But how do we know that Heaven loves all the people in the world? Because it enlightens them all. How do we know that it enlightens them all? Because it possesses them all. How do we know that it possesses them all? Because it feeds them all. I say: within the four seas (the world) all grain-eating (civilized) people feed oxen and sheep with grass and dogs and pigs with grain, and cleanly prepare pastry and wine to sacrifice to the Lord on High and spiritual beings. Possessing all people, how could Heaven not love them?
Mozi (ca.470-ca.391 BCE)
Chan, Wing-Tsit. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963), 220.
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