安贫乐道

安貧樂道
ānpín-lèdào
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 content in poverty and devoted to the Way
  2. 2 to live simply and keep to one's principles

Examples

HSK 6
Rújīn, néng ānpín-lèdào, zhuānxīn zuò xuéwen de rén bù duō le.
These days few people can stay content in poverty and devote themselves to scholarship.
HSK 7-9
Tā yíbèizi ānpín-lèdào, cóngbù zhuīqiú mínglì.
All his life he lived simply and kept to his principles, never chasing fame or money.

Tips

mistakes
道 here is the Way, the moral path of the Confucian classics, not 'to say', and 乐 is 'to delight in', read lè, not yuè. The model is 颜回, the disciple who lived on a bowl of rice and a gourd of water and, in Confucius's words, never lost his joy.

Stroke Order

安 ān
贫 pín
乐 lè
道 dào