Language fails to express the meaning.

inability to make up one's mind

rid an article of hackneyed phrases

reverence for a teacher

lit. using straw boats to borrow arrows (idiom, from 三国演义); fig. to use others' manpower and resources for one's own ends

Make good progress

attack somebody with his own spear in his own house--turn somebody's words or argument against himself

very short time

make danger of

preeminent

surpass one's contemporaries

miserable and gloomy atmosphere

pile one on another

not yield an inch(refuse to yield on inch; never make any concession)

Usurp the throne

Make the most of the time

Go from plain to deep

the borderline on the Chinese chessboard--the border of two opposing powers

Be scanty of words

Either Caesar or nobody.