"As long as you are diligent, willing to seek knowledge, be willing to innovate, be frugal to yourself, be generous to others, be loyal to your friends, and work hard, sooner or later you will achieve something and live a worry-free life." ——Li Ka-shing

A gentleman uses frugality to overcome difficulties.

Source: "Book of Changes·No".

A careless gentleman uses the virtue of frugality to avoid danger.

Tips that "The Book of Changes" contains simple dialectical thinking, and there are many places that explain the principles of changes in things. This sentence contains dialectical thinking. On the one hand, clarifying the virtue of frugality helps to nip problems in the bud and prevent extravagance and corruption; on the other hand, when facing crises, especially when facing difficulties of material scarcity, possessing the virtue of frugality helps to overcome dangers. . The author of "The Book of Changes" believes that everything in the world has its smooth and unsmooth times, and its smooth and unsmooth times. When it is not smooth and unyielding, it is necessary to cultivate one's moral character and not overly express oneself in order to tide over the difficulties.

Be diligent in your country and frugal in your family.

Source: "Shang Shu·Dayu Mo".

The general idea is to be diligent in national affairs and frugal in family life.

Reminder: Diligence and thrift are the traditional virtues of our people. The legendary ancient sages all did this, and they devoted themselves to national affairs. Dayu worked diligently in the great cause of flood control, and he passed through many houses but never entered. Yao was particularly concerned about the masses and believed that others were hungry and cold because he did not do his job well and it was his own fault. The ancient sages lived a very frugal life. They often wore coarse clothes, ate coarse rice, and drank wild vegetable soup. Yao, Shun, and Yu won the support of the people because of their diligence and frugality in career and life.

Frugality is the greatest virtue; extravagance is the greatest evil.

Source: "Zuo Zhuan·The Twenty-Fourth Year of Duke Zhuang".

Being careless and frugal is the greatest virtue among good deeds; luxury is the greatest evil among evil deeds.

Tips that Duke Zhuang of Lu ordered people to paint red paint on the pillars of the temple and carve patterns on the rafters. These were extravagant and illegal things. When the doctor Yusun admonished him, he said this and pointed out that doing so actually injects "great evil" into the "great virtue" of the ancestors. Not only does it fail to please the ancestors, but it insults them. It can be seen that the ancients viewed frugality from the perspective of etiquette and virtue, while regarding luxury and waste as a vice. Today, with great material abundance, abstaining from extravagance and being frugal, and not wasting money are still virtues worthy of our admiration.

People's livelihood depends on diligence, and diligence will not lead to shortage.

Source: "Zuo Zhuan·Xuan Gong Twelve Years".

The livelihood of ordinary people depends on hard work. Only if you work hard will you not be short of money.

Tip This is an old adage. The ancients understood that as long as the people work hard and the society is stable, the people and the country will become rich. We should still maintain the virtue of diligence and work hard in our respective positions. In this way, the country will be more prosperous and the people's lives will be richer.

Frugality leads to prosperity, while immorality leads to ruin.

Source: "Mozi Ci Guo".

If you are careless and frugal, you will prosper; if you are careless and hedonistic, you will be ruined.

Tips: Among the pre-Qin scholars, Mozi was famous for his willingness to live an ascetic-like life. He hated the rulers' arrogance and extravagance, and advocated frugality. He publicized his views everywhere and attracted a large number of people to become his disciples, making him unique among the pre-Qin scholars.

It is noon on the day of hoeing, and the sweat is dripping from the soil.

Who knows that every meal on the plate is hard work.

Source: Li Shen's "Compassion for the Farmers".

The careless farmer was hoeing under the scorching sun at noon, and drops of sweat fell on the soil where the seedlings grew. Who knew that every grain of food on the plate was obtained with such hard work.

It reminds me that the language of this poem is simple but the connotation is profound. There is a story that a rich man's son didn't know how difficult it was to farm. He often went to a restaurant to eat dumplings, but he would spit out all the dumpling wrappers and only eat the meat filling. Later, his home suffered a fire and Lilou Meige was razed to the ground overnight. He became a beggar and had to go to this restaurant to beg for food. The owner served him dumpling wrappers, which moved him deeply. The boss said, "You're welcome. These are the skins you threw away. I just picked them up and dried them in the sun." The rich man's son was very ashamed. Later, he worked hard and lived frugally, and his family became rich again. This story also confirms the truth of "who knows that every meal on the plate is hard work".

Looking at the virtuous countries and families in the past, their success was due to diligence and frugality, and their success was due to extravagance.

Source: Li Shangyin's "Ode to History".

Looking at history, whether it’s a country or a family, everything thrives on diligence and frugality and perishes on extravagance.

Tips: Throughout the ages, most successful entrepreneurs have gone through a stage of hard work, so they pay more attention to diligence and thrift. But for entrepreneurs, it is just the opposite. They have not experienced the hardships of starting a business and are prone to coveting luxury and enjoyment. Their ultimate fate must be the decline of their business and the demise of their country. This is a truth revealed by thousands of years of history.

Care and hard work can rejuvenate a country, while leisure can lead to death.

Source: "New History of the Five Dynasties: Preface to the Biography of Lingguan".

Careless worrying and caring about state affairs can make the country prosperous, while pursuing ease and enjoyment can lead to one's own destruction.

Remind Li Cunxu, Zhuangzong of the Later Tang Dynasty during the Five Dynasties, who worked hard at the beginning and defeated all his opponents to become emperor. But later he indulged in music and opera, doted on actors, and did not want to make progress. His subordinates rebelled, and actors launched revolts. He died in a military rebellion after three years in office. When Ouyang Xiu wrote "The Biography of Lingguan", he was inspired by this period of history and elaborated on the principle that "worry and labor can rejuvenate a country, and leisure and leisure can destroy one's life." Chinese culture has a strong sense of urgency, especially when the country is in turmoil and the people are in dire straits. Confucius said, "If a person does not have long-term worries, he must have immediate worries." Mencius said, "Be born in worries and die in peace and happiness." They emphasized the importance of maintaining a sense of worry from the perspectives of individuals and the country respectively. Even during the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, Wei Zheng advised the emperor to "be prepared for danger in times of peace, refrain from extravagance and be frugal" in order to achieve long-term peace and stability.

It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality.

Source: Sima Guang's "Exercise Jianshi Kang".

It is easy to change from frugality to luxury, but it is very difficult to change from luxury to frugality.

Tips: This is what Sima Guang quoted from others to teach his descendants. It emphasizes the need to consciously maintain frugality and avoid extravagance, and contains the meaning of self-encouragement and warning to the world. Everyone wants to live a good life, and this is understandable. But too much luxury is not advisable, and this pursuit is never-ending. King Zhou of Shang used a pair of ivory chopsticks, and his ministers were about to run away. The reason was that they saw that King Zhou's greed would become unstoppable. Therefore, insisting on being frugal requires the ability to have self-discipline.

If you take it in moderation and use it in moderation, you will always have enough.

Source: Volume 234 of Zizhi Tongjian.

If you ask for things carefully and in a planned way and consume in a controlled manner, you will always be rich.

Tips: This is what Lu Zhi of the Tang Dynasty wrote to the emperor, aiming to emphasize the significance of frugality. Whether it is a country or a family, living within one's means is an important financial management principle. By extension, resources and property are always limited and cannot be squandered. Only by "taking it in moderation and using it in moderation" can sustainable development be possible.

Only frugality can help integrity, but forgiveness can achieve virtue.

Source: "History of the Song Dynasty·Biography of Fan Chunren".

To the effect that only frugality can make people honest and honest, and only tolerance can make people develop good moral character.

Tips: "Frugality" and "forgiveness" are two concepts commonly used by ancient Chinese politicians. Because productivity in ancient society was underdeveloped and food output was low, it took several years of bumper harvests to produce one year's savings, so we had to be particularly frugal. For officials, corruption, bribery, and lack of integrity are often due to greed and obsession with luxury life. The virtue of frugality can help curb such excessive desires. Therefore, frugality is an important national policy of rich countries and an important way to prevent corruption and promote integrity. . "Forgiveness" is a Confucian ethical category that requires treating others with kindness. For officials, if they can always put themselves in the people's shoes, they will definitely gain the support of the people, and only in this way can they govern the country well.

One porridge and one meal, when you think about where you came from, it is not easy;

Half a thread, half a thread, keep thinking about the difficulty of material resources.

Source: Zhu Bailu's "Motto for Managing a Family".

To the effect, even if it is a piece of porridge or a meal, you should remember that it is not easy to come by; even if it is half a piece of silk or half a thread, you should also think of the hard work.

Tips that Zhu Bolu was an educator in my country in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, who advocated family education. His "Maxims for Managing a Family", also known as "Zhu Xi's Family Instructions", is a collection of maxims dedicated to educating people to manage their families diligently and thriftily. Frugality, as a traditional virtue of the Chinese nation, first of all respects labor and the people who work. Our food and clothing are hard-earned and require a lot of labor from growers, cooks, and weavers to produce, and they cannot be wasted easily.

Therefore, this passage has become our country's traditional "family management motto."