這本書的書名《少年,要胸懷大志》,源自於北海道開拓之父克拉克博士,對札幌農學校(現北海道大學)第一期學生的臨別贈言Boys, be ambitious!(少年□、大志□抱其原文是:「Boys be ambitious! Be ambitious not for money or selfish aggrandizement, not for that evanescent thing which men call fame. Be ambitious for the attainment of all that a man ought to be.」