Chinese idiom · 成语
好逸恶劳
Meaning
Loving ease, hating toil; lazy indulgence.
Character by character
Origin and story
Classical and historical usageA related formulation in the Shi Yin chapter of Lüshi Chunqiu lists common human preferences: long life over early death, security over danger, honor over disgrace, and ease over toil. It says yu yi wu lao, expressing a general preference rather than narrating a lazy person's downfall.
The exact modern phrase appears in the Book of the Later Han's biography of the physician Guo Yu. Explaining why powerful patients can be difficult to treat, he includes their preference for comfort and unwillingness to exert themselves among several obstacles. In modern usage the idiom is a criticism of habitually avoiding effort, not of taking necessary rest.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
他并非好逸恶劳，只是不愿替别人反复收拾烂摊子。
He isn't lazy; he simply doesn't want to keep cleaning up other people's messes.
A critical character judgment; do not confuse reasonable boundaries or rest with laziness.