諺語 · a single proverb
金無足赤，人無完人
Simplified: 金无足赤，人无完人
What does 金無足赤，人無完人 (jīn wú zú chì rén wú wán rén) mean?
金無足赤，人無完人 (jīn wú zú chì rén wú wán rén) is a folk proverb (yànyǔ 諺語). Word for word it reads "no gold is perfectly pure, no person is flawless." In use it means: Even the finest gold has impurities, and no person is without fault. Expecting perfection from people or from yourself is a standard that nothing in nature meets. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Metal note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Goat.
Literally: "no gold is perfectly pure, no person is flawless."
The reading
The gold is 99.9 percent pure and someone complains about the point one. The person is kind, honest, and reliable, and someone notices the one time they were late. Perfection is a ruler that measures everything and fits nothing. The useful question is not 'is this perfect?' but 'is this good enough for the purpose?' It almost always is.
What kind of proverb it is
Source Song dynasty proverb; Songxue Zhai 松雪齋 context; folk saying
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 Harmony, Virtue & Balance, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Goat, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.
Questions
Is 金無足赤，人無完人 a real Chinese proverb?
Yes. 金無足赤，人無完人 (jīn wú zú chì rén wú wán rén) is a folk proverb (yànyǔ 諺語), and it comes from Song dynasty proverb; Songxue Zhai 松雪齋 context; folk saying. 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 金無足赤，人無完人?
In Mandarin it is jīn wú zú chì rén wú wán rén. Read the pinyin above each character to follow the tones, or press the speaker beside the calligraphy to hear your browser read 金無足赤，人無完人 aloud in Mandarin.