諺語 · a single proverb
登高必自卑，行遠必自邇
Simplified: 登高必自卑，行远必自迩
What does 登高必自卑，行遠必自邇 (dēng gāo bì zì bēi, xíng yuǎn bì zì ěr) mean?
登高必自卑，行遠必自邇 (dēng gāo bì zì bēi, xíng yuǎn bì zì ěr) is a line of classical verse (shīcí 詩詞). Word for word it reads "to climb high you must start from the low, to travel far you must start from the near." In use it means: Great achievements begin with humble first steps; ambition without grounding goes nowhere. 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 Goat.
Literally: "to climb high you must start from the low, to travel far you must start from the near."
The reading
The summit is not reached from the summit. It is reached from the ground, one step at a time, starting from exactly where you are. The person who disdains the first step because it is too small will never take the second. Begin where you are. That is the only place anything has ever started.
What kind of proverb it is
Source Zhongyong 中庸 (Doctrine of the Mean), ch. 15
Sits beside
井底之蛙
jǐng dǐ zhī wā
Someone with an extremely narrow view of the world, who mistakes the small circle of sky above the well for the whole sky.
冰凍三尺，非一日之寒
bīng dòng sān chǐ, fēi yī rì zhī hán
Nothing deep-a skill, a habit, a ruin-forms overnight.
心急吃不了熱豆腐
xīn jí chī bù liǎo rè dòu fu
Impatience will not speed things up.
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 Humility & Self-Mastery, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Goat, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.
Questions
Is 登高必自卑，行遠必自邇 a real Chinese proverb?
Yes. 登高必自卑，行遠必自邇 (dēng gāo bì zì bēi, xíng yuǎn bì zì ěr) is a line of classical verse (shīcí 詩詞), and it comes from Zhongyong 中庸 (Doctrine of the Mean), ch. 15. It is living Chinese heritage, given here with per-character pinyin and its source so you can trust the line, not a phrase invented in English.
How do you pronounce 登高必自卑，行遠必自邇?
In Mandarin it is dēng gāo bì zì bēi, xíng yuǎn bì zì ěr. Read the pinyin above each character to follow the tones, or press the speaker beside the calligraphy to hear your browser read 登高必自卑，行遠必自邇 aloud in Mandarin.