燕雀安知鸿鹄之志
yàn​què'ān​zhī​hóng​hú​zhī​zhì

how can small fry understand the ambitions of the great

  1. 燕雀 yàn​què
    mediocre person
    (figurative) person of small caliber or limited ambition; small fry
  2. 安知 ān​zhī
    how can one know
    (literary) how can one know; how is it possible to know
  3. 鸿鹄 鴻鵠 hóng​hú
    person of noble aspirations
    (metaphor) a person with lofty ideals or great ambitions
  4. 之 zhī particle
    [possessive]
    Connects a describing word or phrase to the noun it describes, similar to 的 de but used in formal or literary writing.
  5. 志 zhì noun
    will
    aspiration; ideal; ambition; the will to achieve something