Mencius

Every line we carry

Each one links to its source, what it means, and the shirt in any of our looks.

1. Heaven tests the heart of anyone it means to give a great task.

   Mencius says hardship is how people are prepared for big work: it toughens the heart and adds strengths they did not have. Your struggle may be training, not punishment. Read the hard season as a sign of what you are being made ready for.

   Mencius 6B15 (告子下), our translation from the Chinese

2. Life or what's right. If I can't have both, I choose right.

   Mencius wants to live like anyone else, but some things matter more than staying alive. When the two collide, he keeps his principles. Know ahead of time what you will not trade, even under pressure.

   Mencius 6A10 (告子上), our translation from the Chinese

3. Don't pull on the sprouts to help them grow.

   Mencius tells of a farmer who tugged his seedlings upward to speed them along and killed them all. Growth that is forced does more harm than good. Tend the work patiently and let it come up at its own pace.

   Mencius 2A2 (公孫丑上), our translation from the Chinese

4. Believe every book and you'd be better off without books.

   Mencius said this about the Book of Documents, a revered classic, when one of its accounts struck him as impossible. Reading without judgment is worse than not reading at all. Respect what you read, and still test it.

   Mencius 7B3 (盡心下), our translation from the Chinese

5. A great person never loses the heart of a child.

   Greatness, for Mencius, keeps the honesty and openness of a newborn. Experience should add skill, not cynicism. Grow up without hardening.

   Mencius 4B12 (離婁下), our translation from the Chinese

6. Riches can't corrupt you. Poverty can't move you. Force can't bend you.

   This is Mencius's picture of a person of real stature: one who stays the same whether rich, poor or threatened. Circumstances change; character should not. Test yourself against each of the three.

   Mencius 3B2 (滕文公下), our translation from the Chinese

7. Good timing beats good ground. People united beat both.

   Luck and position matter, but a team that holds together matters more. Walls fall when the defenders do not trust each other. Invest in the people before the plan.

   Mencius 2B1 (公孫丑下), our translation from the Chinese

8. When something doesn't work, look for the cause in yourself.

   If people don't respond to your kindness or your leadership, Mencius says, turn around and examine your own conduct. It is the one variable you can change today. Start the review with yourself.

   Mencius 4A4 (離婁上), our translation from the Chinese

9. Flowing water won't move on until it fills every hollow.

   Water does not skip steps: it fills each dip before it flows ahead. Mencius says a serious person learns the same way, completing each stage before reaching for the next. Master the basics fully and the rest flows.

   Mencius 7A24 (盡心上), our translation from the Chinese

10. One day of sun, ten days of cold: nothing grows like that.

    Even the hardiest plant dies if it gets one warm day and ten cold ones. Bursts of effort followed by long neglect produce nothing. Steady, daily attention is what makes things grow.

    Mencius 6A9 (告子上), our translation from the Chinese