钢针难得两头尖，甘蔗没有两头甜鋼針難得兩頭尖，甘蔗沒有兩頭甜鋼針難得兩頭尖，甘蔗沒有兩頭甜

a steel needle is hardly sharp at both ends; sugar cane is not sweet at both ends

Saying俗语俗語

Proverb谚语諺語 · Rarely used now

Meaning: You can't have everything; it is rare for a matter to be perfect on all sides. Similar to 'you can't have your cake and eat it'.

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Simplified: 钢针难得两头尖，甘蔗没有两头甜
Traditional (Taiwan): 鋼針難得兩頭尖，甘蔗沒有兩頭甜
Pinyin: gāngzhēn nándé liǎngtóu jiān, gānzhe méiyǒu liǎngtóu tián
Bopomofo: ㄍㄤㄓㄣㄋㄢˊ ㄉㄜˊ ㄌㄧㄤˇ ㄊㄡˊ ㄐㄧㄢ，ㄍㄢ ˙ㄓㄜㄇㄟˊ ㄧㄡˇ ㄌㄧㄤˇ ㄊㄡˊ ㄊㄧㄢˊ

Written with HSK 6 vocabulary, at CEFR level B2.

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