Zeng Guofan’s famous sayings and aphorisms in life

1. Avoid big talk and be pragmatic.

2. If the children of aristocratic families have the same clothing, food, and daily life as those of poor people, they can become great people.

3. Three kinds of knowledge: knowing destiny, knowing etiquette, and knowing words.

4. Don’t regret your mistakes in the past, but pray that your actions today will not be ashamed of gods or ghosts; don’t worry about future disasters, as long as you have good luck in your old age.

5. A country is strong by winning over its people.

6. For those who want to do big things, choosing a replacement is the first priority.

7. When desire arises, think about etiquette and justice to overcome it.

8. It is difficult to make progress when you see things differently.

9. The only true character in the world is rare.

10. When scholars study, they must first have ambition. If they have ambition, they will never be willing to be inferior. Second, you must have knowledge. If you have knowledge, you will know that knowledge is endless and you will not dare to be self-satisfied with just one thing. You will be like a river boy looking at the sea or a well frog looking into the sky, both of which have no knowledge. The third thing is perseverance. With perseverance, nothing can be accomplished. All three are indispensable.

11. Good people are amiable, but if you don’t know them, don’t rush into them. Evil people can be kept away, but they cannot be far away, so they cannot be rushed away.

12. Whenever a powerful person is powerful, I should not attack him, nor should I quarrel with him.

13. After a hundred battles, he defeated the general in the southeast; for nine days, he warmed the imperial edict and was reborn as Shen Fuzuo Zhongxing.

14. If a person blindly sees others as wrong, he will be disgusted everywhere and will be angry all the time.

15. The heroes of entrepreneurship in prosperous times take open-mindedness as their first priority.

16. The sky can be mended, the sea can be filled, and the southern mountains can be moved. The sun and the moon have passed and cannot be traced back.

17. Fame and integrity mean wealth to people without money and silk, and nobility without a crown. Scholars have no reputation, just like women are unchaste. Even though they have other beauties, they are not enough to redeem them. Therefore, the predecessors said that it is easy to obtain honors and honors, but it is difficult to protect one's reputation.

18. People’s temperament is difficult to change due to their innate nature, but reading can change their temperament.

19. The rice has become rice and the wood has become a boat, so we have to let it go.

20. Being kind to oneself is a common thing for scholars. Now I am inviting blessings after death. If it is the way of the market, I am really ashamed of it.