Some people have called Ts'ao "Taiwan's Wang Yun-wu [China's most noted modern-day autodidact]" because of his outstanding achievements through diligent self-study, but Ts'ao just shrugs: "I've only been following my interests."
這段「關門弟子」的諄諄教誨，後來一直在學界傳為佳話。有人將勤懇自學，卓然有成的曹永和比作「台灣王雲五」，問及曹老師本人，他只略帶靦腆地表示：「沒什麼啊，自己做趣味的啦！」