貧賤不能移

Chinese

poor and lowly
cannot; must not; should not
cannot; must not; should not; to be unable to; to fail to
 
to move; to shift; to change
to move; to shift; to change; to alter; to remove
 
trad. (貧賤不能移) 貧賤 不能 移
simp. (贫贱不能移) 贫贱 不能 移

Etymology

From Mencius:

富貴不能淫，貧賤不能移，威武不能屈。此之謂大丈夫。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
富贵不能淫，贫贱不能移，威武不能屈。此之谓大丈夫。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]
From: Mencius, c. 4th century BCE
Fùguì bùnéng yín, pínjiàn bùnéng yí, wēiwǔ bùnéng qū. Cǐ zhī wèi dàzhàngfū. [Pinyin]
To be above the power of riches and honours to make dissipated, of poverty and mean condition to make swerve from principle, and of power and force to make bend - these characteristics constitute the great man.

Pronunciation

Phrase

貧賤不能移

  1. to remain morally upright even when destitute

Proverb

貧賤不能移

  1. (neologism) Poor people lack the chance to emigrate, thus suffer from the social problems in their home country more than rich people.
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