諺語 · a single proverb
人有志氣不怕窮
Simplified: 人有志气不怕穷
What does 人有志氣不怕窮 (rén yǒu zhì qì bù pà qióng) mean?
人有志氣不怕窮 (rén yǒu zhì qì bù pà qióng) is a folk proverb (yànyǔ 諺語). Word for word it reads "person with determination not afraid of poverty." In use it means: A person with determination is not afraid of poverty; spirit overcomes material lack. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Fire note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Ox.
Literally: "person with determination not afraid of poverty."
The reading
Poverty cannot take what it never owned: the direction of the will, the clarity of the purpose, the knowledge of what the person is working toward. The body can be impoverished while the interior life is productive and rich and entirely unconstricted. The person with genuine aspiration keeps building in conditions that would stop the one whose will was borrowed.
What kind of proverb it is
Source Traditional Chinese folk proverb
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 Adversity & Resilience, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Ox, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Tiger.
Questions
Is 人有志氣不怕窮 a real Chinese proverb?
Yes. 人有志氣不怕窮 (rén yǒu zhì qì bù pà qióng) is a folk proverb (yànyǔ 諺語), and it comes from Traditional Chinese folk proverb. 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 人有志氣不怕窮?
In Mandarin it is rén yǒu zhì qì bù pà qióng. Read the pinyin above each character to follow the tones, or press the speaker beside the calligraphy to hear your browser read 人有志氣不怕窮 aloud in Mandarin.