淡泊明志

Pronunciation: dàn bó míng zhì Literal meaning: Simple life clarifies goals

Origin & Usage

Zhuge Liang wrote it to his son in the letter known as the Admonition to My Son, near the end of his life: without stillness and few desires there is no way to clarify (明) one's purpose (志), without quiet there is no way to reach far. The two halves became two separate idioms, this one and 宁静致远, and they are still usually hung as a pair of scrolls. 淡泊 is a taste word before it is a moral one — thin, unseasoned, unconcentrated — so what it recommends is not poverty but the deliberate lowering of appetite, on the argument that a person who wants many things cannot see clearly which one they actually want.

Examples

English: "His quiet demeanor belies a strong determination to succeed."

Chinese: 他平静的外表掩盖了他强烈的成功欲望。