Small Integrity and Greater Obligations

English translation

Mencius said, “If the state of Qi were offered to Zhongzi unjustly, he would refuse it, and people trust him for that. Yet this is only the lesser integrity shown in refusing a basket of food and a bowl of broth. Among human relationships, nothing is more serious than abandoning the bonds of kin, ruler and minister, and social superiors and inferiors. How can we infer his greater integrity from a lesser matter?”