| | 告子上: |
公都子問曰：「鈞是人也，或為大人，或為小人，何也？」 |
| Gaozi I: |
The disciple Gong Du said, 'All are equally men, but some are great men, and some are little men - how is this?' |
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孟子曰：「從其大體為大人，從其小體為小人。」 |
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Mencius replied, 'Those who follow that part of themselves which is great are great men; those who follow that part which is little are little men.' |
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曰：「鈞是人也，或從其大體，或從其小體，何也？」 |
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Gong Du pursued, 'All are equally men, but some follow that part of themselves which is great, and some follow that part which is little - how is this?' |
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曰：「耳目之官不思，而蔽於物，物交物，則引之而已矣。心之官則思，思則得之，不思則不得也。此天之所與我者，先立乎其大者，則其小者弗能奪也。此為大人而已矣。」 |
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Mencius answered, 'The senses of hearing and seeing do not think, and are obscured by external things. When one thing comes into contact with another, as a matter of course it leads it away. To the mind belongs the office of thinking. By thinking, it gets the right view of things; by neglecting to think, it fails to do this. These - the senses and the mind - are what Heaven has given to us. Let a man first stand fast in the supremacy of the nobler part of his constitution, and the inferior part will not be able to take it from him. It is simply this which makes the great man.' |
