Jin Xin I · 孟子 7A.2
Passage 02
孟子曰：「莫非命也，順受其正。是故知命者，不立乎巖墻之下。盡其道而死者，正命也。桎梏死者，非正命也。」
Mencius said, 'There is an appointment for everything. A man should receive submissively what may be correctly ascribed thereto. Therefore, he who has the true idea of what is Heaven's appointment will not stand beneath a precipitous wall. Death sustained in the discharge of one's duties may correctly be ascribed to the appointment of Heaven. Death under handcuffs and fetters cannot correctly be so ascribed.'
First-principles reading
Begin with the words and context, expose the premise beneath the argument, then test the conditions and limits of the principle.