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有志者事竟成

Mandarin · pinyin yǒu zhì zhě shì jìng chéng

a really determined person will find a solution (idiom); where there's a will, there's a way

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Characters in this entry

有: yǒu · have, own, possess; exist
志: zhì · purpose, will, determination; annals
者: zhě · that which; he who; those who
事: shì · affair, matter, business; to serve; accident, incident
竟: jìng · finally, after all, at last
成: chéng · completed, finished, fixed

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–3–4–4–2 · you3 zhi4 zhe3 shi4 jing4 cheng2

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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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jau5 zi3 ze2 si6 ging2 sing4

Cantonese word readings for 有志者事竟成. 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.

proverb

Where there's a will, there's a way.

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

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