Jin Xin I · Passage 25 / 46 · 孟子 7A.25
Mencius 7A.25: rising at cockcrow to pursue goodness
Mencius locates the difference between Shun and the robber Zhi in what a person earnestly devotes himself to every day: goodness or profit.
孟子曰：「雞鳴而起，孳孳為善者，舜之徒也。雞鳴而起，孳孳為利者，跖之徒也。欲知舜與跖之分，無他，利與善之間也。」
Mencius said, 'He who rises at cock-crowing and addresses himself earnestly to the practice of virtue, is a disciple of Shun. He who rises at cock-crowing, and addresses himself earnestly to the pursuit of gain, is a disciple of Zhi. If you want to know what separates Shun from Zhi, it is simply this: the interval between the thought of gain and the thought of virtue.'
Priority note
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Central question
Why does Mencius say that the difference between Shun and Zhi lies simply between goodness and profit?
Direct answer
Because what finally forms a person is not effort by itself, but the direction into which effort is repeatedly poured. A life organized around profit trains one kind of heart; a life organized around goodness trains another.
First principle
The deepest differences between people often emerge not from rare dramatic moments, but from the daily direction of repeated effort.
Why it matters
This passage serves searches around profit and goodness, daily self-cultivation, and Mencius on moral formation. It carries the distinction of 1A.1 down into ordinary habit.
Further reading
What this passage is doing
This is passage 25 of 46 in Jin Xin I. The cleanest entry point is "He who rises at cock-crowing and addresses himself…". In context, it works as part of Mencius's argument about exhausting the heart, sincerity, and preserving the original heart and can be read alongside Human nature.
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Jin Xin I centers on exhausting the heart, sincerity, and preserving the capacities already given in the human heart.
Related principles
Citation note
Do not read it as a blanket rejection of work or economic activity. Mencius is asking what language finally governs the life: profit as master, or goodness as master.