Knowing What Matters First

English translation

Mencius said, “The wise know all things, yet regard attending to urgent duties as most pressing; the humane love all people, yet make drawing near to the worthy their first priority. Yao and Shun did not apply their wisdom to every object, because they attended first to what mattered most. Their humane concern did not extend equally to everyone, because they first drew near to the worthy. To fail to observe three years of mourning while minutely scrutinizing the lighter mourning grades of three months and five months; to gulp down food and drink noisily, yet ask whether one may bite food off with one’s teeth—this is what it means not to know priorities.”