当断不断，反受其乱 / 當斷不斷，反受其亂

dāng​duàn​bù​duàn​fǎn​shòu​qí​luàn

hesitation brings trouble

if one fails to make a decision when a decision is required, one will instead suffer from the resulting disorder

当 (literal) → 当/當 · dāng · at a time 断 (literal) → 断/斷 · duàn · to judge 不 (literal) → 不 · bù · not 断 (literal) → 断/斷 · duàn · to judge ， (non_chinese) 反 (literal) → 反 · fǎn · on the contrary 受 (literal) → 受 · shòu · to suffer 其 (literal) → 其 · qí · [third-person possessive] 乱 (literal) → 乱/亂 · luàn · upheaval

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

created sense May 20, 2026, 07:58 PM