The original text is: When Gaishi people study, they must first have ambition, secondly have knowledge, and thirdly have perseverance. If you have ambition, you will not be willing to be inferior; if you have knowledge, you will know that knowledge is endless, and you will not dare to be self-sufficient in one thing. You are like a riverboy looking at the sea, like a frog in a well peeping into the sky. They are all ignorant; if you have perseverance, you will be able to accomplish anything. All three are indispensable. "This sentence comes from Zeng Guopan's "Zeng Guopan Family Instructions". The central idea is the three keys to reading.
It means: for intellectuals to study, they must first have ambition, secondly be knowledgeable, and thirdly Have perseverance. If you have ambition, you will never be willing to be at the bottom. If you have knowledge, you will know that knowledge is endless and you will not be satisfied with a little gain; for example, you can look at the sea with the eyes of a river boy, and look at the sky with the perspective of a frog at the bottom of a well. , this is all due to lack of knowledge. With perseverance, nothing is impossible without any one of these three aspects.
Zeng Guofan was a very controversial figure in the late Qing Dynasty. He is known as a famous minister of ZTE, but also has a bad reputation as a "traitor". It can be said that he has mixed praise and criticism. Both those who admire him and those who despise him highly praise his family letters. It can be seen that his family letters are not only a record. A collection of family letters, it is also a book containing wisdom on how to behave in the world, manage a family and educate children.
Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia - "Zeng Guo Pan's Family Instructions"