1
A man must not be without shame, for the shame of being without shame is shamelessness indeed.Mencius
2
The way of truth is like a great road. It is not difficult to know it. The evil is only that men will not seek it.Mencius
3
Words that speak of things close at hand and carry far-reaching implications — those are the good words.Mencius
4
Words that defy reality are ominous. And it’s ominous reality that confronts those who would obscure the wise and worthy.Mencius
5
Only when there are things a man will not do is he capable of doing great things.Mencius
6
There’s only one way to know if people are good or evil: look at the choices they make. We each contain precious and worthless, great and small. Never injure the great for the sake of the small, or the precious for the sake of the worthless. Small people nurture what is small in them; great people nurture what is great in them.Mencius
7
Integrity, wisdom, skill, intelligence — such things are forged in adversity.Mencius
8
There are people dying from famine on the roads, and you do not issue the stores of your granaries for them. When people die, you say, 'it is not owing to me, it is owing to the year.' In what does this differ from stabbing a man and killing him, and then saying, 'it was not I, it was the weapon?Mencius
9
For nurturing the mind, there’s nothing like paring your desires away to a very few. If you have few desires, there may still be some capricious whims in your mind, but they’ll be few. If you have many desires, there may be some enduring principles in your mind, but they’ll be few indeed.Mencius
10
The great man is he who does not lose his child's-heart.Mencius
11
If someone stops where they should not, they’ll stop anywhere. If someone slights a person they should treat generously, they’ll slight anyone. And if someone races ahead, they retreat in a hurry.Mencius
12
The great man is he who does not lose his childlike heart.Mencius
13
The great man is he that does not lose his child-heart.Mencius
14
Friendship is one mind in two bodies.Mencius
15
There is no greater delight than to be conscious of sincerity on self-examination.Mencius
16
The root of the kingdom is in the state. The root of the state is in the family. The root of the family is in the person of its head.Mencius
17
Friends are the siblings God never gave us.Mencius
18
Friendship with a man is friendship with his virtue.Mencius
19
Secure property in hand leads to peace in mind.Mencius
20
Kindly words do not enter so deeply into men as a reputation for kindness.Mencius