The original text is:

Sun Chou said, "If a gentleman doesn't teach his son, why not?" Mencius said: "Impossible. The teacher must be right. Whether you are doing it right or not is followed by being angry. If you continue to be angry, you will be defeated. My master taught me to be upright, but he didn't do it out of integrity. Also a father and son. If father and son are estranged, it is evil. The ancients changed their children and taught them, but father and son did not blame goodness. If you complain about goodness, you will leave, and if you leave, it will be ominous. "

The general idea is:

Gong Sunchou asked Mencius, "Do gentlemen not teach their children?" Mencius replied: this is because the actual situation does not allow it. Generally speaking, teachers must teach students in the right way. If the father teaches the child this way, but the child can't accept it, the father will be very angry. When you are angry, you may hurt your child's feelings. Besides, if children don't always take the right path in words and deeds, won't they hurt their fathers again? In this way, it is a bad thing to hurt feelings between father and son. In ancient times, sons were exchanged for education, and fathers and sons did not seek perfection. Nothing is more unfortunate than blaming each other, which will alienate father and son and alienate them. "

So "potential" in the sentence means "actual situation".