A summary of famous aphorisms and their sources are as follows
1. If you don’t accumulate small steps, you can’t reach a thousand miles; if you don’t accumulate small streams, you can’t reach a river. ——"Xunzi"
Translation: If you don't accumulate half steps and one step, you can't go thousands of miles away; if you don't gather the trickles, you can't form rivers and seas.
2. Learning is impossible. ——"Xunzi"
Translation: Learning cannot be stopped.
3. Be knowledgeable and easy to ask, and then you can be talented. ——"Xunzi"
Translation: Smart people must study hard and ask questions to become talented.
4. Those who speak are not guilty, but those who hear are enough to be warned. ——"Preface to Poems"
Translation: Those who make criticisms are not guilty. When you hear other people's criticisms, you should carefully reflect on yourself. If you make mistakes, correct them. If they are not wrong, take them as advice given to you by others.
5. Good medicine is hard on the mouth but good for the disease; good advice is hard on the ears but good for action. ——"Confucius' Family Sayings"
Translation: Good medicine tastes bitter but is good for curing diseases; words of advice and advice may sound unpleasant but are good for people's behavior.
6. The bustling world is all for benefit; the bustling world is all for benefit. ——"Historical Records"
Translation: People in the world are bustling, and they are all coming and going for the sake of profit (running around for the sake of profit).
7. If you are looking for fish in the abyss, it is better to retreat and build a net. ——"Hanshu"
Translation: Standing by a deep pool, hoping to catch the fish inside, it is better to go home and build a net.
8. Strike first and control others later. ——"Han Shu"
Translation: If you attack first, you can subdue the enemy, but if you fight later, you will only be controlled.
9. Everyone is destined to die. Death may be heavier than Mount Tai or lighter than a feather. ——Han Sima Qian
Translation: People are bound to die after all, but the value of death is different. Dying for the people's just cause is more important than Mount Tai, while those who are selfish and benefit themselves at the expense of others are more important than Mount Tai. Death is lighter than a feather.
10. When a bird is about to die, its song is mournful; when a man is about to die, his words are also kind. ——"Historical Records"
Translation: When a bird is about to die, its cry is sad; when a man is about to die, his words are also kind.
11. A wise man will lose something after a thousand worries; a fool will gain something after a thousand worries. ——"Historical Records"
Translation: No matter how smart a person is, he will definitely make individual mistakes in many considerations. And no matter how stupid a person is, he will definitely gain something after thinking about it many times.
12. Heaven knows, earth knows, I know, Zi knows, what is ignorance - "Book of the Later Han"
Translation: Heaven knows, earth knows, I know, you know, how? Can you say that no one knows?
13. Everyone in the world knows that taking things is taking, but no one knows that giving things is taking - "Book of the Later Han Dynasty"
Translation: People think that only taking what belongs to others is a gain. , but don’t know that giving to others is also a kind of gain.
14. A wise man abandons his shortcomings and takes advantage of his strengths to achieve success. ——"Book of the Later Han·Wang Fu Biography"
Translation: Smart people abandon their shortcomings and develop their strengths to achieve success.
15. Do not do evil because it is small, and do not do good because it is small. ——"Three Kingdoms"
Translation: Don't do anything just because it is a small, inconspicuous bad thing; on the contrary, do something small. Don't do something good that benefits others just because it doesn't mean much.