诫子书

诸葛亮

夫君子之行，静以修身，俭以养德。非澹泊无以明志，非宁静无以致远。夫学须静也，才须学也。非学无以广才，非志无以成学。淫慢则不能励精，险躁则不能治性。年与时驰，意与日去，遂成枯落，多不接世，悲守穷庐，将复何及！

To my son

by Zhuge Liang

If you want to be a man successfully leads his life, please always build up yourself in the calm; and cultivate your inner self by practicing thrift. Only a simple life can let you know the ideals of living; only silence in your heart can help you go farther. Remember, learning should be done without noises; all your abilities are in need of learning. Learning is of basic importance to the widening of your ability; understanding ideals of living will help you persevere in learning. Being greedy and idle, you will not be able to encourage yourself; being adventurous and impetuous, you will not be able to control yourself. Your age grows with time flowing, your energies decrease with days passing, then you will wither and die, with nothing contributed to the world, only left sadness around where you live, and sighing for your life.