大勇若怯,大智若愚

Mandarin · pinyin dà yǒng ruò qiè , dà zhì ruò yú

Meanings

  1. a great hero may appear timid, the wise may appear stupid (idiom); the general public may not recognize great talent
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Characters in this entry

大
dà · big, great, vast, large, high
勇
yǒng · brave, courageous, fierce
若
ruò · if, supposing, assuming; similar
怯
qiè · lacking in courage, afraid
智
zhì · wisdom, knowledge, intelligence
愚
yú · stupid, doltish, foolish
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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大勇若怯,大智若愚 · da4 yong3 ruo4 qie4 , da4 zhi4 ruo4 yu2
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 27,778
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record大勇若怯,大智若愚 大勇若怯,大智若愚 [da4 yong3 ruo4 qie4 , da4 zhi4 ruo4 yu2] /a great hero may appear timid, the wise may appear stupid (idiom); the general public may not recognize great talent/