Tā chīmí yú shūfǎ, wèiyīxiāodérénqiáocuì yě gānxīn.
He's obsessed with calligraphy - willing to waste away for its sake and glad of it.
Tips
history
From Liu Yong's 蝶恋花·伫倚危楼风细细 (Northern Song), paired with 衣带渐宽终不悔. 伊 (yī) is a classical pronoun meaning 'she / that person'. Wang Guowei's 人间词话 named this couplet the 'second realm of scholarship' - the stage of single-minded devotion to a pursuit.
usage
消得 (xiāodé) is classical for '能受得 / 值得' - 'willing to endure'. Use the full couplet with 衣带渐宽终不悔; quoting half alone feels truncated.
