My top 10 Chinese Quotes on Education
7. 花有重开日，人无再少年。 (Huā yǒu chóng kāi rì, rén wú zài shào nián. ‘flower has again open day, people not again youth’) — Flowers may bloom again; you are never young again.
There is one certainty. Life runs through our fingers like sand. Time is passing unrelentingly.
Each of us has the same amount of time, each day each year. The result of this time depends on how one decides to spend it. Are we wasting it or using it fruitfully?
Worldwide people fall prey to their mobile devices hunting down the next endorphin kick, the next like, the next empty information. Asians are incredibly open to new tech. They are ahead of the curve. In every aspect, good or bad.
Waste your life and in the end you have nothing left. You cannot turn back. Therefore, heed the ancient warning!
8. 书到用时方恨少。 (Shū dào yòngshí fāng hènshǎo. ‘books till use time just-when hate few’) — When using books, you will regret reading few.
Most people only look at the first page that pops up when searching Google or Bing. This however gives you only a superficial idea of things.
It has always been important to understand that one single opinion means nothing. Search for different, especially contrasting views. Facts are facts. But opinions are just views.
There are always different views that you need to consider when evaluating those opinions.
Our own opinion is not necessarily the right one, only because it is ours. Much trouble in this world would be avoided if we could understand this.
9. 学而不思则罔，思而不学则殆。(Xué ér bùsī zé wǎng, sī ér bùxué zé dài. ‘study but not think then deceive, think but not study then dangerous’) — Learning without thought is deceptive; thought without learning is perilous.
This quote directly contradicts the Western prejudice that Chinese only mindlessly memorize and do not even understand the concept of creativity. What an absurd idea!
We are all of the same human race and thus all of us have comparable abilities – on a wide individual scale of course. Why should Asians not be able to think critically?
Not thinking something through and praising empty knowledge without deeper understanding, is a fallacy that everyone can fall prey to. It is not characteristic of a whole culture.
A quick glance at the first paragraph in Wikipedia gives you facts. But are you able and willing to put in the effort to make something out of it?