Mencius 6A.15
Mencius (孟子), Book 6, Part I: Gaozi I 告子上
公都子問曰：「鈞是人也，或為大人，或為小人，何也？」孟子曰：「從其大體為大人，從其小體為小人。」曰：「鈞是人也，或從其大體，或從其小體，何也？」曰：「耳目之官不思，而蔽於物，物交物，則引之而已矣。心之官則思，思則得之，不思則不得也。此天之所與我者，先立乎其大者，則其小者弗能奪也。此為大人而已矣。」
The disciple Gong Du said, 'All are equally men, but some are great men, and some are little men - how is this?'
Mencius replied, 'Those who follow that part of themselves which is great are great men; those who follow that part which is little are little men.'
Gong Du pursued, 'All are equally men, but some follow that part of themselves which is great, and some follow that part which is little - how is this?'
Mencius answered, 'The senses of hearing and seeing do not think, and are obscured by external things. When one thing comes into contact with another, as a matter of course it leads it away. To the mind belongs the office of thinking. By thinking, it gets the right view of things; by neglecting to think, it fails to do this. These - the senses and the mind - are what Heaven has given to us. Let a man first stand fast in the supremacy of the nobler part of his constitution, and the inferior part will not be able to take it from him. It is simply this which makes the great man.'
Character glossary
- 公gōngfair, equitable; public; duke
- 都dōuall, each, entirely, whole; metropolis;
- 子zison, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thin
- 問wènto ask about, to inquire after
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 鈞jūnunit of weight equal to thirty catties;
- 是shìto be; indeed, right, yes; okay
- 人rénman, person; people
- 也yěalso, too
- 或huòor, either, else; maybe, perhaps, possib
- 為wèito do, to act; to handle, to govern; to
- 大dàbig, great, vast, high, deep
- 小xiǎosmall, tiny, insignificant
- 何héwhat, why, where, which, how
- 孟mèngfirst in a series; great, eminent
- 從cóngfrom, by, since, whence, through
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 體tǐbody; group, class; form, style, system
- 耳ěrear; to hear, to hear of; handle
- 目mùeye; to look, to see; division, topic
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 官guānofficial, public servant
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 思sīto think, to ponder, to consider; final
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 蔽bìto cover, to hide, to shelter
- 於yúat, in, on; to, from; alas!
- 物wùthing, substance, matter; creature
- 交jiāoto connect; to deliver, to exchange; to
- 則zérule, law, regulation; grades
- 引yǐnto pull, to stretch; to draw; to attract
- 已yǐalready; finished; to stop; then, afterw
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
- 心xīnheart; mind; soul
- 得déto obtain, to get, to acquire; suitable,
- 此cǐthis, these; in this case, then
- 天tiānsky, heaven; god, celestial
- 所suǒplace, location; "that which", a particl
- 與yǔand; with; to; for; to give, to grant
- 我wǒI, me, my; our, us
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 先xiānfirst, former, previous
- 立lìto stand; to establish, to set up
- 乎hūinterrogative or exclamatory final parti
- 弗fúnot, negative
- 能néngcan, may; capable, full of energy
- 奪duóto rob, to snatch, to take by force
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi Self-Conceit
- Zhuangzi Mountain Trees
- Zhuangzi The Universe
- Zhuangzi The Empire
- Zhuangzi Tien Tzŭ Fang
- The Doctrine of the Mean Passage 22
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.