"Fish, what I want, bear's paw, what I want; You can't have your cake and eat it. You can't have your cake and eat it. Life is what I want, and righteousness is what I want; You can't have both, and those who give up their lives are also righteous. " Mencius made an analogy with specific things familiar in people's lives: fish is what I want, and bear's paw is what I want. I'd rather give up fish than bear's paw if I can't get both at the same time; I cherish life and righteousness. In the case that I can't get both at the same time, I'd rather give up my life and get the essence. Here, Mencius compared life to a fish and righteousness to a bear's paw, thinking that righteousness is more precious than life, just as bear's paw is more precious than fish.

This article is taken from Mencius Gaozi. The main content of Gao Zi Shang is to clarify the theory of "goodness in nature", that is, there are seeds of goodness in human nature and everyone has the so-called "compassion"; Everyone has a heart of shame and evil; Everyone has a respectful heart; Everyone has a right and wrong heart. "This kind nature is people's' initial heart'. "initial heart" should not be underestimated, because they are the embryonic forms of morality such as benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom: "compassion is the end of benevolence; The heart of shame and evil, the end of righteousness; The heart of resignation (meaning close to "respect") is the end of the ceremony; The heart of right and wrong is the end of righteousness. "People should infer their true nature, develop in the direction of' true nature' and carry it forward, so as to become morally perfect people. Therefore, in the full text of Xia, this article is about everyone's "initial heart", and no matter what the circumstances, people should keep their "initial heart". As long as the "initial heart" exists, even in the death battle, people can stand the test; And if you lose your "sincerity", people will do things that are detrimental to your personality.

1. Because if you want bear's paw, you have to fight in the mountains, and if you want fish, you have to fish in the water. You can't have both.

The original intention of this sentence is not to say that you can't have both, but to emphasize how we should choose if you can't have both.

Mencius' original words were: "You can't have your cake and eat it. I want bear's paw, not fish. "