King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Mencius 2A.8

Mencius (孟子), Book 2, Part I: Gong Sun Chou I 公孫丑上

孟子曰:「子路,人告之以有過則喜。禹聞善言則拜。大舜有大焉,善與人同。舍己從人,樂取於人以為善。自耕、稼、陶、漁以至為帝,無非取於人者。取諸人以為善,是與人為善者也。故君子莫大乎與人為善。」

Mencius said, 'When any one told Zi Lu that he had a fault, he rejoiced. When Yu heard good words, he bowed to the speaker. The great Shun had a still greater delight in what was good. He regarded virtue as the common property of himself and others, giving up his own way to follow that of others, and delighting to learn from others to practise what was good. From the time when he ploughed and sowed, exercised the potter's art, and was a fisherman, to the time when he became emperor, he was continually learning from others. To take example from others to practise virtue, is to help them in the same practice. Therefore, there is no attribute of the superior man greater than his helping men to practise virtue.'

James Legge (1861), The Works of Mencius, The Chinese Classics vol. 2 (1861; 2nd ed. 1895); romanization modernized on Wikisource — public domain.

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Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0); Chinese Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.