This book is a translation of Di Zi Gui , a book of maxims that was written by ancient Chinese sages. Memorized by children when they were young, the book provided guidelines that would enable them to learn how to become a good child and student and, later, a good adult, parent, friend, and citizen. To the casual reader, the maxims can appear to be straightforward and easy to carry out. But when trying to put them into practice, one discovers that they are anything but easy, or simple. Nor are they just for children.