Single Idea 8238

[catalogued under 25. Social Practice / E. Policies / 1. War / e. Peace]

Full Idea

Your desire to extend your territory by war, in order to bring peace, is like looking for fish by climbing a tree.

Gist of Idea

Seeking peace through war is like looking for fish up a tree

Source

Mengzi (Mencius) (The Mengzi (Mencius) [c.332 BCE], 1.A.7)

Book Reference

Mencius: 'Mencius', ed/tr. Lau,D.C. [Penguin 1970], p.57


A Reaction

Mencius had a flair for analogies. Just occasionally I suppose he might be wrong on this point, but I would think that experiments in the laboratory of history have shown that he is right in nearly all cases.