The king asked, ‘How may the difference between the not doing a thing, and the not being able to do it, be represented?
Mencius replied,‘In such a thing as taking the
Tai mountain under your arm, and leaping over the north sea with it, if
you say to people “I am not able to do it,” that is a real case of not
being able. In such a matter as breaking off a branch from a tree at the
order of a superior, if you say to people “I am not able to do it,”
that is a case of not doing it, it is not a case of not being able to do
it. Therefore your Majesty’s not exercising the royal sway, is not such
a case as that of taking the Tai mountain under your arm, and leaping
over the north sea with it. Your Majesty’s not exercising the royal sway
is a case like that of breaking off a branch from a tree.
孟子 Bk. 1, chpt 7, 11. See also.