"Fish, what I want, bear's paw, what I want; You can't have your cake and eat it. It's what I want, and it's what I want. You can't have both, but you have to give up your life for justice. " Mencius made an analogy with specific things that people are familiar with in life: 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. If I can't get both at the same time, I would rather give up my life to 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 Gao Zi. Gao Zishang's main content is to clarify the theory of "good nature", that is, there are seeds of good in human nature, and the so-called "compassion" is for everyone; Everyone has a heart of shame and evil; Everyone has a respectful heart; Everyone has a heart of right and wrong. " This kind of goodness is the' initial heart' of human beings. ""initial heart "should not be underestimated, because they are the budding forms of morality such as benevolence, 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 also the end of righteousness. "People should infer the true nature, develop in the direction of the true nature, and carry it forward, so as to become morally perfect people. Therefore, in the full text of Gao Zixia, this article is about everyone's initial heart. Under any circumstances, people should keep their "initial heart". As long as you are "original", 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 are: "I want what I want, I want what I want, and I can't have both." I want bear's paw, not fish. " He used fish and bear's paw to compare the balance between "life" and "righteousness": "Life, what I want, righteousness, and what I want cannot have both, so I want righteousness but not life."
So you can have your cake and eat it, without conflict.