无利不起早
wú​lì​bù​qǐ​zǎo

no profit no action

  • created sense approved 无利不起早/無利不起早 · wú​lì​bù​qǐ​zǎo · no profit no action — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    无利不起早 / 無利不起早

    wú​lì​bù​qǐ​zǎo

    no profit no action

    (saying) people do not get up early unless there is a benefit to doing so; one will not lift a finger unless there is something in it for oneself

    无利 (literal) → 无利/無利 · wú​lì · unprofitable 不起 (literal) → 不起 · bù​qǐ · to not rise 早 (literal) → 早 · zǎo · early

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

    created sense