急于求成

Pronunciation: jí yú qiú chéng Literal meaning: Anxious to achieve success

Origin & Usage

Anxious (急) about (于) obtaining (求) success (成). 急 is urgency felt as pressure rather than as speed, so the fault is located in the person's state and not in their pace: it is not that they are moving fast but that they cannot bear not to have arrived. That is why it explains bad decisions. Students, new managers and investors, usually as a diagnosis offered by somebody watching rather than as a confession.

Examples

English: "His impatience for quick results led to poor decisions."

Chinese: 他急于求成导致了糟糕的决定。