I have always kept my father's admonitions in my heart.
Tips
usage
诫 often appears in compounds: 告诫 (to admonish), 训诫 (to reprimand), 十诫 (the Ten Commandments). As a standalone character it is literary and rarely used alone in modern Chinese.
Speech radical on the left, the indexing component and a contracted form of 言. It marks 诫 as a verbal act — warning, instructing, admonishing — and puts it next to 说 say, 讲 tell, 训 lecture, 警 alert. Wherever 讠 sits on the left, expect speech.
Right side 戒 jiè supplies the sound exactly — same syllable, same tone. It also carries strong meaning: 戒 is the picture of two hands holding a halberd, ready to guard against danger. Speaking + guarding-against = warning someone off, the precise sense of 诫.
