千里之行，始于足下 in English qian1 li3 zhi1 xing2 , shi3 yu2 zu2 xia4 Meaning

Meanings

  • literally (word for word) a thousand mile journey begins with the first step
  • metaphorically big accomplishments come from an accumulation of little achievements made one by one

Simplified Characters

千 里 之 行 ， 始 于 足 下

Traditional Characters

千 里 之 行 ， 始 於 足 下

Pinyin

qian1 li3 zhi1 xing2 , shi3 yu2 zu2 xia4

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

千qian1thousand 里li3variant of 裡|里[li3] 之zhi1(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5]) 行xing2row ， 始shi3to begin 于yu2surname Yu 足zu2excessive 下xia4down