由俭入奢易

由儉入奢易

Yóu jiǎn rù shē yì

quotation

Meanings

HSK 5

他涨了工资就开始大手大脚，由俭入奢易啊。

Tā zhǎng le gōngzī jiù kāishǐ dàshǒu-dàjiǎo, yóu jiǎn rù shē yì a.

As soon as he got a raise he started splurging - sliding from frugality to excess is easy, indeed.

HSK 7-9

由俭入奢易，由奢入俭难，所以要从小养成节俭的习惯。

Yóu jiǎn rù shē yì, yóu shē rù jiǎn nán, suǒyǐ yào cóngxiǎo yǎngchéng jiéjiǎn de xíguàn.

Easy to go from thrift to luxury, hard to go back - so children should learn to be frugal.

history

From 司马光's Northern Song 《训俭示康》: 由俭入奢易，由奢入俭难. This was a family instruction Sima Guang wrote for his son 司马康, urging him to stay frugal.

usage

Always paired with its second half 由奢入俭难, forming a sharp contrast.

由 yóu

俭 jiǎn

入 rù

奢 shē

易 yì