Top 112 Quotes & Sayings by Mencius

Explore popular quotes and sayings by a Chinese philosopher Mencius.

Last updated on September 17, 2024.

Mencius ; born Mèng Kē ; or Mèngzǐ was a Chinese Confucian philosopher who has often been described as the "second Sage", that is, after only Confucius himself. He is part of Confucius' fourth generation of disciples. Mencius inherited Confucius' ideology and developed it further. Living during the Warring States period, he is said to have spent much of his life travelling around the states offering counsel to different rulers. Conversations with these rulers form the basis of the Mencius, which would later be canonised as a Confucian classic.

Chinese - Philosopher | 372 BC - 289 BC

Source: Wikipedia

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

Mankind fears an evil man but heaven does not.

Mencius

Let men decide firmly what they will not do, and they will be free to do vigorously what they ought to do.

Mencius

People can have a long-term life plan only if they know their private property is secure.

Mencius

The great man is he who does not lose his child's-heart.

Mencius

The people are the most important element in a nation; the spirits of the land and grain are the next; the sovereign is the least.

Mencius

A trail through the mountains, if used, becomes a path in a short time, but, if unused, becomes blocked by grass in an equally short time.

Mencius

If the king loves music, there is little wrong in the land.

Mencius

Secure property in hand leads to peace in mind.

Mencius

Evil exists to glorify the good. Evil is negative good. It is a relative term. Evil can be transmuted into good. What is evil to one at one time, becomes good at another time to somebody else.

Mencius

Every duty is a charge, but the charge of oneself is the root of all others.

Mencius

Truth uttered before its time is always dangerous.

Mencius

Kindly words do not enter so deeply into men as a reputation for kindness.

Mencius

It is not difficult to govern. All one has to do is not to offend the noble families.

Mencius

Friendship with a man is friendship with his virtue.

Mencius

If Confucius wasn't born, the long night would have no bright lamp.

Mencius

Sincerity is the way to heaven.

Mencius

Without effective protection of the citizens' right to property, it will be difficult to attract and accumulate valuable capital.

Mencius

There is no greater delight than to be conscious of sincerity on self-examination.

Mencius

Friends are the siblings God never gave us.

Mencius

I like fish, and I also like bear's paws. If I cannot have the two together, I will let the fish go, and take the bear's paws. So, I like life, and I also like righteousness. If I cannot keep the two together, I will let life go, and choose righteousness.

Mencius

Friendship is one mind in two bodies.

Mencius

Let not a man do what his sense of right bids him not to do, nor desire what it forbids him to desire. This is sufficient. The skillful artist will not alter his measures for the sake of a stupid workman.

Mencius

Only when a man will not do some things is he capable of doing great things.

Mencius

He who attends to his greater self becomes a great man, and he who attends to his smaller self becomes a small man.

Mencius

If you love men and they are unfriendly, look into your love; if you rule men and they are unruly, look into your wisdom; if you are courteous to them and they do not respond, look into your courtesy. If what you do is vain, always seek within.

Mencius

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

Mencius

One who believes all of a book would be better off without books

Mencius

The great person never loses a childlike spirit.

Mencius

The ways are two: love and want of love. That is all.

Mencius

Try your best to treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself, and you will find that this is the shortest way to benevolence

Mencius

Only those who develop their minds and spirits to the utmost can serve Heaven and fulfill their own destinies.

Mencius

Charity is in the heart of man, and righteousness in the path of men. Pity the man who has lost his path and does not follow it and who has lost his heart and does not know how to recover it. When people's dogs and chicks are lost they go out and look for them and yet the people who have lost their hearts do not go out and look for them. The principle of self-cultivation consists in nothing but trying to look for the lost heart.

Mencius

The way of truth is like a great highway. It is not hard to find.

Mencius

The sole concern of learning is to seek one's original heart.

Mencius

Only when someone refuses to do certain things will he be capable of doing great things.

Mencius

There is a power in everything; it is the job of the artist to determine it and express it.

Mencius

The fruit of humanity is devotion to one's parents. The fruit of righteousness is to respect one's elders. The fruit of wisdom is to understand these two and not to betray them. The fruit of propriety is to regulate and polish them. The fruit of music is the joy that comes from rejoicing in them. When one rejoices in them, they grow. When they grow, how can they be stopped? And when they cannot be stopped, unconsciously one's feet begin to dance and one's arms begin to wave.

Mencius

People are eager to comment on something when they themselves are not in the situation of doing it.

Mencius

When Heaven is about to confer a great office on a man, it first exercises his mind with suffering, and his sinews and bones with toil ; it exposes his body to hunger, and subjects him to extreme poverty ; it confounds his undertakings. By all these methods it stimulates his mind, hardens his nature, and supplies his incompetencies.

Mencius

He who loves others is constantly loved by them. He who respects others is constantly respected by them.

Mencius

The disease of men is that they neglect their own fields and go to weed the fields of others.

Mencius

He who wishes to be benevolent will not be rich.

Mencius

The best things in life come in threes, like friends, dreams, and memories.

Mencius

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

Mencius

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

Mencius

The feeling of compassion is the beginning of humanity.

Mencius

If the King loves music, it is well with the land.

Mencius

If you let people follow their feelings, they will be able to do good. This is what is meant by saying that human nature is good.

Mencius

Never lose your child's heart.

Mencius

To act without clear understanding, to form habits without investigation, to follow a path all one's life without knowing where it really leads; such is the behavior of the multitude.

Mencius

If you know the point of balance, You can settle the details. If you can settle the details, You can stop running around. Your mind will become calm. If your mind becomes calm, You can think in front of a tiger. If you can think in front of a tiger, You will surely succeed.

Mencius

The foundation of the world lies in the nation. The foundation of the nation lies in the family. The foundation of the family lies in the individual.

Mencius

So I like life and I like righteousness; if I cannot keep the two together, I will let life go and choose righteousness.

Mencius

Truth uttered before its time is dangerous.

Mencius

Where it is permissible both to die and not to die, it is an abuse of valour to die.

Mencius

He who goes to the bottom of his own heart knows his own nature; And knowing his own nature, he knows heaven.

Mencius

The great man is he who does not lose his child's heart.