Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Photography major - 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.

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.