不求有功，但求无过
bù​qiú​yǒu​gōng​dàn​qiú​wú​guò

to prioritize avoiding mistakes

  • created sense approved 不求有功，但求无过/不求有功，但求無過 · bù​qiú​yǒu​gōng​dàn​qiú​wú​guò · to prioritize avoiding mistakes — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    不求有功，但求无过 / 不求有功，但求無過

    bù​qiú​yǒu​gōng​dàn​qiú​wú​guò

    to prioritize avoiding mistakes

    (idiom) to not aim for great achievements, but only to avoid making errors; to take a cautious, risk-averse, or conservative approach to one's work

    不 (literal) → 不 · bù · not 求 (literal) → 求 · qiú · to seek 有功 (literal) → 有功 · yǒu​gōng · to have merit ， (non_chinese) 但 (literal) → 但 · dàn · only 求 (literal) → 求 · qiú · to seek 无过 (literal) → 无过/無過 · wú​guò · to have no fault

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense