Mencius 7A.17
Mencius (孟子), Book 7, Part I: Jin Xin I 盡心上
孟子曰：「無為其所不為，無欲其所不欲，如此而已矣。」
Mencius said, 'Let a man not do what his own sense of righteousness tells him not to do, and let him not desire what his sense of righteousness tells him not to desire - to act thus is all he has to do.'
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
- 無wúno, not; lacking, -less
- 為wèito do, to act; to handle, to govern; to
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 所suǒplace, location; "that which", a particl
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 欲yùdesire, want, longing, intent
- 如rúas, as if, like, such as, supposing
- 此cǐthis, these; in this case, then
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 已yǐalready; finished; to stop; then, afterw
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
Passages with shared wording
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 3
- Mencius 6B.6
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 37
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 48
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 63
- Mencius 5B.7
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.