Sincerity is the way of the heaven.
– Mencius
Kindly words do not enter so deeply into men as a reputation for kindness.
– Mencius
The tendency of man’s nature to good is like the tendency of water to flow downwards.
– Mencius
The superior man will not manifest either narrow-mindedness or the want of self-respect.
– Mencius
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
Never has a man who has bent himself been able to make others straight.
– Mencius
All men have in themselves that which is truly honorable. Only they do not think of it.
– Mencius
The people are the most important element in a nation. The spirits of the land and grain
are next. The sovereign is the lightest.
– Mencius
There is no attribute of the superior man greater than his helping men to practice virtue.
– Mencius
Men must be decided on what they will not do, and then they are able to act with vigor
in what they ought to do.
– Mencius
The great end of learning is nothing else but to seek for the lost mind.
– Mencius
The great man is he who does not lose his child’s heart.
– Mencius
The path of duty lies in what is near, and man seeks for it in what is remote.
– Mencius
If you know that a thing is unrighteous, then use all dispatch in putting an end to it –
why wait till next year?
– Mencius
The people turn to a benevolent rule as water flows downwards, and as wild beasts fly to
the wilderness.
– 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