu Ban’s (Lu Ban’s) superb craftsmanship, without compass and square, one cannot draw perfect circles or squares. Even with Shi Kuang’s acute hearing, without the six pitch standards, one cannot tune the five notes correctly.”
Mencius once said to King Xuan of Qi: “When we speak of an ‘ancient state’ – a nation with deep roots – it is not because it has towering old trees, but because it possesses generations of virtuous and capable ministers. Yet Your Majesty has no truly trusted advisors left. Those you promoted in…
Mencius once asked King Xuan of Qi: “Suppose one of Your Majesty’s ministers entrusted his wife and children to a friend before traveling to Chu state. When he returned, he found them freezing and starving. What should be done about such a friend?”