Here is a man whose desires are few. In some things he will not be able to maintain his resolution, but they will be few. Here is a man whose desires are many. In some things he will be able to maintain his resolution, but they will be few.

Mencius

About Mencius

Portrait of Mencius

Mencius ( MEN-shee-əs); born Meng Ke (Chinese: 孟軻); or Mengzi (Chinese: 孟子; 372–289 BC) was a Chinese Confucian philosopher who has often been described as the "second Sage" (亞聖), that is, second to Confucius himself. He is part of Confucius' fourth generation of disciples. Mencius inherited Confucius' ideology and developed...

More quotations from Mencius