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

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.

苟日新，日日新，又日新

“苟日新，日日新，又日新”，出自儒家经典《大学》，意思是如果能每天除旧更新，就要天天除旧更新，不间断地保持更新。这一理念从动态的角度强调勤于省身和不断革新的重要性，即生活从不眷顾因循守旧、满足现状者，从不等待不思进取、坐享其成者，而是将更多的机遇留给善于和勇于创新的人们。

2014年6月，习近平在中国科学院第十七次院士大会、中国工程院第十二次院士大会上引用“苟日新，日日新，又日新”，指出中华民族是富有创新精神的民族，创新精神是中华民族最鲜明的禀赋。