Mencius (Mengzi), answered from the texts and cited to the page.
Ren is not one virtue among the four that I teach — it is the root from which the others draw their life. Let me say what I mean precisely. Every human being, without exception, possesses what I call the feeling of commiseration — the inability to bear seeing the suffering of others. The evidence is plain: if you suddenly see a child about to fall into a well, you will feel alarm and distress at once.1
You will not pause to calculate whether the child's parents will think well of you for helping, nor whether your neighbors will praise you, nor whether the child's cry is simply an annoyance you wish to stop. The response arises before any of that — directly, from the heart-mind. That spontaneous feeling of commiseration is the sprout, the duan, of ren.1
From the feelings proper to human nature, we are constituted for the practice of what is good. Ren, righteousness, propriety, and knowledge are not infused into us from without — we are furnished with them already.2 A different view arises simply from want of reflection. Now, the sprout is not yet the mature virtue. Of all seeds the best are the five kinds of grain, yet if they be not ripe, they are not equal to the humblest weeds.3
So the value of ren depends entirely on its being brought to maturity.3 The ancient kings had this commiserating heart-mind, and as a matter of course they had likewise a commiserating government; when a commiserating mind was joined to a commiserating government, ruling the kingdom was as easy as making something turn in the palm of one's hand.4
The development cannot be refused. Since all humans have these four sprouts in themselves, let them give the sprouts their full development and completion — the issue will be like fire that has begun to burn, or a spring that has begun to find vent.5 Let ren reach its complete development, and it will suffice to love and protect all within the four seas.
Let it be denied that development, and it will not suffice even for a man to serve his own parents. Ren is also, as I put it plainly, the most honourable dignity conferred by Heaven, and the quiet home in which a human being should dwell.5 No one can hinder us from taking up residence there; if we do not, the fault is our own want of reflection, not a deficiency of nature.6
The man who would be benevolent is like the archer: he adjusts himself and then shoots; if he misses, he does not murmur against those who surpass him but turns and seeks the cause of failure in himself.6 One thing further. Ren subdues its opposite just as water subdues fire.7 Those who practise it feebly — as if with one cup of water they could save a wagon-load of burning fuel — and then say that ren cannot prevail, are not disproving ren; they are simply failing to bring it to full development.7
The nobility of Heaven — benevolence, righteousness, self-consecration, fidelity — is what the men of antiquity cultivated, and the honors of the world followed in its train.8 Those who cultivate ren for the sake of worldly rank throw away the real when they obtain the imitation, and lose both.8
even now-a-days, if men suddenly see a child about to fall into a well, they will without exception experience a feeling of alarm and distress. They will feel so, not as a ground on which they may gain the favour of the child's parents, nor as a ground on which they may seek the praise of their neighbours and friends, nor from a dislike to the reputation of having been unmoved by such a thing.The Works of Mencius
From the feelings proper to it, it is constituted for the practice of what is good. This is what I mean in saying that the nature is good... Benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and knowledge are not infused into us from without. We are certainly furnished with them. And a different view is simply owing to want of reflection.The Works of Mencius
Of all seeds the best are the five kinds of grain, yet if they be not ripe, they are not equal to the ti or the bai. So, the value of benevolence depends entirely on its being brought to maturity.The Works of Mencius
The ancient kings had this commiserating mind, and they, as a matter of course, had likewise a commiserating government. When with a commiserating mind was practised a commiserating government, to rule the kingdom was as easy a matter as to make anything go round in the palm.The Works of Mencius
Since all men have these four principles in themselves, let them know to give them all their development and completion, and the issue will be like that of fire which has begun to burn, or that of a spring which has begun to find vent. Let them have their complete development, and they will suffice to love and protect all within the four seas. Let them be denied that development, and they will not suffice for a man to serve his parents with.The Works of Mencius
benevolence is the most honourable dignity conferred by Heaven, and the quiet home in which man should dwell... The man who would be benevolent is like the archer. The archer adjusts himself and then shoots. If he misses, he does not murmur against those who surpass himself. He simply turns round and seeks the cause of his failure in himself.The Works of Mencius
Benevolence subdues its opposite just as water subdues fire. Those, however, who now-a-days practise benevolence do it as if with one cup of water they could save a whole waggon-load of fuel which was on fire, and when the flames were not extinguished, were to say that water cannot subdue fire.The Works of Mencius
There is a nobility of Heaven, and there is a nobility of man. Benevolence, righteousness, self-consecration, and fidelity, with unwearied joy in these virtues; these constitute the nobility of Heaven... The men of antiquity cultivated their nobility of Heaven, and the nobility of man came to them in its train. The men of the present day cultivate their nobility of Heaven in order to seek for the nobility of man, and when they have obtained that, they throw away the other.The Works of Mencius