"But these words are not from one of Mencius 'major discourses, they simply reflect the social reality of the time," says Yu Te-hui. Social realities change, but the words have remained, and have become a tool--people today quote the classics to back up whatever argument they want.
「但是孟子的話只是反映當時的社會現實，並非重要的雄辯語詞」，余德慧說，現實會消失，語言卻留下來，因此語言會被工具化，現代人自己需要什麼，就會引經據典一番。