The source of this sentence is: Xunzi's "persuasion" in the pre-Qin period.
I have extracted the original text containing this sentence for your reference:
Accumulated soil becomes mountains, and the wind and rain are prosperous; The water drops merged into the ocean and the dragon was born; Accumulate goodness into virtue, the gods are complacent, and the sacred heart is prepared. Therefore, you can't take Wan Li Road without accumulating steps; If you don't accumulate small streams, you won't be a river. Leap, not ten steps; This is a great contribution to the success of Ma Xu. Perseverance, rotten wood can't be carved; Perseverance, the stone can be carved. Earthworms do not have the advantages of minions, and their bones and muscles are strong. They eat the earth and drink the yellow land with their hearts. The crab kneels six times and pinches twice. It's not that the snake hole has no sustenance, it's also impetuous. (Jianghai Zuo Yi: River)
Translated into vernacular Chinese, it is like this:
Earth and rock piled up into mountains, from which wind and rain started; Water flows into the abyss, and dragons are born from it; Accumulate good deeds, cultivate noble morality, improve spirit, and thus have the state of mind of a saint. Therefore, without the accumulation of half a step, there is no way to reach thousands of miles away; Without the accumulation of tiny flowing water, there is no way to merge into the rivers and seas. The horse jumped less than ten paces; A bad horse walks for ten days in a row, and its success lies in its non-stop. If you stop carving a few times, then the rotten wood will continue to carve. If you insist on carving, then this stone can be carved successfully. Earthworms have no sharp claws and teeth, and no strong bones and muscles, but they can eat the soil and drink the underground spring water, because they are single-minded. A crab has six legs and two claws, but it has nowhere to hide without snakes and eels, because it is impetuous.
It may be difficult to understand the meaning only by reading the article, so it is better to understand it in combination with the creative background of the article at that time:
The important representatives of Confucianism in the Warring States period were Mencius and Xunzi. Mencius advocated the idea that "the industrious people govern the people, and the industrious people govern the people" to defend the ruling class, while Xunzi believed that human beings could conquer nature and should use nature to serve mankind. His disciples Han Fei and Li Si became important representatives of legalists at the end of the Warring States Period.
Now that we have said that, let's appreciate and comment on this article "Incentive Learning":
As the opening work of Xunzi, Encouraging Learning is a short article that discusses the significance of learning and exhorts people to learn with correct purpose, attitude and methods. Based on simple materialism and extensive quotation, explanation and reasoning, the article embodies some correct views of pre-Qin Confucianism in education, and also embodies the artistic style of Xunzi's articles as a master of pre-Qin philosophers' thoughts.
"Encouraging Learning" is a very rational text. If the control is not good, it is easy to sit still and become dull and monotonous. But this article is fresh and well known, and has been told by people for thousands of years. What is the reason for it? The most important thing is that it contains profound truth in a large number of simple and appropriate metaphors, and the metaphors are extremely flexible and natural, vivid and vivid without being boring and pedantic. For example, at the beginning of the article, four metaphors are used, such as "green is blue, green is blue", "ice is water, cold is water", "wood is straight with rope" and "gold is sharp and profitable", which explains the truth that "learning is omnipotent" from different angles and sides. He is an eloquent wizard, eloquent and eloquent, and has received a strong leading role. It is worth pointing out that almost all the vehicles used in this paper are common and easy to understand. These easy-to-understand metaphors will naturally remind people of some intuitive and superficial image things, and then connect with analogy, enlighten thinking and accept the profound truth said by the author.
From the formal point of view, the metaphors in "Encouraging Learning" are dexterous and diverse, and they are used freely. Explain the point of view, demonstrate the truth, and some use positive metaphors ("the accumulation of soil makes mountains, and the wind and rain are prosperous; The water drops merged into the ocean and the dragon was born; There are also some negative metaphors ("If you don't accumulate good deeds, you can't go to Wan Li Road;" If you don't accumulate small streams, you can't make rivers and seas "); Some metaphors are used alone, while others are used continuously. Some of the same kind are juxtaposed, and some are positive and negative; Some only use metaphors to imply truth, while others first use metaphors to lead to the truth to be said. In a word, there is no need to spread brocade and embroidery. Therefore, although this article has many metaphors, it does not feel stagnant and rigid. On the contrary, with the constant transformation and full development of metaphor, neat and changeable sentence patterns are formed, which makes the article look patchy and full of vitality.
Another feature of "encouraging learning" in writing is the extensive use of short sentence parallelism and positive and negative contrast. At the beginning of the article, there is a set of parallelism: "Green is taken from blue, and green is blue; Ice, water, but colder than water "; This kind of parallelism sentence is numerous in the text, full of argumentation and literary charm, and even has a sense of music rhythm flowing in it. Similarly, in the use of contrast techniques, "Encourage Learning" is also very distinctive. For example, when expounding the truth that learning should be good at accumulation, the author compares Qian Ji with Ma Xu, rotten wood with Jinshi, which shows that Ma Xu is indomitable and indomitable. Perseverance, a stone can be carved ",fully illustrates the great significance of" giving up "for learning. When expounding the principle of concentration in learning, the author compares earthworms with crabs. The former is "stronger than bones and muscles, but it can' eat the ground and drink the yellow'". Although the latter has "six knees and two claws", it is not a snake point. What is the reason? Is that the former "with one heart" and the latter "with one heart". Sharp contrast and strong contrast enhance the weight of reasoning.
Xunzi's article is known as "the great achievement of hundred schools of thought", which is developed and reasoned thoroughly; The writing is concise, concise and tasteful; There are many aphorisms, and they are chewy.
Finally, I think it is necessary to introduce the author of this article:
Xunzi (about 365,438 BC+03 BC-238 BC), whose real name was Qing (people respected each other when he said it, but his name was Qing), was a native of Zhao at the end of the Warring States Period, and was called "Sun Qing" in the Han Dynasty because he avoided asking the name of Emperor Wu. He was a thinker, philosopher, educator, representative of Confucianism and a master of a hundred schools of thought in the pre-Qin period. Xunzi served as a drink offering for Xia Ji in Qi State three times and for Chu Lanling twice. In his later years, he lived in Lanling County, wrote a book saying that he was taught by his disciples and died in Sri Lanka, which was called "Housheng". Xunzi critically accepted and creatively developed Confucian orthodoxy and theory, and advocated "both etiquette and law"; Put forward the view that people who "master their destiny and use it" will conquer nature; Oppose superstition of ghosts and gods; Put forward the theory of evil nature, attach importance to the influence of customs and education on people, and emphasize the application of what you have learned; Thought is reflected in Xunzi. Xunzi summed up hundred schools of thought's theoretical achievements and his own academic thoughts, and founded a complete simple materialist philosophy system in the pre-Qin period. His thoughts had a subtle influence on the development of feudal society for more than two thousand years.