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仁、義、禮、智四德的端始、萌芽。孟子認(rèn)為仁、義、禮、智根于心。惻隱之心是仁之端，羞惡之心是義之端，辭讓之心是禮之端，是非之心是智之端。“四端”是每一個(gè)人天生所具有的，是人之所以為人的本質(zhì)特征。人只要充分?jǐn)U充、發(fā)揮自己內(nèi)心所固有的善端，就能夠成就仁、義、禮、智四德，從而成為君子乃至圣人。
The four initiators are buds of four virtues: ren (仁), yi (義), li (禮), and zhi (智), or roughly benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom, which Mencius believed were all rooted in man's mind. Commiseration is the initiator of benevolence. Shame is the initiator of righteousness. Deference is the initiator of propriety and a sense of right and wrong is the initiator of wisdom. The four initiators are naturally possessed by man. They are fundamental features defining a human being. Man should fully cultivate and develop his inherent kindness. Then he can accomplish the four virtues, and consequently become a man of virtue or even a sage.
引例 Citation：
◎凡有四端于我者，知皆擴(kuò)而充之矣，若火之始然，泉之始達(dá)。茍能充之，足以保四海；茍不充之，不足以事父母。（《孟子·公孫丑上》）
凡是具有“四端”的人，知道把它們擴(kuò)充起來(lái)，就好像火剛開(kāi)始燃燒，泉水剛開(kāi)始涌出。如果能夠擴(kuò)充“四端”，就足以安定天下；如果不能擴(kuò)充“四端”，都不足以奉養(yǎng)父母。
All who have the four initiators in them should know how to cultivate them, so that these initiators will grow, just like a fire that has started burning, or a spring that has started gushing out. If people can cultivate and expand the four initiators, they can bring stability to the world. Otherwise, they can hardly provide for their parents. (Mencius)
推薦：教育部 國(guó)家語(yǔ)委
供稿：北京外國(guó)語(yǔ)大學(xué) 外語(yǔ)教學(xué)與研究出版社
責(zé)任編輯：錢耐安
