Mencius 4A.20
Mencius (孟子), Book 4, Part I: Li Lou I 離婁上
孟子曰：「人不足與適也，政不足間也。惟大人為能格君心之非。君仁莫不仁，君義莫不義，君正莫不正。一正君而國定矣。」
Mencius said, 'It is not enough to remonstrate with a sovereign on account of the mal-employment of ministers, nor to blame errors of government. It is only the great man who can rectify what is wrong in the sovereign's mind. Let the prince be benevolent, and all his acts will be benevolent. Let the prince be righteous, and all his acts will be righteous. Let the prince be correct, and everything will be correct. Once rectify the ruler, and the kingdom will be firmly settled.'
James Legge (1861), The Works of Mencius, The Chinese Classics vol. 2 (1861; 2nd ed. 1895); romanization modernized on Wikisource — public domain.
Character glossary
- 孟mèngfirst in a series; great, eminent
- 子zison, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thin
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 人rénman, person; people
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 足zúfoot; to attain, to satisfy; enough
- 與yǔand; with; to; for; to give, to grant
- 適shìmatch, comfortable; just
- 也yěalso, too
- 政zhènggovernment, politics
- 間jiānbetween, among; midpoint; space, place,
- 惟wéibut, however, nevertheless; only
- 大dàbig, great, vast, high, deep
- 為wèito do, to act; to handle, to govern; to
- 能néngcan, may; capable, full of energy
- 格géform, pattern, standard
- 君jūnsovereign, ruler, prince, monarch, chief
- 心xīnheart; mind; soul
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 非fēinot, negative, non-; to oppose
- 仁rénbenevolent, humane, kind
- 莫mòcannot; do not; is not; negative
- 義yìright conduct, propriety; justice
- 正zhèngstraight, right, proper, correct, just,
- 一yīone; a, an; alone
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 國guócountry, nation, state; national
- 定dìngto decide, to fix, to settle; to order;
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
Passages with shared wording
- Mencius 4B.5
- Zhuangzi Kêng Sang Ch’u
- Zhuangzi Autumn Floods
- Zhuangzi The Universe
- Analects 9.29
- Zhuangzi Man Among Men
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.