DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

無利不起早

简无利不起早 · 繁無利不起早

Mandarin · pinyin wú lì bù qǐ zǎo

(saying) people don't get up early unless there is some benefit in doing so
won't lift a finger unless there's something in it for oneself

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Characters in this entry

無: Look up this written character
利: lì · gains, advantage, profit, merit
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
起: qǐ · rise, stand up; go up; begin
早: zǎo · early; soon; morning
无: wú · negative, no, not; Kangxi radical 71

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4–4–3–3 · wu2 li4 bu4 qi3 zao3

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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.

無利不起早 · find source passages ↗ · 无利不起早 · find source passages ↗

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