greatest wisdom book

Chapter 51 Independence: Continuous Enrichment of Self 3
who has better than yourself

Only relying on your own ability to defend your position is reliable, sure and durable.

——Chapter 13 Reinforcements, Mixed Armies, and National Armies

The strength of others is illusory, and one's own strength is reliable.Self-improvement and self-reliance seem to have existed as truths, permeating people's lives and careers.Princes will ruin their careers if they always look to others for help.

The famous Pope Julius II in the 16th century also made such a fatal mistake. In 1508, in order to retake the seized land from Venice, the powerful countries that had been invaded by Venice established the Cambrai Alliance. The members of the alliance included France, Spain, the Holy See (Julio II) and Ferrara.After Giulio came to the throne, he believed that the Holy See was strong enough to rule many areas, so he fought everywhere, but when he used troops against Ferrara, his lazy mercenaries made him suffer so much that he had to turn to him for help. to foreign aid.At that time, he made an agreement with King Ferdinando of Spain to borrow his army to help himself.Although Ferdinand's army is very powerful, it is not a good thing for Julio, because once the Spanish army fails, Julio will be doomed, and once the Spanish army wins, Julio will easily become a puppet.Fortunately, Julio was lucky. After Ferrara was conquered, the Spanish army continued to advance, but was resisted by the Swedes. As a result, the Spaniards were beaten away, and Julio got what he wanted.

It has to be said that Julio's luck is very good.However, most monarchs in history, if they did not have their own army and strong strength, it would be impossible for them to borrow troops from others to make themselves strong.That's why Ma said: Whoever doesn't want to win, use reinforcements!They pose far more dangers than mercenaries, because the arrival of reinforcements creates the conditions for destruction. They are all united and fully obey the orders of foreigners, while mercenaries are a big deal. It's not that easy to harm you.

A wise monarch always refuses to use other people's armies and relies on his own military strength.He would rather lose with his own strength than win with the strength of others, because the latter cannot be called a real victory at all.The achievements you have made can only be a halo on your head.

In real life, only by relying on ourselves and being self-reliant can people radiate the greatest brilliance.Whoever has is not as good as oneself, and whoever has is not as good as oneself.The only thing in the world that we rely on our own ability can not only make us feel at ease, but also make us rely on it.This requires us to have an independent mind.

The elder Rockefeller was very much in favor of cultivating individual independence.Once, he took his little grandson to climb a ladder to play, but when the little grandson climbed to the height where he could not be separated or short (not to be injured), his hands that were supporting the grandson immediately let go, and the little grandson rolled away. down.It wasn't that Rockefeller missed his hand, and it wasn't that he was playing a prank, but that he wanted his grandson's young heart to feel that he had to rely on himself to do everything, even his grandfather's help was sometimes unreliable.

People have to live by themselves, and must live by themselves.At different stages of life, we should do our best to achieve the level of self-reliance that should be achieved, and have a corresponding spirit of self-reliance.This is the foundation for contemporary people to gain a foothold in society, and also the cornerstone of their own "survival support system". People who lack independent personality and self-reliance can't even manage themselves, can they talk about development and success?

Therefore, only if we are self-reliant and have enough strength to support our own survival, everything we get is reliable, sure and lasting.

(End of this chapter)