DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

心有餘，力不足

简心有余，力不足 · 繁心有餘，力不足

Mandarin · pinyin xīn yǒu yú , lì bù zú

The will is there, but not the strength (idiom, from Confucian Analects).
I really want to do it, but don't have the resources.
The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

心: xīn · heart; mind, intelligence; soul; 5th lunar mansion, determinative star α Scorpii (Antares)
有: yǒu · have, own, possess; exist
餘: Look up this written character
力: lì · power, capability, influence; Kangxi radical 19
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
足: zú · foot; attain, satisfy, enough; Kangxi radical 156
余: yú · I, my, me; surname; surplus

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

Explore the spelling

Connected dictionary

6character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Read this spelling in Classical texts

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.

心有餘，力不足 · find source passages ↗ · 心有余，力不足 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗