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 keeps pace with the times, meaning keeps pace with the day, and then it becomes withered and out of touch with the world. What will happen if you are sad and support the poor? -The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang's Book of Commandments
Translation:
What people with both ability and political integrity do depends on inner peace and concentration to cultivate their body and mind, and on frugal style to cultivate their moral character. You can't show your ambition without indifference, and you can't have lofty ideals without tranquility. Learning must be absorbed in order to be obtained through learning.
If you don't study hard, you can't have a wide range of talents. If you don't have a clear ambition, you can't achieve anything in your study. Indulging in laziness can't cheer up the spirit, and frivolous impetuousness can't cultivate character. Over time, the will will die with time, and it will fall like a dead leaf, which is mostly useless to society. At that time, I will guard the poor hut, regretting and sighing. How can I get there in time?
Creation background
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.