絹與墨Mozi · Original, translation, context
Mozi asks whether care, trust, and public benefit can be made practical rather than left as admirable ideals.
《墨子·修身》
志不強者智不達言不信者行不果
Without firm resolve, wisdom does not reach its aim; without trustworthy words, action bears no fruit.
Insight needs commitment to become effective, and action needs credibility to gather cooperation. Mozi joins inner resolve and outward trust as two conditions of work that truly arrives somewhere.
《墨子·兼愛中》
兼相愛交相利
Care for one another inclusively, and benefit one another through exchange.
Care is presented as a public practice rather than private sentiment alone. To widen concern beyond one's circle is also to build conditions in which assistance can move in more than one direction.
《墨子·兼愛上》
天下兼相愛則治交相惡則亂
When all under heaven care for one another, there is order; when they hate one another, there is disorder.
Mozi traces large social conditions back to repeated relations between people. Order is not only imposed from above; it is also assembled whenever another person's welfare is treated as real.
《墨子·所染》
染於蒼則蒼染於黃則黃
Dyed in blue, it becomes blue; dyed in yellow, it becomes yellow.
Character is porous to company, institutions, and repeated surroundings. The metaphor encourages care in choosing what we stay near, because influence often works quietly before it becomes visible.
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