Complacency spells loss, while modesty brings benefit.

This dictum is from Shang Shu (The Book of History). It means that one loses by complacency and gains by modesty. In the eyes of the ancient philosophers, all things are in a state of constant change, and good and bad and success and failure are interchangeable. So one needs to keep pace with the times and constantly extend oneself, rather than being satisfied with progress already made; one should be modest and cautious, and always review and overcome one's own shortcomings.

At a meeting in December 2012 with foreign professionals working in China, Xi Jinping warned that "Pride goes before a fall." He said: Though China has achieved extraordinary successes, it is still a developing country and faces many real challenges and serious problems. It is neither unconfident nor over-confident, but will learn from the achievements of all countries and draw upon their strengths.

滿招損，謙受益

“滿招損，謙受益”，語出《尚書》，意為驕傲自滿會招致損害，謙虛謹慎會得到益處。“滿”即自滿、自負；“謙”即“敬”，由衷地恭順謹慎。古人認為，一切都在不斷變化，優劣成敗會轉化；人需要與時俱進，不斷努力，不能滿足于已經取得的成績而裹足不前；要謙虛謹慎、虛懷若谷，時時克服自身的不足。

2012年12月，習近平與在華工作的外國專家座談時談到“滿招損，謙受益”，指出中國已經取得舉世矚目的發展成就，但仍是一個發展中國家，仍然面臨一系列嚴峻挑戰，還有許多需要面對和解決的問題。我們既不妄自菲薄，也不妄自尊大，更加注重學習吸收世界各國人民創造的優秀文明成果，同世界各國相互借鑒、取長補短。