Skip to content

Tsze-Kung asked Confucius, saying, "Master, are you a sage?" Confucius answered him: "A sage is what I cannot rise to. I learn without satiety, and teach without being tired." Tsze-Kung said: "You learn without satiety: that shows your wisdom. You teach without being tired: that shows your benevolence. Benevolent and wise:— Master, you are a sage."

— Mencius Attributed Pebbles, Pearls and Gems of the Orient (1882)

Another quote →

More quotes by Mencius

The way of learning is none other than finding the lost mind.

He who exerts his mind to the utmost knows his nature.

The great man is the one who does not lose his child's heart.

The great man is he who does not lose his child's heart.

Having these Four Beginnings, but saying that they cannot develop them is to destroy themselves.

All Mencius quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Mencius (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.