天tiān作zuò孽niè猶yóu可kě違wéi，自zì作zuò孽niè不bù可kě活huó

What does 天作孽猶可違，自作孽不可活 (tiān zuò niè yóu kě wéi zì zuò niè bù kě huó) mean?

天作孽猶可違，自作孽不可活 (tiān zuò niè yóu kě wéi zì zuò niè bù kě huó) is a folk proverb (yànyǔ 諺語). Word for word it reads "disasters from heaven can be survived; disasters you bring on yourself cannot." In use it means: Natural misfortune can be overcome, but self-inflicted harm has no escape; you cannot outrun consequences you created. 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: "disasters from heaven can be survived; disasters you bring on yourself cannot."

The reading

The flood comes and you rebuild. The earthquake comes and you rebuild. These are external. They damage the house but not the builder. But the disaster you constructed with your own decisions has your fingerprints on every piece of wreckage, and there is no insurance for that, because the adjuster and the cause are the same person.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typeyànyǔ 諺語
• FocusPresent-minded
• Element火 Fire
• Zodiac tie牛 Year of the Ox

Source Mencius 孟子, Gong Sun Chou 公孫丑上; also Shang Shu 尚書

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.