Mencius, an aristocratic Shandong native, lived during the Warring States era when China was divided into numerous states, each with its own ruler and a history of frequent conflict.Based on the idea that people were naturally and inherently good but needed the right circumstances and encouragement to develop morally, Mencius developed an ethical framework. He highlighted the importance of wisdom, magnanimity, obligation, and courtesy.He was a Chinese philosopher and a key figure in the development of Confucianism. The two main tenets he preached were that human nature is inherently benevolent and that rulers must provide for the well-being of the people.His principal concerns were in the fields of ethics, social philosophy, and political philosophy. He was a philosopher and a key figure in the interpretation of Confucianism.Mencius, often known in China as ‘Master Meng’ or the ‘Second Sage’, was a Chinese philosopher active in the fourth century BCE whose influence on Confucianism is number two only to Confucius. The sole distinction was that Mencius discussed goodness through the world and human nature, whereas Confucius did it through individual and familial morality.Mencius was always considered a significant philosopher; the Song dynasty’s neo-Confucians followed his teachings.The quote from Mencius that human nature is good is quite famous. His ideas on virtues, ethical development, and human nature piqued Western philosophy’s interest.Mencius Quotes On PhilosophyMencius thought that although people naturally tend to be good, this goodness must be trained through education, external influences, and effort to prevent people from being bad. Mencius believed that people have the power to overthrow governments and should do so.Read these wise man’s quotations to gain insight into his ideas and words about wisdom, society, life, destiny, compassion, and living.“Truth uttered before its time is always dangerous.““A man must not be without shame, for the shame of being without shame is shamelessness indeed.““The feeling of commiseration is the beginning of humanity; the feeling of shame and dislike is the beginning of righteousness; the feeling of deference and compliance is the beginning of propriety; and the feeling of right or wrong is the beginning of wisdom.““Mankind fears an evil man but heaven does not.““He who attends to his greater self becomes a great man, and he who attends to his smaller self becomes a small man.““With melted snow I boil fragrant tea.““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 incompetence.““The tendency of man’s nature to good is like the tendency of water to flow downward.““They who accord with Heaven are preserved, and they who rebel against Heaven perish.““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.““Words that speak of things close at hand and carry far-reaching implications – those are the good words.““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 Quotes On TeachingHe founded his own school and, after starting it, traveled throughout the rival states of the time, advising the rulers to put an end to their conflicts and work together to aid the populace.(Menius was a philosopher whose main interest was social and political philosophy. Here are a few Mencius quotes on teaching.)“Every duty is a charge, but the charge of oneself is the root of all others.““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.““Words that defy reality are ominous. And it’s ominous reality that confronts those who would obscure the wise and worthy.““Getting something done is like digging a well. You can dig a well seventy feet deep, but if you don’t hit water it’s just an abandoned well.““For nurturing the mind, there’s nothing like paring your desires away to a very few.““All things are already complete in us. There is no greater delight than to be conscious of right within us.““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.““Incessant falls teach men to reform, and distress rouses their strength. Life springs from calamity, and death from ease.““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.““Only those who develop their minds and spirits to the utmost can serve Heaven and fulfill their own destinies.““Don’t do what should not be done, and don’t desire what should not be desired. Abide by this one precept, and everything else will follow.““Treat others as you would be treated. Devote yourself to that, for there’s no more direct approach to Humanity.“Mencius Quotes On Human NatureMencius argued that individuals will behave correctly if they are taught to form virtuous thoughts and habits, which is the Confucian concept of fundamental human goodness.Here are a few Mencius quotes about human nature and life in general.“There is no greater delight than to be conscious of sincerity on self-examination.““The sense of mercy is found in all men; the sense of shame is found in all men; the sense of respect is found in all men; the sense of right and wrong is found in all men.““When Heaven is about to confer a great office upon you, it first exercises your mind with suffering and your sinews and bones with toil.““People can have a long-term life plan only if they know their private property is secure.““By exhaustively examining one’s own mind, one may understand his nature. One who understands his own nature understands Heaven.““People are distressed by their inability to do it. The problem, however, is simply that they don’t do it.““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.““Filling with food, warming with clothes, living leisurely without learning, it is little short of animals."“Never lose your child’s heart.”“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.““Human nature is good, just as water seeks low ground. There is no man who is not good, just as there is no water that does not flow downward.““Make your learning abundant and speak of it with precision, then you will speak of essentials.““Sincerity is the way to heaven.““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 Quotes On FriendshipMencius, one of the most significant exponents of Chinese Confucian thought, had profound ideas about friendship that not only deepened its connotation but also gave the act of creating friends profound societal significance.Here are some Mencius quotes on friendship that emphasize the importance of friends in life.“All the children who are held and love will know how to love others. Spread these virtues in the world. Nothing more need be done.““The heart of compassion is the germ of benevolence; the heart of shame, of dutifulness; the heart of courtesy and modesty, of observance of the rites; the heart of right and wrong, of wisdom.““Friendship is one mind in two bodies.““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.““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.““Kindly words do not enter so deeply into men as a reputation for kindness.““Friends are the siblings God never gave us.““The disease of men is that they neglect their own fields and go to weed the fields of others.““The Way lies at hand yet it is sought afar off; the thing lies in the easy yet it is sought in the difficult.““All beneath Heaven is rooted in nation. Nation is rooted in family. And family is rooted in self.““We change and grow only when we make mistakes. We realize what to do only when we work through worry and confusion. And we gain people’s trust and understanding only when our inner thoughts are revealed clearly in our faces and words.”
Mencius, an aristocratic Shandong native, lived during the Warring States era when China was divided into numerous states, each with its own ruler and a history of frequent conflict.
