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What does 也 要 马 儿 好 , 也 要 马 儿 不 吃 草 mean? You want your horse to be good, but also want him to not need to eat grass: Philosophically, what does this Chinese proverb mean?

Answers · 8

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又要馬兒好,又要馬兒不吃草 : (諺語) 又要求馬兒長得壯快,又希望馬兒少吃草料。 比喻 : 要求過高卻吝於付出。 " 要求過高卻吝於付出 " 是比較精確的意義 (相依事件 但要求 output > input) "You can't have your cake and eat it too." 則接近於 " 魚與熊掌不可兼得 " (互斥事件 having cake + eating cake = 0 )
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I believe its a way of saying that someone wants everything the best but that they should know it is not realistic. Even good horses need to eat grass. An English saying that fits the same need is "You can't have your cake and eat it too."
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You are quite welcome Mr.Troy ^^ And I think I'd very much like to read more English(or other languages) ones as well... all the sedimentary accretion of cultures over years, aren't they? :)
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Thanks Mr. Bear. I will have to read more Chinese Parables.
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actually, it means you want your car run well, but you don't want to fuel it... or you want to grow muscles yet you won't eat... the implication of it is that you are expecting to creat somthing out of nothing...a bit of greedy, and unreal!

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