在孟子看來，要想成為圣人就必須“保養(yǎng)本心”、善養(yǎng)“浩然之氣”。孟子說這種“浩然之氣”“至大至剛”，能夠“塞于天地之間”，聽起來似乎充滿故弄玄虛的神秘色彩，實(shí)則仍以保養(yǎng)本性和加強(qiáng)仁義道德修養(yǎng)為旨?xì)w。紛繁世間，酒色財(cái)氣，人生總是充滿了欲望和誘惑，要想學(xué)做圣人就必須擺脫這些干擾。孟子認(rèn)為，人們的差別不在于富貴貧賤，而在于能否保持高尚的道德，即做“仁人”。君子“以德服人”，“君子所以異于人者，以其存心也。君子以仁存心，以禮存心”。抵御外在物欲干擾，保養(yǎng)良好天性，既需要好的環(huán)境，更需要個(gè)人持之以恒的努力。因此，孟子更強(qiáng)調(diào)個(gè)人的立志和堅(jiān)持，強(qiáng)調(diào)君子必須“窮不失義，達(dá)不離道”。

In Mencius' view, to be a saint, one must "maintain one's original heart" and "cultivate one's noble spirit". Mencius said that this kind of "great spirit" and "supremacy and rigidity" can be "plugged between heaven and earth", which seems to be full of mystical color, but in fact, it still aims to maintain nature and strengthen the cultivation of benevolence, righteousness and morality. The world is full of desires and temptations. If you want to learn to be a saint, you must get rid of these interferences. Mencius believed that the difference between people is not that they are rich and poor, but that they can maintain high morality, that is, to be "benevolent". A gentleman "conquers others by virtue", "a gentleman is different from others because of his intention. A gentleman has his heart in benevolence and his heart in propriety ". To resist the interference of external material desire and maintain a good nature requires not only a good environment, but also the persistent efforts of individuals. Therefore, Mencius emphasized the individual's determination and persistence, and emphasized that the gentleman must be "destitute and righteous, and reach the Tao".

孟子反對(duì)的是大家都將“仁義”拋諸腦后而把眼睛緊盯在“利”上，反對(duì)“見利忘義”和“后義而先利”。他認(rèn)為，如果人人都“懷利以相接”，“為人臣者懷利以事其君，為人子者懷利以事其父，為人弟者懷利以事其兄”，那就會(huì)導(dǎo)致人們不顧廉恥、互相傾軋，天下大亂。因此他提倡君子應(yīng)該做到“仁民而愛物”，在魚和熊掌“不可得兼”時(shí)，要舍利取義、“舍生取義”。

What Mencius opposed was that all of us put "benevolence and righteousness" behind us and focused on "benefit", and opposed "forget justice when seeing benefit" and "benefit before justice". In his opinion, if everyone "cherishes benefits to connect with each other", "those who are ministers will cherish benefits to serve their monarchs, those who are sons will cherish benefits to serve their fathers, and those who are younger brothers will cherish benefits to serve their brothers", it will lead to people's disrespect, mutual strife and chaos in the world. Therefore, he advocated that a gentleman should be benevolent to the people and love things. When fish and bear's paw are "not available at the same time", they should sacrifice profits for justice and "sacrifice life for justice".

與老子的清凈無為不同，孟子奉行積極入世的人生觀，有一種“當(dāng)今之世，舍我其誰”的軒昂霸氣，這比孔子的“道不行，乘桴浮于海”的無可奈何更為堅(jiān)毅和充滿斗爭(zhēng)意志。他相信即使暫時(shí)遇到挫折和困難，那不過是一些必經(jīng)的考驗(yàn)，人要想成功，必須經(jīng)風(fēng)雨、見世面。孟子認(rèn)為人只有在逆境中奮斗，才能激發(fā)出強(qiáng)烈的進(jìn)取精神。在面對(duì)困境時(shí)，“君子不怨天，不尤人”，“自任以天下之重”，以實(shí)現(xiàn)人生價(jià)值。

Different from Laozi's purity, Mencius pursues a positive outlook on life, and has a kind of arrogance and domineering spirit of "who is willing to sacrifice in today's world", which is more resolute and full of struggle will than Confucius's helplessness of "Tao is not good, riding on the sea". He believes that even if we encounter setbacks and difficulties for the time being, they are only tests that we must pass. If we want to succeed, we must face the wind and rain and see the world. Mencius believed that only when people struggle in adversity can they inspire a strong enterprising spirit. In the face of difficulties, "a gentleman does not complain about the nature, does not pay special attention to people" and "takes the most important role in the world" to realize the value of life.

孟子還提出了理想的人生典范——大丈夫人格。在孟子看來，保持自我和完善人格才是理想的人格即所謂大丈夫：“居天下之廣居，立天下之正位，行天下之大道”，“富貴不能淫，貧賤不能移，威武不能屈”。只有人格獨(dú)立自主才能“無為其所不為”，才能“仰不愧于天，俯不怍于人”。

Mencius also put forward the ideal model of life - the personality of a great husband. In Mencius' view, to maintain self and perfect personality is the ideal personality, that is, the so-called great husband: "to live in the world widely, to establish the world's right position, to walk the world's road", "wealth cannot be prostituted, poverty cannot be removed, power cannot be defeated". Only with independent personality can we "do what we don't do" and "look up to the sky and look up to people".

“仁人無敵于天下”，有了這樣的修養(yǎng)和“浩然之氣”，就能夠無所畏懼。

"Benevolent people are invincible in the world", with such cultivation and "noble spirit", you can be fearless.