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qiè 锲 ér 而 bù 不 shě 舍

锲而不舍 qiè ér bù shě

to persevere unremittingly; to keep at it without letting go

Literally: carve and not give up

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Origin

From the Xunzi (Quan Xue): 锲而舍之,朽木不折;锲而不舍,金石可镂 — if you carve and give up, even rotten wood will not break; carve without giving up and even metal and stone can be engraved.

How to use it

Adverbial or predicate; strongly positive. Often 锲而不舍地追求/努力.

Example sentences

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  1. 他锲而不舍地研究了十年，终于攻克了这个难题。
    Tā qiè ér bù shě de yánjiū le shí nián, zhōngyú gōngkè le zhège nántí.
    He researched persistently for ten years and finally cracked this difficult problem.
    he carve and not give up (adverbial particle) research (aspect particle) ten year, finally conquer (aspect particle) this (measure) difficult problem
  2. 只要有锲而不舍的精神，再大的困难也能克服。
    Zhǐyào yǒu qiè ér bù shě de jīngshén, zài dà de kùnnan yě néng kèfú.
    As long as you have an unremitting spirit, even the greatest difficulties can be overcome.
    as long as have carve and not give up (attributive particle) spirit, even big (attributive particle) difficulty also can overcome

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