- Lived:
- c. 372–289 BCE (traditional dates) · the small state of Zou, in eastern China, near Confucius' home state of Lu
- Tradition:
- Confucian — the "Second Sage," the man who turned Confucius' scattered teachings into a theory of human nature
- The Big Idea:
- Human nature is innately good. Morality isn't imposed on us from outside; it grows from tender sprouts of feeling that every person is born with — and that every person must cultivate or lose.
- In their words:
- "The tendency of man's nature to good is like the tendency of water to flow downwards."
- If you remember one thing:
- Anyone — anyone — who sees a child about to fall into a well feels a jolt of alarm before they have time to calculate. Mencius built an entire moral and political philosophy on that half-second.