Why can't you have your cake and eat it? Don't bears catch fish with their claws when fishing ... if I hold claws in my left hand and fish in my right hand, it's not both.

"Fish, what I want, bear's paw, what I want; You can't have your cake and eat it. You can't have your cake and eat it. Life is what I want, and righteousness is what I want; You can't have both, and those who give up their lives are also righteous. " Mencius made an analogy with specific things familiar in people's lives: fish is what I want, and bear's paw is what I want. I'd rather give up fish than bear's paw if I can't get both at the same time; I cherish life and righteousness. In the case that I can't get both at the same time, I'd rather give up my life and get the essence. Here, Mencius compared life to a fish and righteousness to a bear's paw, thinking that righteousness is more precious than life, just as bear's paw is more precious than fish.