Motto
The NTU Motto
The University's motto, "Integrity, Diligence, Fidelity, and Compassion," is adopted from a line in the speech made by President Ssu-Nien Fu in 1949 on a memorial occasion celebrating the fourth anniversary of the University. The line is intended to encourage students of National Taiwan University. However, the word President Fu originally used is "to study hard" instead of the present version "to advance intellect."
Meanwhile, the phrases "Integrity" and "Diligence, which literally means to cultivate virtue and to advance intellect, were then transcribed by President Ssu-Liang Chien when he gave inscription to the Main Library in January, 1969. Later in the early 1970s, President Chen-Hsin Yen further applied the eight-word motto and carved them onto the outer wall of the Gymnasium's facade. At the same time, a bust of the late President Fu was erected on the University's Main Campus, with this established motto inscribed onto the base of the statue.