Mozi Quotes on Politics
Mozi (c. 470–391 BC) and the Mohist school he founded developed the principal early rival to Confucian political and ethical thought. The doctrine of universal love (jian'ai) — equal concern for all persons regardless of family, clan, or state — is justified consequentially: only universal love can prevent the cycle of partisan conflict that produces the wars, famines, and oppressions Mozi catalogued. The political philosophy is correspondingly authoritarian-meritocratic — agreement upward with the worthiest available ruler under heaven — and the program of ten doctrines includes the criticisms of fatalism, elaborate ritual, and offensive war that the Mohist canon spelled out at length. The school was eclipsed under the Han but its consequentialist framework anticipates much of modern utilitarian political thought.
Quotes
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Attributed to Mozi:
“Universal love and mutual benefit produce order; partial love and mutual hatred produce disorder.”
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“If everyone in the world will love universally, states not attacking one another and houses not disturbing one another, would this be a calamity?”
Book 4; Universal Love I -
Attributed to Mozi:
“When everyone regards the states of others as he regards his own, who will attack the others?”
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Attributed to Mozi:
“The benefit of the people is the standard.”
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Attributed to Mozi:
“Music is delightful, but it cannot feed the hungry or clothe the cold.”
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Attributed to Mozi:
“To kill one man is to be guilty of a capital crime; to kill ten men is to increase the guilt tenfold; to kill a hundred men is to increase it a hundredfold. But to kill ten thousand men in war is called righteousness.”
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Attributed to Mozi:
“It is the business of the benevolent man to seek to promote what is beneficial to the world and to eliminate what is harmful.”
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“If one does not preserve the learned in a state he will be injuring the state ; if one is not zealous (to recommend) the virtuous upon seeing one, he will be neglecting the ruler. Enthusiasm is to be shown only to the virtuous, and plans for the country are only to be shared with the learned. Few are those, who, neglecting the virtuous and slighting the learned, could still maintain the existence of their countries.”
Book 1; Befriending the Learned | Variant translation: To enter upon rulership of a country but not preserve its scholars will result in the downfall of the country. To see the worthy but not hasten to them will make the country's ruler less able to perform his duties. To the unworthy is due no attention. The ignorant should remain without inclusion in the state's affairs. To impede the virtuous a -
“Variant translation: To enter upon rulership of a country but not preserve its scholars will result in the downfall of the country. To see the worthy but not hasten to them will make the country's ruler less able to perform his duties. To the unworthy is due no attention. The ignorant should remain without inclusion in the state's affairs. To impede the virtuous and neglect the scholarly and still maintain the survival of the state has yet to be, indeed.”
If one does not preserve the learned in a state he will be injuring the state ; if one is not zealous (to recommend) the virtuous upon seeing one, he will be neglecting the ruler. Enthusiasm is to be shown only to the virtuous, and plans for the country are only to be shared with the learned. Few are those, who, neglecting the virtuous and slighting the learned, could still maintain the existence