Gu Yanwu’s patriotic famous sayings are as follows:

Gu Yanwu’s patriotic passionate sayings include “Every man is responsible for the rise and fall of the world”, “Wealth and honor in life are fleeting, only glory and longevity are the golden stones”, "If you are not honest, you will take everything; if you are not shameful, you will do everything", "If you protect the world, how can you be responsible for the humbleness of a common man" and so on.

Gu Yanwu was an outstanding thinker, classics scholar, historian, geologist and phonologist in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Together with Wang Fuzhi, Huang Zongxi and Tang Zhen, he was known as the "four great enlightenment thinkers" in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Gu Yanwu was very knowledgeable, and he had studied the state system, anecdotes of counties and cities, astronomical phenomena, rivers and canals, soldiers and farmers, hundreds of schools of classics and history, and phonological exegesis.

Thinker and writer in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. His first name was Jiang, with the courtesy name Zhongqing. When the Qing soldiers went south, he changed his name to Yanwu, with the courtesy name Ningren. He once signed himself as "Jiang Shan Mai" and was known as Mr. Tinglin. A native of Kunshan (now part of Jiangsu). When he was young, he was deeply influenced by his ancestor Gu Shaofu and became concerned about reality. Paying attention to practical learning, he is familiar with all aspects of astronomy, geography, water and soil, military, agriculture, and ancient laws. He participated in the "restoration of society" struggle against the eunuchs' monopoly on power.

Qing troops went south, and their adopted mother, Wang, died on a hunger strike. He participated in the anti-Qing struggle of the people in Kunshan and Jiading. In the thirteenth year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1656), he went north alone and traveled to Shandong, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi and other places. He gathered patriots from all over the country and observed the geographical situation of the Central Plains in order to recover.

In the seventh year of Kangxi (1668), he was imprisoned for being implicated in the "Huang Peishi Case" in Shandong. He was rescued and released by friends. The Qing government repeatedly forced him to participate in the compilation of "History of the Ming Dynasty", but he was sternly refused. Gu Yanwu studied Confucian classics, opposed empty talk, paid attention to solid evidence, distinguished the origin, examined the name and reality, and established the style of simple learning in the Qing Dynasty. He has been very strict with himself throughout his life, has excellent conduct, and has never thought of decadence despite adversity, showing his firm national integrity and unyielding spirit.