余 力 学 文
Obtaining knowledge


不力行 但学文 长浮华 成何人
但力行 不学文 任己见 昧理真
读书法 有三到 心眼口 信皆要
He that doesn't put the principles he has learnt to practice,
But devotes all his efforts to obtaining knowledge or improving skills,
Will find that what he has learnt does him harm instead of good,
Because his knowledge and actions do not match,
He that does everything in his own way,
And neglects the great importance of learning,
Will find his vision is narrow and his judgment is limited
His behavior may go against the law of nature without him noticing.
I need to concentrate if I wish to benefit from reading,
To do this the mind, eyes and mouth must be fully engaged,
If I do not concentrate, I cannot learn anything well.
And I will never find the subtle and glorious ideas behind the words.
方读此 勿慕彼 此未终 彼勿起
宽为限 紧用功 工夫到 滞塞通
心有疑 随札记 就人问 求确义
To assistconcentration I should work on one book at a time,
I should never think of starting another before one is completed.
I should budget more time than normally needed for a project,
And make good use of all time available.
By working intensively on one book at a time and becoming immersed in it,
I am certain to make breakthroughs in understanding.
When I have questions, I will note them down and ask people for help.
房室清 墙壁净 几案洁 笔砚正
墨磨偏 心不端 字不敬 心先病
列典籍 有定处 读看毕 还原处
I will keep my room neat and my desk tidy with my brushes and ink-stone in their places.
If the ink-block is not even, it suggests that my mind is confused,
And unbalanced handwriting suggests a disordered mind.
I will put the book I'm working on in a fixed place,
After each time I read it I will return it to that place.

虽有急 卷束齐 有缺坏 就补之
非圣书 屏勿视 蔽聪明 坏心志
勿自暴 勿自弃 圣与贤 可驯致
I will roll up and bind my scroll and put it away even if I'm in a hurry,
If it is damaged or broken, I should fix it.
I should choose the books of great sages to read,
In the same way as I choose the most fresh and nutritious food,
I should abandonvicious books,
Because they keep me from becoming wise and undermine my aspirations
I should never be too harsh on myself ,
Nor give up hope on myself,
As step by step, I can also free myself from greed, anger and ignorance,
Just as many people in history have done.

• learnt [lə:nt] learn 的过去式(分词) (初中英语单词)
• vision [´viʒən] n.视觉；想象力；幻影 (初中英语单词)
• concentrate [´kɔnsəntreit] v.聚集；浓缩；全神贯注 (初中英语单词)
• glorious [´glɔ:riəs] a.光荣的；辉煌的 (初中英语单词)
• assist [ə´sist] v.协助；援助；搀扶 (初中英语单词)
• concentration [,kɔnsən´treiʃən] n.集中，专心 (初中英语单词)
• working [´wə:kiŋ] a.工人的；劳动的 (初中英语单词)
• handwriting [´hænd,raitiŋ] n.笔迹；书法 (初中英语单词)
• abandon [ə´bændən] vt.抛弃，放弃，离弃 (初中英语单词)
• behavior [bi´heiviə] n.举止，行为 (高中英语单词)
• budget [´bʌdʒit] n.&vi.(做)预算；安排 (高中英语单词)
• vicious [´viʃəs] a.不道德的；刻毒的 (英语四级单词)
• normally [´nɔ:məli] ad.正常情况下；通常 (英语六级单词)
• scroll [skrəul] n.卷轴；纸卷 (英语六级单词)
• undermine [,ʌndə´main] vt.在...下面掘地道 (英语六级单词)