Learning alone without exchanges with others will lead to ignorance.

This is a warning in The Book of Rites. Those who study on their own and have no others to exchange views with may become narrow-minded and short-sighted, and fail to make progress. Only through mutual learning and drawing on the strengths of others can a successful education be ensured.

Exchanging ideas is an idea championed by the traditional Confucian philosophy on education, as mutual learning and mutual assistance are believed to be an excellent way to acquire knowledge and cultivate virtue.

Xi Jinping cited this idea in his speech at the opening of the International Conference Commemorating the 2,565th Anniversary of Confucius' Birth and the Fifth Congress of the International Confucian Association in September 2014 and in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. He expressed his support for exchanges among cultures and dialogue between civilizations.

Countries should neither feel inferior and lose national confidence in front of other civilizations in the world, nor be arrogant and parochial. They should respect their own cultures and learn from others to promote exchanges and interaction. They must not shut their door to the outside, still less indulge in self-aggrandizement.

獨學而無友，則孤陋而寡聞

“獨學而無友，則孤陋而寡聞”，出自《禮記》，意為獨自學習而沒有朋友一起切磋，就會知識狹隘、見識短淺，導致教育的失敗；只有學習中相互觀摩、取長補短，教育才能成功。事實上，朋友間切磋琢磨，也是中國傳統儒學教育理論的一大特點，儒家始終認為互學互助是增長知識、修養德行的重要因素。

習近平在2014年9月紀念孔子誕辰2565周年國際學術研討會暨國際儒學聯合會第五屆會員大會，以及接受美國《華爾街日報》采訪等多個場合中，都引用“獨學而無友，則孤陋而寡聞”來表達對文化交流和文明對話的態度。這一箴言提醒人們，面對人類社會創造的各種文明，既不能盲目自卑，失去民族自信力，又不能過度自傲，存有門戶之見：一方面，各國要尊重自己的民族文化，另一方面，各國文明又要互學互鑒，共同推進人類文明交流交融，切不可自我封閉，更不能唯我獨尊。