[Content Introduction]

The preface to "The Complete Collection of Wisdom" states: The world is pitch black, who brings the light? Naturally, it is the sun, moon, fire, and light. But if life is in darkness, who can enlighten ignorance? This requires wisdom. Although wisdom is like the sun, moon, fire, and light in nature, it is extracted from the failures and lessons of countless people throughout human history.

No one has ever lived a brilliant life without experiencing a single failure. No matter how learned they are, how great a figure they are, or how outstanding a genius they are, their successes are all achieved after overcoming countless failures. As the saying goes, "Failure is the mother of success," meaning that without failure, there can be no success.

The ancient Roman philosopher Seneca said, "The lifespan given to humans by the gods is as short as a rainbow." In China, a wise person once said, "Life is like a fleeting white colt glimpsed through a crack in a door. One must seize the day to live a life without regret."

For an ambitious person who wants to achieve something, life is indeed too short. To avoid wasting time, how should we set our life goals, contemplate the meaning of life, implement our choices, and act in order to achieve the results we expect?

I believe that no one can know the definitive answer to this question. The only one who can answer it is history.

Open the Twenty-Four Histories or world history, and you will be surprised to find many people in similar positions and circumstances, with similar successes and failures, repeatedly appearing.

[About the Author]

Sadao Kawakami (pen name: Zhang Yi, known as Brother Zhang), from Hiroshima, Japan.

Writer, lyricist.

[Published Books]

I. Prose and Essays:
"Kawakami Morning Rain," "Kawakami Morning Mist," "Kawakami Morning Star," "Kawakami Morning Moon," "Kawakami Morning Wind," "Kawakami Morning Frost"
II. Lyric Collections:
"China Travelogue" Wuxi Chapter; "China Travelogue" Emotion Chapter;
III. Novels:
"The Tale of Jinshatan," "The Tale of Taohuaxi";
IV. History:
"A Little Knowledge of Japanese History," "Zizhitongjian" (6 volumes);