Zeng Guofan: Really smart people are stupid

In the late Qing Dynasty, Zeng Guofan called himself "the most foolish", but he believed that diligence could make up for clumsiness, and if there was perseverance, he would succeed, and he rose at dawn, reading ten pages of history books every day, composing several poems a month, even if he was entangled in official duties, even when marching and fighting, he still studied hard and studied diligently. He wrote in his reading notes "Keqin Small Things": "The ancients who became great deeds came from keqin small things. A hundred feet of buildings, based on flat land; a thousand feet of the veil, a foot and an inch of accumulation; a bell of ten thousand stones, a baht and a two are also tired. ”

The old saying goes: "The sword blade comes out of the grinding, the plum blossom fragrance comes from the bitter cold", the sharpness of the sword comes from the grinding, the plum blossom fragrance is because it has undergone severe cold tempering, and people can only achieve something after hard work and hard work. "Eat bitterly, be a good person", "Shushan has a road and a diligent path, and learning the sea is endlessly arduous", "To get amazing art, you must work hard" and so on, which is the same truth. These are the experiences of our predecessors and the profound enlightenment to us.

Most of the people who have achieved achievements and have real kung fu in all walks of life have come from hard work. Without accumulating steps, it is impossible to go thousands of miles, and it is impossible to become a river and a sea without accumulating small streams. The process of hard work is the process of summing up experience, exploring laws, and improving literacy, through accumulation and sublimation, so as to obtain real kung fu. Zeng Gong wrote in the "Book of Ink Ponds": "The book of Xizhi is good in the evening, then it can be done, and Gai also uses energy to achieve self-help, not Tianchengye." Then those who have not been able to reach in the world, how can they learn better than other evils? The reason why Wang Xizhi's calligraphy has a "natural" realm, diligent study and hard practice is an indispensable and important factor. Legend has it that he practiced calligraphy by the pool so that the water turned black. A few years later, his son Wang Xianzhi also used up a full 18 tanks of water.

"Not only supernatural talent, but also perseverance." When you work hard, it is bitter, but the aftertaste is sweet. This sweetness does not only mean that something is done, but that the cultivation of the quality of the human will can benefit a lifetime. Wang Guowei of the Qing Dynasty described the three realms of zhixue in the "Words and Sayings of the World": "Last night the west wind withered the green trees, went up to the tall building alone, and looked at the end of the world"; "The belt gradually widened and finally did not regret it, and the people were haggard for Yi Que"; "The crowd looked for him for a thousand hundred degrees, and suddenly looked back, but the man was there, and the lights were dimmed." First of all, we must endure the cold of "last night's west wind withering trees" and the loneliness of "going up to the tall building alone", calm down and read through and read hard; second, we must study hard and be willing to pay, even if the "belt is getting wider and wider", we will "never regret it", and "people are haggard" and are willing; again, we must combine learning with application, learn something, use it and gain something, and finally "look back" and understand the true meaning at "where the lights are dimmed". After experiencing the precipitation of time and the arduous grinding of "suffering their minds, straining their bones, starving their bodies, and emptying their bodies", cultivating patience and perseverance beyond ordinary people, in order to stabilize God and stabilize their qi in the face of strong winds and waves, so as to achieve the goal step by step.

The pace of modern social life has accelerated, and "divine speed" and "quick success" have become popular words, and even subtly affect people's mentality. There are more people who take fashion as the most important thing and become a "cold bench" with speed; there are more people who do not talk about accumulation, regardless of ambition, and are full of thoughts on taking shortcuts and making quick money; there are more people who are impetuous and impatient, eager to achieve success, looking for backers and opening the back door, and fewer people who are willing to sink their hearts and calm their breath, and who have no distraction to increase their talents and long skills. However, these people ignore that "divine speed" may not be able to create a "myth", and they can learn real kung fu with hard work.

Qian Mu, a master of traditional Chinese studies, said: "In the past and the present, there have been great achievers, and without other skills, they are all capable people who are willing to be stupid." Hu Shi also said: "There are too many smart people in this world, and too few people are willing to work stupidly, so the successful people are only a few." "Ten thousand tall buildings rise from the ground. On the road of life, with a persistent tenacity, more hard work, real effort, solid and lay a good foundation, little by little tempering, day after day persistence, not afraid of hard work along the steep mountain road, only hope to reach the peak of glory.

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