Mencius 7B.35
Mencius (孟子), Book 7, Part II: Jin Xin II 盡心下
孟子曰：「養心莫善於寡欲。其為人也寡欲，雖有不存焉者，寡矣；其為人也多欲，雖有存焉者，寡矣。」
Mencius said, 'To nourish the mind there is nothing better than to make the desires few. Here is a man whose desires are few - in some things he may not be able to keep his heart, but they will be few. Here is a man whose desires are many - in some things he may be able to keep his heart, but they will be few.'
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
- 養yǎngto raise, to rear, to bring up; to suppo
- 心xīnheart; mind; soul
- 莫mòcannot; do not; is not; negative
- 善shàngood, virtuous, charitable, kind
- 於yúat, in, on; to, from; alas!
- 寡guǎwidowed; friendless, alone
- 欲yùdesire, want, longing, intent
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 為wèito do, to act; to handle, to govern; to
- 人rénman, person; people
- 也yěalso, too
- 雖suīalthough, even though
- 有yǒuto have, to own, to possess; to exist
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 存cúnto exist; to survive, to maintain; to ke
- 焉yānwhy? where? how?; strange; thereupon, th
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
- 多duōmuch, many, multi-; more than, over
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi Mountain Trees
- Zhuangzi The Identity of Contraries
- Mencius 3A.3
- Zhuangzi The Evidence of Virtue Complete
- Mencius 2A.1
- Mencius 2A.2
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.