人生得意须尽欢

人生得意須盡歡

rénshēngdéyìxūjìnhuān

phrase

Meanings

1 when life goes well, one must enjoy to the full
2 seize the joys of good times while you have them
3 lit. in life, on getting one's wishes, one must drink to fullness of joy

Characters

Examples

人生得意须尽欢，莫让忙碌耽误了庆祝。

Rénshēng déyì xū jìn huān, mò ràng mánglù dānwù le qìngzhù.

Seize joy while life goes well — don't let busyness rob you of celebration.

他举起酒杯说，人生得意须尽欢。

Tā jǔqǐ jiǔbēi shuō, rénshēng déyì xū jìn huān.

Raising his cup, he said: when life goes well, enjoy it to the full.

Tips

history

From Li Bai's (李白, Tang dynasty) 《将进酒》 ('Bring In the Wine'): 人生得意须尽欢，莫使金樽空对月 — 'In life's good moments one must drink to full joy; never let the gold goblet sit empty before the moon.' One of the most electric opening passages in Chinese poetry; 将进酒 is the standard Chinese drinking poem.

usage

得意 here means 'getting one's wishes / things going well', not the modern 'pleased with oneself / smug'. Often cited together with 莫使金樽空对月 as a carpe-diem motto.

Stroke Order

人 rén

生 shēng

得 dé

意 yì

须 xū

尽 jǐn

欢 huān