“Why must your Majesty use that word 'profit'? What I am provided with, are counsels to benevolence and righteousness, and these are my only topics.”

—  Mencius

Book 1, part 1, as translated by James Legge in The Life and Works of Mencius (1875), p. 124<!--. Variant translation:
Once [Mencius] visited a king, and the king asked him, "Old teacher, how can my country profit from your presence?" Mencius immediately replied, "Why do you speak of profit, sire? Isn't there also the sense of mercy and the sense of right?"
As translated by Lin Yutang in From Pagan to Christian (1959), p. 90-->
The Mencius
Context: Mencius went to see King Huei of Liang. The king said, "Venerable sir, since you have not counted it far to come here, a distance of a thousand li, may I presume that you are provided with counsels to profit my kingdom?" Mencius replied, "Why must your Majesty use that word 'profit'? What I am provided with, are counsels to benevolence and righteousness, and these are my only topics."

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Chinese philosopher -372–-289 BC

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