有始有终

Pronunciation: yǒu shǐ yǒu zhōng Literal meaning: Have a beginning and an end

Origin & Usage

A plain statement of a virtue: there is (有) a beginning (始) and there is an end (终). Its weight comes instead from its opposites, which Chinese has in abundance: 有头无尾, a head with no tail; 虎头蛇尾, a tiger's head on a snake's tail; 半途而废, abandoned at the halfway point. Against that company, finishing is treated as the harder and rarer half of any undertaking. It is applied to people rather than to projects, as a judgement on character, and it is among the plainest compliments in the language.

Examples

English: "He approached the project with commitment, ensuring it was completed successfully."

Chinese: 有始有终，才能把事情做好。