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.
独学而无友，则孤陋而寡闻
“独学而无友，则孤陋而寡闻”，出自《礼记》，意为独自学习而没有朋友一起切磋，就会知识狭隘、见识短浅，导致教育的失败；只有学习中相互观摩、取长补短，教育才能成功。事实上，朋友间切磋琢磨，也是中国传统儒学教育理论的一大特点，儒家始终认为互学互助是增长知识、修养德行的重要因素。
习近平在2014年9月纪念孔子诞辰2565周年国际学术研讨会暨国际儒学联合会第五届会员大会，以及接受美国《华尔街日报》采访等多个场合中，都引用“独学而无友，则孤陋而寡闻”来表达对文化交流和文明对话的态度。这一箴言提醒人们，面对人类社会创造的各种文明，既不能盲目自卑，失去民族自信力，又不能过度自傲，存有门户之见：一方面，各国要尊重自己的民族文化，另一方面，各国文明又要互学互鉴，共同推进人类文明交流交融，切不可自我封闭，更不能唯我独尊。