如人饮水，冷暖自知 / 如人飲水，冷暖自知

rú​rén​yǐn​shuǐ​lěng​nuǎn​zì​zhī

only the drinker knows if the water is cold or warm

A proverb meaning that one's personal feelings or experiences can only be truly understood by oneself; self-awareness comes from within.

如 (literal) → 如 · rú · to be like 人 (literal) → 人 · rén · person 饮水 (literal) → 饮水/飲水 · yǐn​shuǐ · to drink water ， (non_chinese) 冷暖 (literal) → 冷暖 · lěng​nuǎn · temperature changes 自知 (literal) → 自知 · zì​zhī · to be aware

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

created sense May 20, 2026, 07:57 PM