A father can manage a hundred sons, but it is difficult for a hundred sons to manage one father. Your father would be more honored than if you continued your studies with the utmost zeal and worked hard to become an honest and distinguished man.
Spring and Autumn Period·Guan Zhong's "Guan Zi·Dakuang". The main idea of ??this sentence is: No one knows his son better than his father. "Guanzi·Dakuang" says: "~, a knowledgeable minister is better than a king." These are two ancient sayings, "Guoyu·Jinyu No. 7" says, "A minister is better than a king, a son is better than a father", (Zuo Zhuan·Zhao Gong's Ten Years) "There is no better person to choose a son than a father, a minister better than a king", and "Zhao Ce II" in "Zhao Ce 2" says "a son is better than a father, a minister better than a king".
Nowadays, people still often use the phrase "no son is better than a father." "This idiom shows the father's deep understanding of his son. "Huainanzi Miao Chengxun" by Liu An of the Han Dynasty. The general meaning of these two sentences is: a kind father caressing his son. It is not that he hopes his son will repay him in the future.
In the original text, it means that a loving father and his son are born out of nature, just like fire can heat itself and ice can cool itself; it is also like the people on the boat working together to put out the fire. It's the same as seeking repayment. Now it can be understood that it is a father's social obligation and life responsibility to love and educate his children, not to repay a favor.