Mencius said: "The forests were once lovely on
Ox Mountain. But as they were near a great
city,
axes cleared them little by little. Now there's nothing left of their
beauty. They rest
day and night,
rain and
dew falling in plenty, and there's no lack of fresh
sprouts. But people graze
oxen and
sheep there, so the
mountain is stripped bare. When people see how bare it is, they think that's all the potential it has. But does that mean this is the
nature of Ox Mountain?
Without the heart of Humanity and Duty alive in us, how can we be human? When we abandon this noble heart, its like cutting those forests: a few axe blows each day, and pretty soon there's nothing left. Then you can rest day and night in the clarity of morning's healing chi - but the values that make you human keep thinning away. All day long you're tangled in your life. If these tangles keep up day after day, even the clarity of night's healing chi isn't enough to preserve you. And if the clarity of night's healing chi isn't enough to preserve you, you aren't much different from an animal. When people see you like an animal, they think that's all the potential you have. But does that mean this is the human constitution?
With proper sustenance, anything will grow; and without proper sustenance, anything will fade away. Confucius said: Embrace it and it endures. Forsake it and it dies. It comes and goes without warning, and no one knows its route. He was speaking of the heart."
(XI.8)