水不激不跃,人不激不奋 水不激不躍,人不激不奮 水不激不躍,人不激不奮

water doesn't leap unless stirred, people aren't spurred on unless provoked

Saying俗语俗語

Proverb谚语諺語 · Rarely used now

Meaning
People need encouragement or a challenge to push themselves.
Simplified
水不激不跃,人不激不奋
Traditional (Taiwan)
水不激不躍,人不激不奮
Pinyin
shuǐ bù jī bú yuè, rén bù jī bú fèn
Bopomofo
ㄕㄨㄟˇ ㄅㄨˋ ㄐㄧ ㄅㄨˊ ㄩㄝˋ,ㄖㄣˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄐㄧ ㄅㄨˊ ㄈㄣˋ

Written with HSK 1 vocabulary, at CEFR level A1.

Words in this sentence

Where this sentence is used

All Chinese example sentences