諺語 · a single proverb
知足常樂
Simplified: 知足常乐
What does 知足常樂 (zhī zú cháng lè) mean?
知足常樂 (zhī zú cháng lè) is a four-character classical idiom (chéngyǔ 成語). Word for word it reads "knowing sufficiency, one is always at ease." In use it means: Contentment with what you have brings lasting happiness. 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 Pig.
Literally: "knowing sufficiency, one is always at ease."
The reading
You keep moving the finish line the moment you reach it, so the running never once turns into arriving. The ease you are chasing is not on the far side of the next thing, it is in noticing you already have enough for tonight. Set the want down and feel how quiet the room gets.
The story
From chapter 46 of the Tao Te Ching, whose closing lines teach that there is no calamity greater than not knowing what is enough and no fault greater than the desire to acquire, so that one who knows sufficiency is always content. Contentment, for Laozi, is not resignation but the end of the running.
Notice how you move the finish line the instant you reach it, so the running never turns into arriving. Set one want down tonight and name what you already have as enough, and feel how quiet the room gets.
What kind of proverb it is
Source Tao Te Ching 道德經, ch. 46
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 Humility & Self-Mastery, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Pig, Year of the Ox, and Year of the Rat.
Questions
Is 知足常樂 a real Chinese proverb?
Yes. 知足常樂 (zhī zú cháng lè) is a four-character classical idiom (chéngyǔ 成語), and it comes from Tao Te Ching 道德經, ch. 46. 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 知足常樂?
In Mandarin it is zhī zú cháng lè. Read the pinyin above each character to follow the tones, or press the speaker beside the calligraphy to hear your browser read 知足常樂 aloud in Mandarin.