Zeng Guofan's famous aphorisms are as follows:

1. Contentment leads to happiness, greed leads to worry.

2. To achieve great things in ancient times, great scale and comprehensive management are both indispensable.

3. Harsh words are flattering for a moment, but those who take them will be resentful for life.

4. Those who have no perseverance will change their minds when they see new things, and it is difficult to make progress.

5. If you are not a sage, you will be a beast; you don’t care about harvest, but about hard work.

6. The way to run an army is to be able to fight as the first righteousness, to love the people as the second righteousness, and to be able to coordinate with superiors and subordinates as the third righteousness.

7. If you look at it for a long time, you will not be able to recognize the familiar words. If you look at it, it will appear that the still object is moving. You will know that those who have doubts will confuse the truth, and those who overthink will be confused.

8. You can’t stand poverty, you can’t stand up, you can’t stand humiliation, you can’t do anything.

9. Four ways to look at people: be trustworthy, non-bureaucratic, organized, and don’t talk too much.

10. Benefit can be obtained by all but not alone, and strategy can be achieved by few but not by many. If you stand alone, you will lose; if you work together, you will be defeated.

11. It is better to see that the world is full of good people than to see that the world is full of bad people.

12. Don’t let your qi be strong and your heart full, so don’t let your talent show up.

13. A diligent family will be prosperous, a diligent person will be thrifty, and he will never be poor.

14. When you live in your hometown, don’t do it for the sake of your hometown, and when you live in an official position, don’t be a mean man.

15. The nature of a gentleman will not be damaged even if thousands of books are broken, and even if he does not know a word, it will not be damaged.

16. Don’t be greedy for money, don’t break promises, and don’t be self-righteous. If you have these three things, everyone will naturally respect you.

17. Only the most sincerity in the world can defeat the most false in the world; only the most clumsy in the world can defeat the most skillful in the world.

18. A person who likes reading will not have bad character; a person with good character will not have bad luck in life.

19. Being able to achieve and achieve is the essence, and not complaining is the most useful thing.

20. The sky shines on the sea with countless flowers, and the flowing water on the high mountains makes you aware of yourself.