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天下无难事

天下無難事
tiānxiàwúnánshì
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 nothing under heaven is truly difficult
  2. 2 there is no task in the world that cannot be done
  3. 3 opening half of the proverb 'so long as one is willing to climb'

Examples

天下无难事，只怕有心人。
Tiānxià wú nán shì, zhǐ pà yǒuxīn rén.
Nothing in the world is truly hard — it only fears the person with the will.
他常说天下无难事，只要肯下功夫。
Tā cháng shuō tiānxià wú nán shì, zhǐyào kěn xià gōngfu.
He often says: nothing is truly hard, so long as one is willing to put in the effort.

Tips

history
The popular proverb 天下无难事，只怕有心人 ('nothing is hard under heaven, only the determined person makes it so') dates at least to the Ming dynasty, appearing in colloquial literature such as the 《西游记》 and various storyteller collections. Mao Zedong memorably reworded it in 《水调歌头·重上井冈山》: 世上无难事，只要肯登攀 — 'Nothing on earth is hard, so long as one is willing to climb.'
usage
Almost always cited with a follow-up clause — either 只怕有心人 (folk version) or 只要肯登攀 (Mao version). Stock motivational line in schools and speeches.

Stroke Order

天 tiān
下 xià
无 wú
难 nán
事 shì