一口吃不成胖子

1. • lit. you cannot get fat with only one mouthful (proverb)
2. • fig. any significant achievement requires time, effort and persistence

Character by character

• 一(yī)one
• 口(kǒu)mouth
• 吃(chī)eat
• 不(bù)no
• 成(chéng)surname Cheng
• 胖(pàng)fat
• 子(zi)noun suffix, as in 椅子 yǐzi "chair"