If you can in one day improve yourself, do so from day to day. Yea, let there be daily improvement.

This axiom is recorded in the Confucian classic The Great Learning. It emphasizes self-review and constant innovation, and encourages people to weed through the old to bring forth the new. Life never favors those who follow the beaten track and are satisfied with the status quo, and it never waits for those who muddle along or sit idle and enjoy the fruits of others' work. Instead, it provides more opportunities for those who have the ability and courage to innovate.

Xi Jinping cited this ancient saying at the 17th General Assembly of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the 12th General Assembly of the Chinese Academy of Engineering in June 2014. He said: The Chinese nation values innovation, which is an essential part of their national character.

茍日新，日日新，又日新

“茍日新，日日新，又日新”，出自儒家經(jīng)典《大學(xué)》，意思是如果能每天除舊更新，就要天天除舊更新，不間斷地保持更新。這一理念從動(dòng)態(tài)的角度強(qiáng)調(diào)勤于省身和不斷革新的重要性，即生活從不眷顧因循守舊、滿足現(xiàn)狀者，從不等待不思進(jìn)取、坐享其成者，而是將更多的機(jī)遇留給善于和勇于創(chuàng)新的人們。

2014年6月，習(xí)近平在中國(guó)科學(xué)院第十七次院士大會(huì)、中國(guó)工程院第十二次院士大會(huì)上引用“茍日新，日日新，又日新”，指出中華民族是富有創(chuàng)新精神的民族，創(chuàng)新精神是中華民族最鮮明的稟賦。