任重道远

Pronunciation: rèn zhòng dào yuǎn Literal meaning: Heavy responsibility, long road

Origin & Usage

A heavy (重) load (任) and a long (远) road (道). The line is Zengzi's rather than Confucius's, in the Analects: the man of service cannot do without breadth and resolve, because his load is heavy and his road long. Both halves are then explained, and the explanation is the point — the load is heavy because benevolence is what he carries, and the road is long because only death sets it down. 远 is therefore not about travel or distance at all. Undertakings whose difficulty is duration rather than obstacle, and it is said at the beginning of something rather than in the middle.

Examples

English: "Achieving sustainability is a long-term challenge requiring sustained effort."

Chinese: 实现可持续发展任重道远。