Holding the Mean with Judgment

English translation

Mencius said, “Yang Zhu chose self-interest: even if plucking one hair could benefit the whole world, he would not do it. Mozi advocated equal concern for all: if wearing his body away from crown to heel could benefit the world, he would do it. Zimo held to the middle, which seems closer to the right course. But to cling to the middle without weighing circumstances is still to cling to one fixed point. What is objectionable about such fixation is that it harms the Way: it seizes on one point and abandons a hundred others.”