Cultivating oneself. Human nature tends to indulge in comfort and shun hardship; laziness is the root of all evil. When a person becomes lazy, farmers neglect their fields, artisans abandon their tools and techniques, merchants fail to trade effectively, and scholars cease their studies. Once one’s vocation is neglected, there is no means of livelihood, and ruin of both person and family inevitably follows. Thus, laziness begins with stagnation, then leads to regression, then to decline, and ultimately to destruction—how terrifying! Therefore it is said that laziness is the source of all evils.

Striving. To defend against an army of 100,000 with just 5,000 troops; to face fresh, powerful cavalry with exhausted, weary soldiers—such a situation demands nothing less than resolute striving if survival is to be achieved.

Vitality. Young people must possess youthful vigor; otherwise they will succumb to a morbid, listless spirit. This lethargy takes hold through moments of carelessness and slackness. Hence it is said that indolence is the grave of life.