紙bǐ上shàng得dé來lái終zhōng覺jué淺qiǎn,，絕jué知zhī此cǐ事shì要yào躬gōng行xíng

What does 紙上得來終覺淺，絕知此事要躬行 (bǐ shàng dé lái zhōng jué qiǎn, jué zhī cǐ shì yào gōng xíng) mean?

紙上得來終覺淺，絕知此事要躬行 (bǐ shàng dé lái zhōng jué qiǎn, jué zhī cǐ shì yào gōng xíng) is a line of classical verse (shīcí 詩詞). Word for word it reads "what you get from paper always feels shallow; to truly know a thing, you must practice it yourself." In use it means: Book learning alone is insufficient; real understanding comes only through personal practice and experience. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Earth note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Tiger.

Literally: "what you get from paper always feels shallow; to truly know a thing, you must practice it yourself."

The reading

The book told you how to swim. You read every chapter. And the first time you entered the water, you discovered the book had left out everything that mattered: the cold, the weight, the panic, the strange buoyancy. Knowledge becomes understanding only when it gets wet.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typeshīcí 詩詞
• FocusPresent-minded
• Element土 Earth
• Zodiac tie虎 Year of the Tiger

Source Lu You 陸游, poem Shi Er 示兒 (Song dynasty)

Sits beside

Keep reading

Return to the Proverb Pond to draw another of the eighty-seven, or hear one read aloud. Read the rest of its chapter in Wisdom & Learning, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Tiger, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.