Near Words, Far-Reaching Meaning

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孟（mèng）子（zǐ）曰（yuē）：（）“（）言（yán）近（jìn）而（ér）指（zhǐ）远（yuǎn）者（zhě），（）善（shàn）言（yán）也（yě）；（）守（shǒu）约（yuē）而（ér）施（shī）博（bó）者（zhě），（）善（shàn）道（dào）也（yě）。（）君（jūn）子（zǐ）之（zhī）言（yán）也（yě），（）不（bù）下（xià）带（dài）而（ér）道（dào）存（cún）焉（yān）。（）君（jūn）子（zǐ）之（zhī）守（shǒu），（）修（xiū）其（qí）身（shēn）而（ér）天（tiān）下（xià）平（píng）。（）人（rén）病（bìng）舍（shě）其（qí）田（tián）而（ér）芸（yún）人（rén）之（zhī）田（tián），（）所（suǒ）求（qiú）于（yú）人（rén）者（zhě）重（zhòng），（）而（ér）所（suǒ）以（yǐ）自（zì）任（rèn）者（zhě）轻（qīng）。（）”（）

Mencius said, “Good words begin with what is close at hand yet point to far-reaching meaning; a good way holds to a few essentials yet can be applied broadly. Even when a noble person speaks of what is close at hand, the Way is present in his words. By cultivating himself, he can bring peace to the realm. People err when they abandon their own fields to weed someone else’s: they demand much of others while taking little responsibility themselves.”

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Near Words, Far-Reaching Meaning

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