From: "The Complete Works of Zeng Wenzhenggong"

Book title: "The Ancients Talk about Reading"

Author: Zeng Guofan

Original text: Gai When scholars study, they must first have ambition, secondly have knowledge, and thirdly have perseverance. If you have ambition, you will never 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 just one thing. You are like a riverboy looking at the sea, like a frog in a well peering into the sky. They are all ignorant; if you have perseverance, you will never be able to accomplish anything. All three are indispensable.

Translation: When scholars study, they must first have ambition, secondly have knowledge, and thirdly have perseverance. If you are ambitious, you will never be willing to live in an inferior position; if you are knowledgeable, you will know that there is no end to learning, and you will not dare to be self-satisfied with a little experience. Like a river boy looking at the sea, or a frog at the bottom of a well looking at the sky, this is all without knowledge; if you have perseverance, you will definitely not be satisfied. Things that can't be done. Ambition, knowledge, and perseverance are all indispensable. Extended information

"The Ancients Talk about Reading" is a compilation of three remarks about the ancients' reading. It summarizes the ancients' reading from three documents: "The Analects", "Xunxue Zhaigui" and "The Complete Works of Zeng Wenzhenggong" method.

The excerpted article comes from the collected works of Zeng Guofan, a famous official in the late Qing Dynasty. The whole book contains the main cultural essence of Zeng Guofan's life. It reflects from different aspects the "most perfect man throughout the ages" in self-cultivation, family management, country governance, and self-cultivation. The wisdom of Ping Tianxia is written in plain and easy-to-understand language, but at the same time it contains rich knowledge and life experience.

The complete collection was edited by dozens of scholars, celebrities, officials and gentry at that time. On the basis of the original text, a large amount of processing and organization work was also carried out in an attempt to convey the most valuable content to future generations. Present it better and pass on Zeng Guofan's knowledge to future generations.