人生不如意

rénshēngbùrúyì

phrase

Meanings

1 life does not go as one would wish
2 disappointment is the human lot
3 things rarely go according to plan

Characters

wish / intention

Examples

人生不如意事十之八九，想开点儿。

Rénshēng bù rúyì shì shí zhī bā jiǔ, xiǎng kāi diǎnr.

Eight or nine out of ten things in life don't go your way — go easier on yourself.

他安慰朋友说，人生不如意才是常态。

Tā ānwèi péngyou shuō, rénshēng bù rúyì cái shì chángtài.

He comforted his friend by saying that life's disappointments are the norm, not the exception.

Tips

history

Most often quoted as the fuller 人生不如意事十之八九 ('eight or nine things in ten go awry'), a folk proverb crystallized in Ming-Qing vernacular fiction and the 《增广贤文》 tradition. The sentiment itself is older, echoed already in Liu Yuxi's and Su Shi's Song-dynasty poems on disappointment.

Stroke Order

人 rén

生 shēng

不 bù

如 rú

意 yì