This means that if a person sets a high goal, he may still only achieve a medium goal in the end. If he sets a medium goal, he may only achieve a low goal in the end. If he sets a low goal at the beginning, If you set a low goal, you will probably get nothing.
The inspiration of this old saying to students is that only by broadening their horizons and setting high goals can they achieve satisfactory results.
The quote comes from "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu: "Seek the top, and you will get the middle; seek the middle, and get the bottom. If you look for the bottom, you will lose.", and Volume 4 of Emperor Taizong's "Emperor Fan": "Get the method. If you learn from the above, you can only learn from the middle, so you can learn from the middle." Yan Yu, a poetry critic in the late Song Dynasty and early Yuan Dynasty, said in his "Canglang Poetry Talk": "If you learn from the above, you can only get from the middle; learn from the middle. , this is inferior."
It means taking the superior as the criterion, you can only get the middle. If you take the middle as the criterion, you will only get the inferior.
Extended information:
Yan Yu, a poetry critic in the late Song Dynasty and early Yuan Dynasty, said in his "Canglang Poetry Talk":
Poetry is based on knowledge. Master, you must have a correct entrance and high aspirations, take the Han, Wei, Jin and the prosperous Tang Dynasty as your teacher, and do not be a person below Kaiyuan Tianbao. If one retreats from one's self, the devil of bad poetry will enter his heart, which means his ambition is not high. If you have not yet arrived, you can work on your strength; if the road starts to go wrong, the goal will become further and further away, because the entry point is not correct. Therefore, it is said: If you learn from the top, you will only get the middle; if you learn from the middle, you will get the bottom.
The general idea is that poetry must have a special talent, the entrance must be correct, the ambition must be high, and the Han, Wei, Jin and Tang Dynasties should be used as teachers, and those who are not Kaiyuan Tianbao and below should be used as teachers. This has nothing to do with reading more and becoming more knowledgeable; if he retreats, inferior poetry demons will invade his heart, and his ambitions are not high enough.
As soon as the road ends, the road goes farther and farther, and the entry point is not correct. Therefore, it is said: if you study the upper level, you will only get the middle level; if you learn the upper level, you will only get the lower level. The so-called "those who study poetry should focus on knowledge, have a good start, have high ambitions, take the Han, Wei, and Tang Dynasties as their teachers, and should not be like Kaiyuan and Tianbao", which refers to identifying the evil of poetry from the artistic conception and style. The ability to distinguish between high and low.
With this ability, we can choose appropriate learning objects and achieve the goal of "taking the best approach". Yan Yu believes that the formation of poetic knowledge comes from "extensive knowledge" and "familiarity" with various types of poetry, that is, from careful analysis of the poetry system.
Baidu Encyclopedia - Take the best method, only get the middle one
Baidu Encyclopedia - Canglang Poetry