Reading more history can make people sum up experiences and lessons from the success or failure of the ancients' work for their reference and correct their behavior, so that we can make the same mistakes less and become more wise. The so-called "lessons learned from the previous car." There are many similar sentences and examples in ancient China.
Song Ouyang Xiu and Song Qi's "The Book of the New Tang Dynasty Volume 11 Biography Twenty-second Wei Zhi": "Take copper as a mirror, you can straighten your clothes; Taking the past as a mirror, we can know the rise and fall; Take people as a mirror, and you can know the gains and losses. I have tried to protect these three lessons, and I have defended myself from the inside. Today, when Wei Zhi dies, he will die. "
Song Shenzong thinks that the history book compiled by Sima Guang is "in view of the past, it has the resources to govern the Tao", that is, it takes the gains and losses of history as a warning to strengthen the rule, so it is named Zi Zhi Tong Jian.
Source:
Reading can be used as a pastime, as a decoration, and as a way to increase one's talents. Reading can be a pastime when you are lonely. Books can be decorated when you talk a lot. When doing things in the world, knowledge can increase talent. Although people with practical experience can handle individual affairs, only knowledge can do it if they want to look at the whole and plan the overall situation. People who study too slowly will be lazy, reading for decoration is self-deception, and doing things completely according to books is a nerd. Knowledge can improve human nature, and experience can improve knowledge itself. Human nature is like wild flowers and plants, and learning is like pruning and transplanting. Although knowledge can guide the direction, it is often too general, and it must rely on experience to give shape. Cunning people despise learning, fools envy learning, and wise people use learning. Knowledge itself does not tell people how to use it, and the wisdom of using it lies outside books. This is a skill, you can't learn it without experience. You shouldn't criticize and argue about reading, but you shouldn't trust books easily. The purpose of seeking knowledge is not to brag and show off, but to seek truth and enlighten wisdom. Books are like food. Some need to be tasted, some can be swallowed, and only a few need to be chewed carefully and savored slowly. Therefore, some books only need to read some of them, some books only need to know the outline, and for a few good books, they should be read through, read carefully and read repeatedly. Some books can be read by someone instead, and then read the summary of his notes. But this should only be limited to unimportant comments and books of poor quality. Otherwise, a book will be as tasteless as distilled water. Reading makes a full man, discussion a ready man, and writing an exact man. If a person is lazy to write, his memory must be strong and reliable. If a person wants to explore alone, his mind must be exceptionally sharp. Therefore, if someone doesn't study and wants to pretend to be knowledgeable, he must be cunning to hide his ignorance. Reading history makes people wise, reading poems makes people wise, calculus makes people precise, philosophy makes people deep, morality makes people noble, logic and rhetoric make people able to contend. In a word, knowledge can shape a person's character. Moreover, all kinds of mental defects can be improved by seeking knowledge-just as physical defects can be improved by proper exercise. For example, playing ball is good for the waist and kidneys, archery can expand the chest and lungs, walking can help digestion, riding can make people react quickly, and so on. By the same token, a person who is not focused can study mathematics, because mathematics will make mistakes if he is not careful. People who lack analysis and judgment can study scholasticism, because this subject is the most complicated and dialectical. People who are not good at reasoning can study legal cases. And so on. This kind of mental defect can be improved by reading. -Bacon's On Reading