Mencius - Man Quotes

15 Sourced Quotes

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The great man is the one who does not lose his [originally good] child's heart.

Mencius
Benevolence is the tranquil habitation of man, and righteousness is his straight path.

Mencius
Never has a man who has bent himself been able to make others straight.

Mencius
From the feelings proper to it, [man's nature] is constituted for the practice of what is good.

Mencius
The tendency of man's nature to good is like the tendency of water to flow downwards.

Mencius
When Heaven is about to confer a great office on any man, it first exercises his mind with suffering, and his sinews and bones with toil.

Mencius
The great man does not think beforehand of his words that they may be sincere, nor of his actions that they may be resolute—he simply speaks and does what is right.

Mencius
The superior man will not manifest either narrowmindedness or the want of self-respect.

Mencius
Benevolence is man's mind, and righteousness is man's path.

Mencius
The path of duty lies in what is near, and man seeks for it in what is remote.

Mencius
There is no attribute of the superior man greater than his helping men to practice virtue.

Mencius
Friendship with a man is friendship with his virtue, and does not admit of assumptions of superiority.

Mencius
To give the throne to another man would be easy; to find a man who shall benefit the kingdom is difficult.

Mencius
A man must first despise himself, and then others will despise him.

Mencius
Listen to a man's words and look at the pupil of his eye. How can a man conceal his character?

Mencius