工欲善其事,必先利其器
Chinese
work; worker; skill work; worker; skill; profession; trade; craft; labor | desire; longing; appetite desire; longing; appetite; wish | good | his; her; its his; her; its; theirs; that; such; it (refers to sth preceding it) | matter; thing; item matter; thing; item; work; affair | certainly; must; will certainly; must; will; necessarily | early; prior; former early; prior; former; in advance; first | advantage; benefit; profit advantage; benefit; profit; sharp | his; her; its his; her; its; theirs; that; such; it (refers to sth preceding it) | device; tool; utensil | |||
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trad. (工欲善其事,必先利其器) | 工 | 欲 | 善 | 其 | 事 | , | 必 | 先 | 利 | 其 | 器 | |
simp. #(工欲善其事,必先利其器) | 工 | 欲 | 善 | 其 | 事 | , | 必 | 先 | 利 | 其 | 器 | |
Literally: “If a workman wishes to do a good job, he must first sharpen his tools.” |
Etymology
The Analects:
- 子貢問為仁。子曰:「工欲善其事,必先利其器。居是邦也,事其大夫之賢者,友其士之仁者。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
- From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
- Zǐgòng wèn wéi rén. Zǐ yuē: “Gōng yù shàn qí shì, bì xiān lì qí qì. Jū shì bāng yě, shì qí dàfū zhī xián zhě, yǒu qí shì zhī rén zhě.” [Pinyin]
- Zi Gong asked about the practice of virtue.
The Master said, “The mechanic, who wishes to do his work well, must first sharpen his tools. When you are living in any state, take service with the most worthy among its great officers, and make friends of the most virtuous among its scholars.”
子贡问为仁。子曰:“工欲善其事,必先利其器。居是邦也,事其大夫之贤者,友其士之仁者。” [Classical Chinese, simp.]
Pronunciation
Proverb
工欲善其事,必先利其器
- One must have good tools in order to do a good job.