小朋友！你們要知道萬丈高樓，是從平地一點一點建築起來的；百丈的大樹，是一寸一寸長高的；人，也是一天一天長成的。在小的時候，先要立志願，本著目標，向前邁進。如果沒有目標、沒有宗旨，好像「盲人騎瞎馬，夜半臨深淵。」你說危險不危險？

Young friends! You know that skyscrapers are built little by little from the ground up. Hundred-foot-tall trees grew inch by inch before reaching such a height. People also grow day by day. In our youth, we should set our goals and then advance to fulfill them. Without goals or principles, we are like a blind man riding a blind horse coming upon an abyss at midnight. Wouldn’t you say that is dangerous?

兒童好像潔白的布，「染於蒼則蒼，染於黃則黃。」隨著教育環境而轉變。所謂「近朱者赤，近墨者黑。」受環境的薰染而改變。在《三字經》上說：「人之初，性本善。性相近，習相遠。苟不教，性乃遷。」就是這個道理。

Children are like a piece of pure white cloth that becomes blue if dyed blue and yellow if dyed yellow. Children are transformed according to their educational environment. As it’s said, “If you get near rouge, you’ll turn red. If you touch ink, you’ll turn black.” Likewise children are influenced by their surroundings. The Three Character Classic says: “People at birth are by nature good. Their natures are similar, but their habits set them apart. If not taught properly, their natures will change.” That’s the principle here.

你們在萬佛聖城受教育，能不爭、不貪、不求、不自私、不自利、不妄語，將來對於社會、國家，一定有所貢獻。我們萬佛聖城成立的法界佛教大學、培德中學、育良小學都以此六大宗旨作為校訓。

You are now being educated at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. If you can learn not to fight, not to be greedy, not to seek, not to be selfish, not to pursue personal advantage, and not to lie, in the future you will surely make a contribution to your society and country. These Six Guidelines are the motto for the schools at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas: Dharma Realm Buddhist University, Developing Virtue Secondary School, and Instilling Goodness Elementary School.

大、中、小學各位老師！你們要念茲在茲教育第二代，這是神聖的工作，要教育學生做到盡善盡美的人格，實實在在的學問，將來就不會作嬉皮、流氓，不會作無賴、強盜，而作規規矩矩的好公民。現在教育失敗，為什麼？因為功利主義在作怪，一般人辦學校以賺錢為目的，以為學生越多越好，卻喪失教育崇高的宗旨。

Teachers at the university and the secondary and elementary schools! Sincerely devote yourself to educating the next generation. It’s a sacred calling. If you can educate students so that they have perfect characters and solid knowledge, they won’t turn into hippies, vagrants, bums, or robbers, but into good citizens. At present, the educational system has failed. Why? Because a utilitarian outlook has taken over. People open schools for the purpose of making money, so their attitude is: The more students the better. But what happens is that the noble purpose of education is lost.

各位老師！要用「幼吾幼以及人之幼」的精神來教育學生。兒童是國家的能源，國家的基礎；國家的能源不足基礎不堅，焉能強國？願共勉之！

All of you teachers should teach the students as if they were your own children. Children are the resources of the nation, the foundation of the country. If a nation’s resources are inadequate and its foundation is weak, how can the nation become a strong one? Let’s urge one another on!