Rich people should never say they are rich; they must always keep a low profile. Once you truly have wealth, you should distance yourself from your previous circles and escape as soon as possible. This is because the people who hurt you are often those around you, and malice is hidden in their seemingly caring words, which is chilling. What should you do after leaving your old circle? Bustle and excitement are the graves of the weak; solitude is the battleground of the strong. Stay away from places of gossip and trouble—there’s nothing to discuss. Be calm in success and composed in failure. Only by enduring days when no one cares about you can you hope to enjoy poetry and distant dreams.

Furthermore, your financial support or help won’t make a difference. There’s an old saying: “Help in emergencies, not in poverty.” Poor people often have a very strange way of thinking.

There’s an anecdote, probably written by someone from Shandong: In a certain place, an elderly person passed away. Since there were no children, according to custom, someone needed to break a bowl, so the nephew was asked to do it. From then on, this nephew believed that all the elder’s inheritance should go to him, so he quarreled with the elder’s daughter, arguing, “I was the one who broke the bowl.” When it went to court, he told the judge, “Because I broke the bowl.” The judge understood immediately and said only one thing: “Since you broke someone’s bowl, you need to compensate for it.” First, compensate for a bowl; second, the inheritance has nothing to do with you whatsoever. This shows that the way poor people think is indeed hard to understand. So, when it comes to the poor, there’s no point in preaching—only the principles and conclusions can be explained.

Of course, you can do charity or public welfare; you have that right, and I won’t stop you. But you must first take good care of yourself before trying to help the world. Take care of your wife, children, and parents first. One more thing: if you don’t have the ability to protect yourself, then don’t do anything. It’s okay to be criticized. Even if you’re called a bad person, it doesn’t matter; after all, you’ve already left your original circle and won’t be going back.