Why Speak of Gain?
Text
English translation
Original Chinese text
孟子见梁惠王。王曰:‘叟!不远千里而来,亦将有以利吾国乎?’
English translation
Mencius met King Hui of Liang. The king asked, ‘Elder sir, you have come a thousand li, undeterred by the distance. Do you have something that will benefit my state?’
Original Chinese text
孟子对曰:‘王!何必曰利?亦有仁义而已矣。’
English translation
Mencius replied, ‘Your Majesty, why begin with gain? Benevolence and what is right should be enough.’
Original Chinese text
王曰:‘何以利吾国?’大夫曰:‘何以利吾家?’士庶人曰:‘何以利吾身?’上下交征利而国危矣。
English translation
If the king asks how his state can profit, his high ministers will ask how their houses and fiefs can profit, and the lower-ranking officers and commoners how they themselves can profit. When every rank competes for gain, the state is endangered.
Original Chinese text
万乘之国,弑其君者,必千乘之家;千乘之国,弑其君者,必百乘之家。万取千焉,千取百焉,不为不多矣。
English translation
In a state of ten thousand war chariots, it is a house with a thousand chariots that would kill its ruler; in a state of a thousand, it is a house with a hundred. A thousand out of ten thousand, or a hundred out of a thousand, is no small share.
Original Chinese text
苟为后义而先利,不夺不餍。
English translation
If they put what is right after gain, they will not be satisfied until they usurp their ruler's position.
Original Chinese text
未有仁而遗其亲者也,未有义而后其君者也。王亦曰仁义而已矣,何必曰利?
English translation
No one who is benevolent abandons their close kin; no one who acts rightly neglects their ruler. Your Majesty, speak of benevolence and what is right. Why speak of gain?