智者千虑，必有一失 / 智者千慮，必有一失

zhì​zhě​qiān​lǜ​bì​yǒu​yī​shī

even the wise are not infallible

even the wisest person will eventually make a mistake after a thousand thoughts

智者 (literal) → 智者 · zhì​zhě · wise person 千 (literal) → 千 · qiān · many 虑 (literal) → 虑/慮 · lǜ · thought ， (non_chinese) 必 (literal) → 必 · bì · certainly 有 (literal) → 有 · yǒu · there is 一 (literal) → 一 · yī · one 失 (literal) → 失 · shī · mistake

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

created sense May 20, 2026, 07:58 PM

智者千虑，必有一失 / 智者千慮，必有一失

zhì​zhě​qiān​lǜ​bì​yǒu​yī​shī

nobody is infallible

literally meaning a wise person reflecting a thousand times can still make a mistake; even the most intelligent person will occasionally make an error

zhì​zhě​qiān​lǜ​bì​yǒu​yì​shī

智者 (literal) → 智者 · zhì​zhě · wise person 千 (literal) → 千 · qiān · many 虑 (bound) → 虑/慮 · lǜ · thought ， (non_chinese) 必 (literal) → 必 · bì · certainly 有 (literal) → 有 · yǒu · there is 一 (literal) → 一 · yī · one 失 (bound) → 失 · shī · mistake

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

created sense May 20, 2026, 07:57 PM