老骥伏枥

老驥伏櫪
lǎojì-fúlì
idiom #88,266

Meanings

  1. 1 an old steed in the stable still longs to gallop a thousand li
  2. 2 old in years but still full of ambition

Examples

HSK 5
Zhè wèi lǎo jiàoshòu lǎojì-fúlì, tuìxiū hòu yòu xiě le sān běn shū.
The old professor is still full of ambition: he has written three more books since retiring.
HSK 7-9
Yéye qīshí suì le hái zài xué diànnǎo, zhēnshì lǎojì-fúlì.
Grandpa is seventy and still learning to use a computer: old in years, young in ambition.

Tips

history
From 曹操's poem 《龟虽寿》: 老骥伏枥,志在千里 "an old steed in its stall still dreams of a thousand li". He wrote it in his fifties, on campaign, and the next lines say a hero's heart stays bold in old age. 骥 is a fine horse and 枥 a stable trough.

Stroke Order

老 lǎo
骥 jì
伏 fú
枥 lì