The company has come this far, and we mustn't forget the well-diggers - the old staff played an indispensable role.
Tips
history
The phrase was popularized through a primary-school text about Chairman Mao having a well dug for villagers in Shazhou (沙洲坝) in 1933 during the Jiangxi Soviet period; villagers later inscribed a stone reading 吃水不忘挖井人，时刻想念毛主席. The folk-saying form predates the political slogan.
usage
Standard rhetorical move at anniversaries, retirement speeches, and acknowledgements - invoke it to publicly thank people who came before you. Its register is warm and slightly old-fashioned.
