欲速不达

Origin and story

In the Analects, Zi Lu chapter, Zixia asks about government while serving as the administrator of Jufu. Confucius tells him not to seek speed above all and not to fix his attention on small immediate gains. Insisting on haste, he says, prevents the goal from being reached; focusing on small profits prevents larger undertakings from succeeding.

The familiar four-character saying condenses 欲速则不达. Its first setting is advice about governing, but the contrast applies readily to learning and ordinary work. The warning is not against efficiency itself: it concerns the impatience that sacrifices the conditions needed for a sound result.