老驥伏櫪

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Chinese

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old; aged; venerable
old; aged; venerable; outdated; experienced; (affectionate prefix)
 
thoroughbred horse; refined and virtuous conceal (ambush); prostrate; submit stable
trad. (老驥伏櫪)
simp. (老骥伏枥)
Literally: “an old steed in the stable still aspires to gallop 1000 miles”.

Etymology

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From a poem by Cao Cao:

老驥伏櫪千里烈士暮年壯心不已 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
老骥伏枥千里烈士暮年壮心不已 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: 三國·魏·曹操《步出夏門行》
Lǎojì fúlì, zhì zài qiānlǐ; lièshì mùnián, zhuàngxīn bùyǐ. [Pinyin]
The old steed over the manger still has the mind to do a thousand-li journey;
The heroic old man still cherishes lofty ambitions.

Pronunciation

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Idiom

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老驥伏櫪

  1. (figurative) an aged person with great aspirations