A peaceful mind and a frugal way of life is the best advice for parents nowadays.
"I want a phone, mom. Everyone of my classmate has a phone." a boy who is studying in a primary school insisted. His mom looked at him and said, "well if you can get an A in all your subject next SA2, I will get you that phone that you want. Deal?"
This conversation is quite common and it exemplified two values that parents and child share: materialism and dependency of parents.
《戒子书》
诸葛亮著 《诸葛亮集》
夫君子之行：
静以修身，俭以养德。
非淡泊无以明志，非宁静无以致远。
夫学，须静也；才，须学也，非学无以广才，非静无以成学。
慆慢则不能研精，险躁则不能理性。
年与时驰，意与日去，遂成枯落，多不接世。
悲叹穷庐，将复何及！
An Admonition to My Son
This is a way of life for a man of virtue: to cultivate his character by keeping a peaceful mind, and nourish his morality by a frugal living. Only freedom from vanity can show one’s lofty goal of life; and only peace of mind can help him to achieve something really lasting. To be talented, one must learn; and to learn, one must have a peaceful mind. One cannot develop his talent without learning, and one cannot accomplish his learning without peace of mind. Frivolity will prevent one from going deep into learning, and impetuousness will prevent one from moulding a noble character.
One’s age will flee with the time, and one’s ambition will wane with each passing day. If he does not exert himself in time, his mind would wither away like flowers and he would become a good-for-nothing in the world. And in the end, he could only perch in his humbling dwelling, lamenting for his lost prime that will never come back to him again.
Zhuge Liang1
Collected Works of Zhuge Liang
1. Zhuge Liang was the prime minister of Liu Bei, one of the kings during the Three Kingdoms Period. He is regarded as one of the most celebrated prime ministers in the history of China. His famous saying that “I will bend my back to the task until my dying day” has ever been remembered by the Chinese people.
（谢百魁、陈启达 译）
