Mencius said, "Suppose a person steals a hen from his neighbour each day. And someone expostulates（劝诫） him, saying, 'what you do is not decent.' The thief says, 'Then I will steal less, one hen each month. And I will stop doing this next year. Is it all right?' If people already know that what they do is wrong, then they should stop it right away, Why wait until next year."

孟子说：“假如有一个人每天偷邻居一只鸡，有人劝他说：‘这不是正派人的做法。’偷鸡人回答说：‘那么我就少偷些，每月才偷一只，等到明年，再一只也不偷了怎么样？’如果人们已经知道自己的所作所为是不对的，那就应该马上停止，为什么要等到明年呢？”