工欲善其事，必先利其器

Mandarin

Etymology

Literally: If a workman wishes to do a good job, he must first sharpen his tools.

• c. 479 BCE – 221 BCE, anon, Analects of Confucius

Proverb

工欲善其事，必先利其器 (traditional and simplified, Pinyin gōng yù shàn qí shì, bì xiān lì qí qì)

1. One must have good tools in order to do a good job.

References

• "工欲善其事，必先利其器" (in Mandarin), Guoyu Cidian On-line Mandarin Dictionary (國語辭典). URL accessed on 2009-02-02.

External links

• Google hits: .cn
• Google hits: .tw