Q0456

“Treat the elders of your own family with reverence, and extend that…” — Mencius (Mencius, Liang Hui Wang I)

Verified English quotation. Primary source: Mencius, Liang Hui Wang I. Theme: love.

English

Treat the elders of your own family with reverence, and extend that to the elders of others; treat your own young with kindness, and extend that to the young of others.
Thinker Mencius
School Confucianism
Source Mencius, Liang Hui Wang I
Theme Love
Another quotation More from this thinker

Source and attribution

The archive attributes this English wording to Mencius, Liang Hui Wang I and files it under Confucianism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.

About Mencius

Mencius (Meng Ke, c. 371–c.

How to read this passage

Greek distinctions among eros, philia, and agape, Confucian relational ethics, and modern debates about romantic love keep the theme philosophically precise rather than merely sentimental. This passage enters that discussion through love.

Concepts in this quote

Love
Love in philosophy ranges from friendship and desire to care, justice, and the transformation of the self.

How to cite this quotation

APA: Mencius. (n.d.). Treat the elders of your own family with reverence, and extend that to the elders of others; treat your own young with kindness, and extend that to the young of others. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0456

MLA: Mencius. “Treat the elders of your own family with….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0456.

Chicago: Mencius. “Treat the elders of your own family with….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0456.

Frequently asked questions

What is the source of the quotation “Treat the elders of your own family with…”?

The passage is attributed to Mencius, Mencius, Liang Hui Wang I. The archive attributes this English wording to Mencius, Liang Hui Wang I and files it under Confucianism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.

What does Mencius mean by love?

Greek distinctions among eros, philia, and agape, Confucian relational ethics, and modern debates about romantic love keep the theme philosophically precise rather than merely sentimental. This passage enters that discussion through love.

Same thinker

More from Mencius

  1. From this we know that we survive through adversity, and perish in ease and pleasure.
  2. Thus, when Heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on someone, it first afflicts his mind and will, exhausts his muscles and bones, starves his body, subjects him to poverty, and confounds his undertakings — so as to stir his mind, harden his nature, and increase his capacities.
  3. Mencius said: In obscurity, cultivate yourself alone; when successful, bring goodness to all under Heaven.
  4. Mencius said: Those who love others are constantly loved by others; those who respect others are constantly respected by others.
  5. Those who have the Way receive much help; those who lose the Way receive little help.

All quotations by Mencius

Same theme

More on love

  1. Love is the desire for the perpetual possession of the good.
  2. A friend is another self.
  3. If you wish to be loved, love.
  4. Late have I loved you, beauty so ancient and so new, late have I loved you!
  5. Compassion is the basis of morality.

Browse the love theme