Mencius calls Benevolence man’s mind, and Rectitude or Righteousness his path. “How lamentable is it to neglect the path and not pursue it, to lose the mind and not know to seek it again! When men’s fowls and dogs are lost, they know to seek for them again, but they lose their mind and do not know to seek for it. Mencius
Rectitude
Rectitude is the bone that gives firmness and stature. As without bones the head cannot rest on the top of the spine, nor hands move nor feet stand, so without rectitude neither talent nor learning can make of a human frame a samurai. With it the lack of accomplishments is as nothing. Anonymous Bushi
A Power of Resolution
Rectitude is the power of deciding upon a certain course of conduct in accordance with reason, without wavering – to die when it is right to die, to strike when to strike is right. Anonymous Bushi
Right Action
To know and to act are one and the same. Wan Yang Ming