The famous saying "If you are not indifferent, you can't be clear-minded, and if you are not quiet, you can't be far away" is mostly Zhuge Liang's thought. In fact, as early as the early Western Han Dynasty, this sentence was recorded in Huainanzi written by Liu An, the king of Huainan. The original sentence is: "it is not thin and quiet, and there is no virtue."
This sentence is simple and profound, full of philosophy. Logically, it adopts the method of "double negation" and emphasizes the importance of "indifference" and "tranquility". It means that if you don't look down on the immediate fame and fortune, you won't have a clear ambition, and if you don't settle down and concentrate on your studies, you won't be able to achieve lofty goals.
The current "indifference" and "tranquility" are precisely for the future "Zhiyuan" Learn from Zhi Ming, practice quietly, and build up your strength. Once the time is right, you can do great things vigorously.
More than 300 years later, Zhuge Liang wrote this sentence to his son Zhuge Zhan in the Book of Commandments on his deathbed: "A gentleman's trip is to cultivate himself with frugality. If you don't stay in the park, your ambition will be unclear. If you don't have peace, you will not be far away. "
In the thirty-seventh episode of Romance of the Three Kingdoms written by Luo Guanzhong, Liu, Guan and Zhang Ergu looked at the thatched cottage and saw a big book on the door of Zhuge Zhong, saying, "Be indifferent to your ambition, stay away quietly." Here, the positive sentence pattern replaces the negative sentence pattern, which makes the concept of "indifferent ambition, quiet and far-reaching" widely circulated.