Book 7A · Fulfilling the Heart, Part One

13.1 Mencius said, “To fulfill your heart is to know your nature. To know your nature is to know Heaven. Preserve your heart and nourish your nature: that is how you serve Heaven. Whether you die young or live long, keep a single purpose; cultivate yourself and await what comes. That is how you establish your Mandate.”

13.2 Mencius said, “Nothing lies outside the Mandate, but receive rightly what comes from it. One who understands the Mandate does not stand beneath a crumbling wall. To die after fulfilling one's Way is a rightful death; to die in fetters is not.”

13.3 Mencius said, “‘Seek it and find it; let it go and lose it’: here seeking helps you obtain it, for what you seek lies within you. ‘Seek it rightly, but whether you obtain it rests with the Mandate’: here seeking does not ensure possession, for what you seek lies outside you.”

13.4 Mencius said, “All things are present within me. To examine myself and find sincerity—no joy is greater. To practice empathy with all my strength—no path to humaneness is nearer.”

13.5 Mencius said, “Many people act without understanding, grow accustomed without examining, and follow a path all their lives without knowing its Way.”

13.6 Mencius said, “One cannot be without shame. Be ashamed of your shamelessness, and you will cease to be shameless.”

13.7 Mencius said, “Shame matters greatly to human beings. Those skilled in schemes and tricks have no use for it. If you feel no shame at being inferior to others, how can you become their equal?”

13.8 Mencius said, “The worthy kings of antiquity loved goodness and forgot their power. Worthy men of service did likewise: they delighted in their Way and forgot the power of others. Unless kings and dukes treated them with utmost respect and ritual propriety, they could not see them often. If even frequent meetings were hard to obtain, how could they make such men their ministers?”

13.9 Mencius told Song Goujian, “Do you like to travel among the lords? I shall tell you how. Whether others recognize you or not, remain at ease.”“How can I remain at ease?”“Honor virtue and delight in rightness, and you will be at ease. Thus a man of service does not lose rightness when poor or depart from the Way when he prospers. When poor, he keeps rightness and so remains true to himself; when prosperous, he keeps the Way and so the people are not disappointed. In antiquity, those who attained their aims extended blessings to the people; those who did not cultivated themselves as a model for the age. In poverty, perfect yourself alone; in success, bring goodness to the whole world.”

13.10 Mencius said, “Ordinary people wait for a King Wen before they rise to goodness. Outstanding people rise even without one.”

13.11 Mencius said, “Even if someone were given the estates of the houses of Han and Wei, if he still judged himself inadequate, he would far surpass other people.”

13.12 Mencius said, “Employ the people through a Way intended for their ease, and though they labor, they will not resent it. Put people to death through a Way intended to save life, and though they die, they will not resent the one who executed them.”

13.13 Mencius said, “Under a hegemon the people are cheerful and excited; under a true king they live freely at ease. Even when he punishes them with death they do not resent him; even when he benefits them they do not treat it as a favor owed. Day by day they turn toward goodness without knowing who has brought it about. Wherever the noble person passes, people are transformed; wherever he remains, his presence works like a spirit. Above and below he flows together with Heaven and earth. Can this be called a small benefit?”

13.14 Mencius said, “Humane words do not enter people as deeply as the sound of humane conduct. Good government does not win the people as good teaching does. They fear good government; they love good teaching. Good government wins their wealth; good teaching wins their hearts.”

13.15 Mencius said, “What people can do without learning is their innate ability; what they know without reasoning is their innate understanding. Every young child knows to love its parents, and when it grows older, to respect its elder brothers. Loving one's parents is humaneness; respecting elders is rightness. All that remains is to extend these throughout the world.”

13.16 Mencius said, “When Shun lived in the deep mountains, among wood and stone, moving among deer and wild pigs, he differed only slightly from the mountain people. But when he heard a single good word or saw a single good action, he responded like the opening of a river's floodgates: nothing could hold him back.”

13.17 Mencius said, “Do not do what you would reject as wrong. Do not desire what you would reject as wrong. That is all.”

13.18 Mencius said, “Virtuous wisdom and practical insight often arise amid distress and illness. A solitary minister and a disfavored son keep anxious watch over their hearts and consider dangers deeply; thus they attain understanding.”

13.19 Mencius said, “Some men serve rulers and take pleasure merely in pleasing the ruler they serve. Some are ministers who safeguard the state, and take pleasure in its security. Some are citizens of Heaven, who act only when their way can prevail throughout the world. Some are great people, who set themselves right and by doing so set things right around them.”

13.20 Mencius said, “A noble person has three joys, and ruling the world is not among them. That both parents are alive and brothers have met no misfortune is the first joy. To look up without shame before Heaven and look down without shame before people is the second. To find the finest talents in the world and teach them is the third. These are the three joys of a noble person, and ruling the world is not among them.”

13.21 Mencius said, “A noble person desires broad lands and many people, but these are not the source of his joy. He delights in standing at the center of the world and bringing peace to the people of the four seas, but this does not belong to his nature. What does belong to his nature is not increased by success throughout the world or diminished by poverty and obscurity: its portion is fixed. What belongs to his nature is humaneness, rightness, ritual propriety, and wisdom, rooted in his heart. They shine in his face, fill his bearing, and move through all four limbs, so that the limbs make his meaning clear without a word.”

13.22 Mencius said, “Bo Yi fled from Zhou and lived by the North Sea. When he heard King Wen had risen, he said, ‘Why not go to him? I hear the lord of the west cares well for the old.’ Taigong fled from Zhou and lived by the East Sea. He heard the same news and said the same words. When someone anywhere cares well for the old, humane people recognize a home there. If mulberry trees are planted beside the walls of a five-mu homestead and the household wife tends silkworms, the old will have enough silk to wear. Raise five hens and two sows without neglecting their breeding seasons, and the old need never lack meat. If a man cultivates a hundred-mu field, a household of eight can have enough to eat. This is what is meant by the lord of the west's care for the old: he arranged fields and dwellings, taught the people to plant and breed livestock, and guided wives and children to support their elders. At fifty a person needs silk to be warm; at seventy, meat to be full. Without warmth and food, they freeze and starve. Among King Wen's people, none of the old froze or starved. That is what the saying means.”

13.23 Mencius said, “Cultivate the fields well and lighten the levies, and the people can become prosperous. Let them eat at the proper times and use their wealth according to ritual propriety, and their resources will be inexhaustible. People cannot live without water and fire. Yet if a person knocks on someone's door at dusk to ask for water or fire, there is no one who will refuse, because those things are plentiful. A sage governing the world would make beans and grain as plentiful as water and fire. If they were, how could the people lack humaneness?”

13.24 Mencius said, “When Confucius climbed East Mountain, Lu looked small; when he climbed Mount Tai, the world looked small. Once one has seen the sea, other waters are hard to admire; once one has studied at a sage's gate, other words are hard to admire. There is an art to looking at water: watch its waves. The sun and moon have light and illuminate every opening where light can reach. Flowing water never moves forward until it has filled every hollow. A noble person who sets his heart on the Way does not advance until he has brought his learning to its proper form.”

13.25 Mencius said, “One who rises at cockcrow and works tirelessly at goodness follows Shun. One who rises at cockcrow and works tirelessly at profit follows the robber Zhi. To know the difference between Shun and Zhi, look only at goodness and profit.”

13.26 Mencius said, “Yang Zhu chose ‘each for himself’: he would not pluck one hair from his body to benefit the world. Mozi chose ‘universal love’: he would wear himself down from crown to heel to benefit the world. Zimo chose the middle position, which comes closer. But to cling to the middle without weighing circumstances is merely clinging to a single fixed point. I reject such rigidity because it injures the Way: it raises up one thing and discards a hundred.”

13.27 Mencius said, “To the hungry food tastes sweet, and to the thirsty drink tastes sweet, because hunger and thirst have damaged their true sense of taste. Are the mouth and belly alone harmed by hunger and thirst? Human hearts too can be harmed. If one can keep such hunger from harming one's heart, one need not worry about falling short of others.”

13.28 Mencius said, “Liuxia Hui would not have exchanged his integrity even for a place among the three highest ministers.”

13.29 Mencius said, “Working toward a purpose is like digging a well. If you dig nine ren deep without reaching water, you have still abandoned the well.”

13.30 Mencius said, “Yao and Shun embodied it by nature; Tang and King Wu made it their own through effort; the five hegemons borrowed its appearance. Borrow it long enough without returning it, and how can one know it was never theirs?”

13.31 Gongsun Chou said, “Yi Yin said, ‘I will not grow familiar with what is disobedient.’ He sent Taijia away to Tong, and the people rejoiced; when Taijia became worthy, he brought him back, and they rejoiced again. When a worthy minister has an unworthy ruler, may he send the ruler into exile?”Mencius said, “If he has Yi Yin's purpose, he may. Without it, he is a usurper.”

13.32 Gongsun Chou said, “The Odes say, ‘We do not eat idle bread.’ Why does a noble person eat without plowing?”Mencius said, “When a noble person lives in a state, if its ruler employs him, the ruler becomes secure, prosperous, honored, and glorious. If its young people follow him, they become devoted to parents, respectful of elders, loyal, and trustworthy. What could better fulfill the words ‘We do not eat idle bread’?”

13.33 Prince Dian asked, “What is the work of a man of service?”Mencius replied, “To elevate his purpose.”“What does that mean?”“Humaneness and rightness, nothing more. To kill a single innocent person is not humane; to take what is not yours is not right. Where should one dwell? In humaneness. What road should one travel? Rightness. Dwell in humaneness and travel the road of rightness: a great person's work is complete.”

13.34 Mencius said, “People believe that Chen Zhongzi would refuse the state of Qi if offered it unjustly. But this is only the rightness of refusing a basket of food and a bowl of soup. Nothing one can do is worse than severing ties with one's family, ruler, ministers, and superiors. How can we trust that he would do the greater thing simply because he does the lesser?”

13.35 Tao Ying asked, “If Shun were Son of Heaven, Gao Yao the chief judge, and Gu Sou committed murder, what should happen?”“He should simply be arrested,” Mencius said.“Would Shun not prevent it?”“How could Shun prevent it? The judge has a charge entrusted to him.”“What would Shun do, then?”“Shun would look on abandoning the world as though he were throwing away a worn-out sandal. He would secretly take his father on his back and flee, settle along the coast, and live out his days in joy, forgetting the world.”

13.36 Traveling from Fan to Qi, Mencius saw a prince of Qi in the distance and sighed. “One's dwelling alters one's bearing; one's nourishment alters one's body. How powerful is one's place in life! Is he not the son of human parents, like any of us?”Mencius said, “A prince's halls, carriage and horses, clothing and robes are much like those of others; yet he carries himself so differently because of his place. How much more does dwelling in the world's broadest dwelling transform a person? Once the ruler of Lu came to Song and called out at the gate of Dieze. The guard said, ‘That is not our ruler, but how like our ruler his voice sounds!’ There was no other reason: they lived in similar stations.”

13.37 Mencius said, “To feed someone without loving him is to treat him as a pig. To love him without respect is to keep him as a tame beast. Reverence and respect must be present even before a gift is offered. A noble person cannot be bound by empty gestures of reverence that have no substance.”

13.38 Mencius said, “Our bodily form and appearance are given by Heaven as part of our nature. Only a sage can fully realize the promise of that form.”

13.39 King Xuan of Qi wanted to shorten the mourning period. Gongsun Chou asked, “Would not mourning for a year be better than stopping altogether?”Mencius replied, “That is like seeing a man twist his elder brother's arm and telling him only, ‘Do it more gently.’ Teach him devotion to parents and respect for brothers instead.”A prince whose mother had died asked his tutor to obtain leave for several months of mourning. Gongsun Chou asked, “What about that case?”“He wishes to complete mourning but cannot obtain permission. Even one extra day is better than none. I was speaking of someone free to mourn who refuses.”

13.40 Mencius said, “A noble person teaches in five ways: transforming someone like timely rain, bringing someone's virtue to completion, developing someone's talents, answering someone's questions, and leaving an example for someone to study privately. These are the five ways.”

13.41 Gongsun Chou said, “The Way is high and beautiful, but it seems like climbing to Heaven—beyond reach. Why not make it seem attainable, so students may work toward it every day?”Mencius said, “A master craftsman does not discard his plumb line because a worker lacks skill; Yi did not change the measure for drawing a bow because an archer lacked skill. The noble person draws the bow without releasing the arrow: he seems ready to leap. He stands in the middle of the Way, and those able to follow do so.”

13.42 Mencius said, “When the world has the Way, follow the Way with your whole person. When it lacks the Way, give your person for the Way. I have never heard of giving the Way over to serve a person.”

13.43 Gongduzi asked, “Teng Geng was studying with you and seemed entitled to courtesy. Why did you not answer him?”Mencius said, “I do not answer those who rely on noble rank, their own worth, age, distinguished service, or an old acquaintance when asking questions. Teng Geng relied on two of these.”

13.44 Mencius said, “One who stops where one must not stop will stop anywhere. One who treats those closest to him lightly will treat anyone lightly. Those who advance too sharply retreat just as swiftly.”

13.45 Mencius said, “A noble person cares for other creatures but does not extend humaneness to them as he does to people; he treats the people humanely but not with the intimacy he owes his kin. He cherishes his kin, treats the people humanely, and cares for other creatures.”

13.46 Mencius said, “The wise would know everything, but attend first to the most pressing task. The humane would love everyone, but make closeness to the worthy their first task. Yao and Shun's wisdom did not encompass every thing, because they attended to what came first. Their humaneness did not extend equally to every person, because they made closeness to the worthy their urgent task. To neglect three years of mourning while fussing over the finer points of shorter mourning periods, or to gulp one's food rudely while worrying that one has torn meat with one's teeth—this is failing to know what matters most.”

13.1 Mencius said, “If you fully develop your heart, you know your nature. If you know your nature, you know Heaven. Keeping your heart intact and nurturing your nature is how you serve Heaven. Whether you die young or live long, stay committed to self-improvement and wait for what comes. That is how you accept your allotted life.”

13.2 Mencius said, “Everything is in the hands of destiny, but accept only what comes by the proper path. Someone who understands destiny does not stand under a crumbling wall. To die after following the Way as fully as you can is a fitting end. To die in chains is not a fitting end.”

13.3 Mencius said, “‘Seek and you find it; abandon it and you lose it’: here seeking helps you find it, because what you seek is within you. ‘Seek in the right way, but gaining it depends on destiny’: here seeking cannot ensure success, because what you seek is outside you.”

13.4 Mencius said, “Everything we need is present within us. Nothing is more joyful than examining yourself and finding yourself sincere. Nothing brings you nearer to kindness than doing your best to treat others as you would want to be treated.”

13.5 Mencius said, “Many people do things without understanding them, repeat practices without examining them, and follow a path all their lives without knowing its Way.”

13.6 Mencius said, “People need a sense of shame. If you feel ashamed of having no shame, you will no longer be shameless.”

13.7 Mencius said, “Shame matters greatly to people. Those who pride themselves on clever schemes have no use for shame. If you are not ashamed to fall short of others, how can you become their equal?”

13.8 Mencius said, “Worthy kings of old loved goodness and forgot their rank. Worthy men of service did the same. They enjoyed their Way and forgot other people's rank. A king or lord could not see them often unless he approached them with full respect and proper conduct. If he could hardly gain an audience, how could he expect to employ them as subjects?”

13.9 Mencius said to Song Goujian, “Do you like to travel from state to state? Let me tell you how. Be at ease whether people appreciate you or fail to appreciate you.”“How can I remain at ease?”“Value virtue and take pleasure in rightness. Then you can remain at ease. When a man of service is poor and unrecognized, he does not give up rightness; when he succeeds, he does not leave the Way. Keeping rightness in poverty lets him retain his sense of himself. Keeping the Way when successful prevents the people from losing hope. People of old, when they achieved their aims, brought benefits to the people. When they could not, they cultivated themselves as an example to the world. When poor, they improved themselves alone; when successful, they helped the whole world become better.”

13.10 Mencius said, “Ordinary people wait for a King Wen before they are inspired to act. Outstanding people act even without a King Wen.”

13.11 Mencius said, “Give someone the households of Han and Wei: if he still feels he has not done enough to be worthy, he is far ahead of other people.”

13.12 Mencius said, “Put people to work in a way that will give them rest, and they will not complain even if the work is hard. Execute people to save lives, and those who die will not resent the person who ordered their death.”

13.13 Mencius said, “Under a hegemon the people are excited and pleased; under a true king they live freely and at ease. Even if such a king punishes people with death, they do not resent him; even when he helps them, they do not feel they owe him. They grow better every day without knowing who made it happen. Wherever a noble person passes, people change; wherever he stays, his influence seems extraordinary. His work joins that of Heaven and earth from top to bottom. How could it be called a small help?”

13.14 Mencius said, “The reputation for kindness affects people more deeply than kind words alone. Good teaching wins the people more fully than good administration. People fear good administration but love good teaching. Good administration gains their resources; good teaching gains their hearts.”

13.15 Mencius said, “What people can do without learning is their natural ability. What they know without thinking is their natural understanding. Even very small children know how to love their parents; when they grow older they know how to respect older siblings. Loving your parents is kindness; respecting elders is rightness. We need only extend these to the whole world.”

13.16 Mencius said, “When Shun lived in the deep mountains among trees and rocks and moved among deer and wild pigs, there was little to set him apart from other people living there. But when he heard a good word or saw a good deed, his response was like a river released from a dam: it rushed forward and no one could stop it.”

13.17 Mencius said, “Do not do what you know you should not do; do not desire what you know you should not desire. That is all.”

13.18 Mencius said, “People develop virtue, wisdom, skill, and understanding through troubles and hardship. Ministers with no support and sons born outside the main family are especially alert to danger and think deeply about possible trouble. That is why they develop understanding.”

13.19 Mencius said, “Some people serve rulers only to win their favor. Some ministers take pleasure in securing the state and its altars. Some among Heaven's people act only when they can make their Way prevail throughout the world. Great people put themselves in order, and things around them are set right.”

13.20 Mencius said, “A noble person has three joys, and ruling the world is not one of them. One joy is that both parents are alive and brothers are free of trouble. The second is that he can look up to Heaven without shame and down to other people without feeling guilty. The third is to find talented people throughout the world and teach them. A noble person has three joys, and ruling the world is not one of them.”

13.21 Mencius said, “A noble person wants broad lands and many people but does not find his deepest joy in them. He enjoys standing at the center of the world and bringing peace to people throughout the four seas, but that is not where his nature lies. What is part of his nature cannot be increased by worldwide success or lessened by living in poverty. His allotted nature is settled. Kindness, rightness, proper conduct, and wisdom are rooted in his heart. They show as a clear glow on his face, spread across his back, and appear in his limbs. His limbs express them without words.”

13.22 Mencius said, “Bo Yi fled Zhou and lived by the North Sea. When he heard that King Wen had arisen, he said, ‘Why not go to him? I hear the lord of the west cares well for the old.’ The Grand Duke fled Zhou and lived by the East Sea. When he heard that King Wen had arisen, he said the same. When someone anywhere cares well for the old, kind people regard him as a ruler they can go to. Plant mulberries beside the walls of a five-mu household plot, and with a woman tending silkworms the old will have enough silk to wear. Keep five hens and two sows and raise them at the right times, and the old will have meat. Have one man work a hundred-mu field, and a family of eight will have enough to eat. The claim that the lord of the west cared well for the old means he arranged land and homes, taught people to plant and raise animals, and guided wives and children so they could support the elderly. At fifty, a person is not warm without silk; at seventy, a person is not full without meat. Those who lack warmth and food are cold and hungry. There were no elderly people left cold and hungry among King Wen's people. That is what the claim means.”

13.23 Mencius said, “Tend the fields well and keep taxes light, and the people can become prosperous. Let them eat at the right times and use resources with proper care, and there will be more than enough. People cannot live without water and fire, yet if you knock at a door at nightfall to ask for them, no one refuses because they are plentiful. A sage governing the world makes beans and grain as plentiful as water and fire. If beans and grain are that plentiful, how could the people fail to be kind?”

13.24 Mencius said, “When Confucius climbed the eastern hill, Lu seemed small; when he climbed Mount Tai, the world seemed small. Anyone who has seen the sea is hard to impress with other waters; anyone who has studied under a sage is hard to impress with other speech. There is a way to look at water: look at its waves. The sun and moon shine, lighting up every opening their light enters. Running water does not move on until it has filled each hollow. A noble person who sets his mind on the Way does not progress until he has mastered each stage.”

13.25 Mencius said, “Those who get up at cockcrow and work tirelessly to do good follow Shun. Those who get up at cockcrow and work tirelessly for gain follow the robber Zhi. If you want to know the difference between Shun and Zhi, it is simply the difference between good and gain.”

13.26 Mencius said, “Yang Zhu favored looking after himself: he would not pull out one hair even if it benefited the whole world. Mozi favored equal love: he would wear himself out from head to heel if it benefited the whole world. Zi Mo held to a middle position, which was closer to the right way. But holding to the middle without judging each situation is as bad as clinging to one extreme. I dislike clinging to one principle because it harms the Way: it advances one thing at the expense of a hundred others.”

13.27 Mencius said, “Hungry people find any food delicious and thirsty people find any drink sweet, because hunger and thirst keep them from judging food and drink properly. But it is not just mouths and stomachs that hunger and thirst can harm. The human heart can be harmed too. If people keep this kind of craving from harming their hearts, they need not worry that they fall short of others.”

13.28 Mencius said, “Liuxia Hui would not have traded his principles for the rank of one of the three highest ministers.”

13.29 Mencius said, “Anyone who undertakes a task is like someone digging a well. If you dig nine ren deep without reaching water, you have still abandoned the well.”

13.30 Mencius said, “Yao and Shun were good by nature. Tang and King Wu made themselves good through effort. The five hegemons only borrowed the appearance of goodness. If someone borrows for so long without returning it, how can anyone tell that it does not really belong to him?”

13.31 Gongsun Chou said, “Yi Yin said, ‘I will not accept wrong conduct.’ He exiled Tai Jia to Tong, and the people were pleased. When Tai Jia grew worthy, Yi Yin brought him back, and the people were pleased again. So may a worthy minister exile his ruler if the ruler is unworthy?”Mencius said, “He may if his intentions are Yi Yin's. Without Yi Yin's intentions, it would be usurpation.”

13.32 Gongsun Chou said, “The Book of Songs says, ‘He does not eat without earning it.’ Why does a noble person eat without farming?”Mencius said, “If a noble person lives in a state and its ruler employs him, he helps bring peace, prosperity, honor, and dignity. If young people follow his example, they respect parents and older siblings and become loyal and trustworthy. What greater way is there to earn one's food?”

13.33 Prince Dian asked, “What is a man of service's work?”“To set his aims high,” said Mencius.“What does that mean?”“Nothing but kindness and rightness. Killing one innocent person is not kind; taking what does not belong to you is not right. Where should you live? In kindness. What road should you take? Rightness. Living in kindness and following rightness fulfills a great person's work.”

13.34 Mencius said, “Everyone believes Zhongzi would refuse the state of Qi if it were offered wrongly. But that is the kind of rightness shown in turning down a basket of food and a bowl of soup. No wrong is greater than denying the bonds of family, ruler and minister, and higher and lower. How could you infer that he would avoid that greater wrong because he avoids the smaller?”

13.35 Tao Ying asked, “If Shun were Son of Heaven, Gao Yao were chief judge, and Shun's father Gusou killed someone, what would happen?”“Gao Yao would arrest him.”“Would Shun not prevent that?”“How could Shun prevent it? The judge has his authority from its proper source.”“Then what would Shun do?”“He would think giving up the world was like throwing away a worn-out sandal. He would secretly carry his father away, settle with him by the sea, and happily spend the rest of his life there, forgetting the world.”

13.36 Traveling from Fan to Qi, Mencius saw a son of the king of Qi from afar and sighed. “Where a person lives changes his bearing, and what nourishes him changes his body. How powerful one's surroundings are! Yet isn't a prince simply another person's son?”Mencius said, “A prince has many things in common with other people: his rooms, carriages, horses, and clothes. Yet he looks different because of his position. Think how much more different a person might be who lived in the world's spacious home of kindness! Once when the ruler of Lu visited Song, he called out at the Dize gate. The guard said, ‘He isn't our ruler, but how much his voice resembles our ruler's!’ That was simply because their positions were alike.”

13.37 Mencius said, “To feed someone without caring for him is to treat him like a pig. To care for him without respecting him is to raise him like an animal. Respect is present even before a gift is offered. If it is only an empty show, a noble person cannot be held by it.”

13.38 Mencius said, “Our physical form and appearance are given by Heaven. Only a sage can fully live up to what his form makes possible.”

13.39 King Xuan of Qi wanted to shorten the mourning period. Gongsun Chou asked, “Wouldn't mourning for one year be better than doing away with mourning altogether?”Mencius replied, “That is like saying to someone who twists his brother's arm, ‘At least do it more gently.’ Instead, teach the king to respect parents and older siblings.”A prince whose mother had died asked through his tutor for permission to mourn for several months. Gongsun Chou asked, “What about someone like him?”“He wanted to complete the mourning period but could not. Even one extra day is better than none for him. I was speaking about someone free to mourn who chooses not to.”

13.40 Mencius said, “A noble person teaches in five ways: he changes someone as timely rain changes the earth; he helps someone complete his virtue; he develops someone's abilities; he answers someone's questions; and he allows someone who never studies with him to learn privately from his example. These are his five ways of teaching.”

13.41 Gongsun Chou said, “The Way is high and beautiful, but it seems like climbing to Heaven: out of reach. Why not bring it closer so people can work toward it each day?”Mencius said, “A master carpenter does not set aside his measuring line because an apprentice lacks skill. Yi did not change how fully a bow must be drawn because an apprentice could not shoot. A noble person draws the bow but does not release the arrow: he shows how to do it. He stands in the middle of the Way, and those who can follow him do.”

13.42 Mencius said, “When the Way prevails in the world, a person devotes himself to the Way. When it does not prevail, he sacrifices himself for the Way. I have never heard that someone should sacrifice the Way for a person.”

13.43 Gongduzi asked, “Teng Geng is a student here and seems entitled to respectful treatment. Why do you not answer him?”Mencius replied, “I do not answer people who ask questions relying on their rank, their abilities, their age, their achievements, or an old acquaintance. Teng Geng relies on two of those.”

13.44 Mencius said, “Those who stop doing something they should not give up will give up anything. Those who are ungenerous to the people closest to them will be ungenerous to anyone. People who rush into things fiercely also withdraw quickly.”

13.45 Mencius said, “A noble person cares for other living things, but does not care for them as he does for people. He shows kindness to the people, but not the closeness he feels for his relatives. He is close to his relatives, kind to the people, and caring toward other living things.”

13.46 Mencius said, “A wise person should know many things, but the urgent tasks come first. A kind person should care for everyone, but first become close to worthy people. Yao and Shun were wise without examining every thing, because they attended to urgent tasks. They were kind without being personally close to everyone, because they first drew worthy people near. If someone fails to mourn his parents for three years while scrutinizing minor mourning rites, or eats carelessly with food spilling from his mouth while worrying about not biting his meat with his teeth, he does not know what matters most.”