Maintain your dignity as a nobody; Promote social welfare as a person.
From Mencius and Dedication (ninth). The original sentence is "poverty is the only way to protect yourself, and prosperity is the best way to help the world", which means that when you are frustrated, you should manage your moral cultivation well, and when you succeed, you should try your best to benefit the whole world.
Mencius is a collection of Mencius' speeches by Mencius and his disciples, which records Mencius' language, political opinions (benevolent politics, Wang Ba's debate, people-oriented, respecting the right and wrong of the monarch, and valuing the people over the monarch) and political actions.
This is what Mencius said. "Poverty" here refers not only to poverty, but also to depression or lack of ability.
Therefore, the correct meaning of this sentence should be that when a person is depressed or incompetent in adversity, he should not go with the flow, but should focus on himself and try his best to improve his moral cultivation. It can be seen that this sentence has no negative meaning, but actually embodies the spirit of Confucianism's active accession to the WTO.