Virtue
There are two extremes to everything. There is a very high (usually good) and a very low (usually bad). In order to attain virtue, you must not be the high or the low, but you should be in the middle of the two. In book 7A26.1, Mengzi describes a situation including a high and a low extreme and why it is best to stay in the middle instead of sticking to one extreme.
“Mengzi said, “Yang Zhu favored being ‘for oneself.” If plucking out one hair from his body would have benefited the whole world, he would not do it” (Book 7A26.1). This would be an example of the low extreme in the situation. If Yang Zhu had the opportunity to do something so small to help the entire world, he wouldn’t do it because he only cares about himself. It
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If I had a small and easy opportunity to help many people, I would most likely do it, but I know it is not my responsibility to take care of everyone else in the world. If I was asked to give up everything I have to help a lot of people, I would not do it. I am not selfish, but I do not believe that I should give up myself completely to help other people. I feel that every human is just as important as the rest, and one should not have to sacrifice themselves for everyone else. If you sacrifice yourself for everyone else, you won’t get a chance at life like they will, and you will miss out on many things. One of the letters from Aristotle and the late Pythagorean Women mentioned harmonia. This is another way of describing virtue. In this letter from Theano to Eubole, Theano is telling Eubole the consequences of raising her kids to either extreme. He told her that if she gives them everything they want, they will not know what it is like to not have them, and they will seem essential to life. He mentioned how poor children don’t grow up with luxury, and they grow just as much and even become stronger because they had it so much harder. It is also a bad idea for her to raise her kids in a very strict manner where they are told everything they do is wrong. This would give them a huge lack of confidence later in life. “It would go against harmonia to only raise a child giving them every pleasure and smiling at