燕雀安知鸿鹄之志

1. • lit. can the sparrow and swallow know the will of the great swan? (idiom)
2. • fig. how can we small fry predict the ambitions of the great?

Character by character

• 燕(yàn)swallow
• 雀(què)small bird
• 安(ān)surname An
• 知(zhī)know
• 鸿(hóng)eastern bean goose
• 鹄(hú)swan
• 之(zhī)(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的 de)
• 志(zhì)aspiration