A Good Learner Borrows Others’ Strengths to Mend Their Own Shortcomings

“A good learner borrows others’ strengths to make up for their own shortcomings.” The sentence comes from “Using the Many” in the Lüshi Chunqiu. Here, the verb means to borrow or draw upon, while “strengths” and “shortcomings” refer to the differing capacities of people.

The surrounding passage first says that all things and all people have both strengths and limitations. It then argues that a good learner need not wait to become complete alone, but can use what others do well to address what they lack. The point is not a display of humility; it is the practical ability to benefit from many people’s capacities.

Read today, the sentence need not reduce other people to tools. Drawing on someone’s strength should include acknowledging its source and the relationship involved, while retaining one’s own judgement. Learning is not copying a single model. It is knowing what you lack, where another person is reliable, and how to turn what you receive into a capacity of your own.

https://www.shidianguji.com/zh/book/SBCK088/chapter/1j7136tge06qv_31