The Great Person and the Small Person
Text
English translation
Original Chinese text
公都子问曰:“钧是人也,或为大人,或为小人,何也?”
English translation
Gongduzi asked, “People are alike in being human, yet some become great people and others petty people. Why?”
Original Chinese text
孟子曰:“从其大体为大人,从其小体为小人。”
English translation
Mencius replied, “Those who follow what is great in themselves become great people; those who follow what is small become petty people.”
Original Chinese text
曰:“钧是人也,或从其大体,或从其小体,何也?”
English translation
Gongduzi asked, “If people are alike in being human, why do some follow what is great in themselves while others follow what is small?”
Original Chinese text
曰:“耳目之官不思,而蔽于物。物交物,则引之而已矣。心之官则思;思则得之,不思则不得也。此天之所与我者,先立乎其大者,则其小者不能夺也。此为大人而已矣。”
English translation
Mencius said, “The senses of hearing and sight do not think and are easily obscured by things. When one thing encounters another, the senses are simply drawn along by it. The heart, by contrast, can think: through thought it gains insight; without thought it gains nothing. This capacity is what Heaven has given us. If one first establishes what is great within, what is small cannot take it away. That is all it means to be a great person.”