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人窮志不窮

简人穷志不穷 · 繁人窮志不窮

Mandarin · pinyin rén qióng zhì bù qióng

(idiom) poor but with great ambitions; poor but principled

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Characters in this entry

人: rén · man; people; mankind; someone else
窮: Look up this written character
志: zhì · purpose, will, determination; annals
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
穷: qióng · poor, destitute, impoverished

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

2–2–4–4–2 · ren2 qiong2 zhi4 bu4 qiong2

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jan4 kung4 zi3 bat1 kung4

Cantonese word readings for 人窮志不窮. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) to be poor but have great aspirations and a strong spirit

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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