Original text:
Book of commandments: Zhuge Liang
A gentleman's journey is quiet to cultivate one's morality, and frugal to cultivate one's morality. Not cold, not awake, not quiet, not far away. You must be quiet before you can study. If you don't learn, you can't be versatile, and if you don't want to learn, you can't succeed. If you are slow, you can't be energetic, and if you are dangerous, you can't be radical. Time goes by, meaning goes by, and then becomes withered, not meeting the world, and staying in a poor house sadly. What will happen? (indifferent work: mooring; Slow work makes fine work: slow)
Explanation:
The character of a gentleman is to improve self-cultivation from tranquility and cultivate morality from thrift. You can't be clear about your ambitions without being quiet, and you can't achieve your lofty goals without excluding external interference. Learning must be calm and single-minded, and talent comes from learning. Therefore, if you don't study, you won't grow up, and if you don't have ambition, you won't get results.
Indulging in laziness can't cheer you up, nor can impatience and adventure cultivate your temperament. Time flies, and the will passes with the years. In the end, most of them are out of touch with the world and are not used by society. They can only sit in the poor house sadly. How could they regret it at that time?
Extended data:
This article was written by Zhuge Liang to his eight-year-old son, Zhuge Zhan, in the 12th year of Jian Xing in Shu Han Dynasty (234). Zhuge Liang dedicated his life to the country and died. He worked day and night for the national cause of Shu and Han and neglected to educate his son personally, so he wrote this letter to warn Zhuge Zhan.
Zhuge Liang used the "double negation" in logic to emphasize that what he wanted to express was "indifferent to Zhi Ming, quiet and far-reaching". This is a philosophical statement. It shows that the author's mind is not disturbed by other thoughts, concentrated and comfortable, not limited to the long-term and broad realm of immediate gains and losses.
This is the same as the truth that "if you want to take it, you must follow it first" and "if you want to achieve your goal, you must twist it first". "Indifference" and "tranquility" don't want to do anything, but learn from "Zhi Ming" and set up lofty aspirations. When the time is ripe, you can "go far" and do something vigorously.
"Indifference" is an ancient Taoist thought. Laozi once said that "indifference is the best, and victory is not beauty". Later generations have always appreciated this artistic conception of "peace of mind". For example, Bai Juyi said in the poem "Ask Qiu Guang" that "the body and mind turn to peace, and the smoke scene is indifferent" (meaning: indifferent temperament does not care about immediate gains and losses).
Baidu Encyclopedia-The Book of Commanders (Works by Zhuge Liang)