{"id":209,"date":"2011-04-13T19:59:00","date_gmt":"2011-04-13T19:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2011\/04\/whats-wrong-with-the-country-in-a-nutshell\/"},"modified":"2011-11-01T15:02:55","modified_gmt":"2011-11-01T19:02:55","slug":"whats-wrong-with-the-country-in-a-nutshell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2011\/04\/whats-wrong-with-the-country-in-a-nutshell.html","title":{"rendered":"What’s Wrong With the Country, in a Nutshell"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
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Mencius went to see King Hui of Liang.<\/p>\n

The king said, \u201cVenerable sir, since you have not counted it far to come here, a distance of a thousand li, may I presume that you are provided with counsels to profit my kingdom?\u201d<\/p>\n

Mencius replied, \u201cWhy must your Majesty use that word \u2018profit?\u2019 What I am provided with, are counsels to benevolence and righteousness, and these are my only topics.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf your Majesty say, \u2018What is to be done to profit my kingdom?\u2019 the great officers will say, \u2018What is to be done to profit our families?\u2019 and the inferior officers and the common people will say, \u2018What is to be done to profit our persons?\u2019 Superiors and inferiors will try to snatch this profit the one from the other, and the kingdom will be endangered\u2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet your Majesty also say, \u2018Benevolence and righteousness, and let these be your only themes.\u2019 Why must you use that word \u2014 \u2018profit\u2019 ?\u201d \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/blockquote>\n
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<\/blockquote>\n

Mencius<\/em>, Book 1, part A, chapters 1-4, 6. Trans. James Legge.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

Thank you Dan Harper<\/a> for the quote! So, true, so sadly true\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mencius went to see King Hui of Liang. The king said, \u201cVenerable sir, since you have not counted it far to come here, a distance of a thousand li, may I presume that you are provided with counsels to profit my kingdom?\u201d Mencius replied, \u201cWhy must your Majesty use that word \u2018profit?\u2019 What I am […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat's Wrong With the Country, in a Nutshell<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mencius went to see King Hui of Liang.The king said, \u201cVenerable sir, since you have not counted it far to come here, a distance of a thousand li, may I\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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