好逸恶劳 Hào Yì Wù Láo Love ease and hate work

Explanation

形容人贪图安逸，厌恶劳动。

Describes someone who seeks comfort and detests work.

Origin Story

话说东汉时期，有个名医叫郭玉，医术高超，妙手回春。他经常为穷苦百姓免费治病，深得百姓爱戴。可是，那些达官贵人请他看病，却往往治不好。汉和帝很纳闷，便问郭玉缘由。郭玉回答说："为穷苦百姓治病，他们心怀感激，积极配合治疗，药到病除自然容易。而达官贵人，他们好逸恶劳，自以为是，不肯认真配合治疗，所以疗效差。" 这个故事说明了，一个人的态度和配合程度，对治疗效果至关重要，同样也说明，好逸恶劳不利于自身发展。

huà shuō dōng hàn shí qī, yǒu gè míng yī jiào guō yù, yī shù gāo chāo, miào shǒu huí chūn. tā jīng cháng wèi qióng kǔ bǎi xìng miǎn fèi zhì bìng, shēn dé bǎi xìng ài dài. kěshì, nà xiē dá guān guì rén qǐng tā kàn bìng, què wǎng wǎng zhì bù hǎo. hàn hé dì hěn nà mèn, biàn wèn guō yù yuán yóu. guō yù huí dá shuō: 'wèi qióng kǔ bǎi xìng zhì bìng, tā men xīn huái gǎn jī, jī jí pèi hé zhì liáo, yào dào bìng chú zì rán róng yì. ér dá guān guì rén, tā men hǎo yì è lào, zì yǐ wéi shì, bù kěn rèn zhēn pèi hé zhì liáo, suǒ yǐ liáo xiào chā.' zhège gùshì shuō míng le, yīgè rén de tài du à hé pèi hé chéng dù, duì zhì liáo xiào guǒ zhì guān zhòng yào, tóng yàng yě shuō míng, hǎo yì è lào bù lì yú zì shēn fā zhǎn.

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a famous doctor named Guo Yu, whose medical skills were highly regarded. He often treated poor people for free and was loved by the people. However, the wealthy and powerful people he treated often did not recover. Emperor Han He was very puzzled and asked Guo Yu for the reason. Guo Yu replied:"When I treat the poor, they are grateful and actively cooperate with the treatment, so it is naturally easy to cure. But the wealthy and powerful are lazy and self-righteous, unwilling to seriously cooperate with the treatment, therefore the effect is poor." This story shows that a person’s attitude and cooperation are crucial to treatment results, and also shows that laziness is detrimental to personal development.

Usage

多用于批评那些贪图享乐，不爱劳动的人。

duō yòng yú pī píng nà xiē tān tú xiǎng lè, bù ài láo dòng de rén

It is often used to criticize those who seek pleasure and do not like work.

Examples

• 他好逸恶劳，不思进取。

  tā hǎo yì è lào, bù sī jìn qǔ

  He is lazy and unwilling to make progress.

• 年轻人应该勤劳致富，而不是好逸恶劳。

  nián qīng rén yīng gāi qín láo zhì fù, ér bù shì hǎo yì è lào

  Young people should work hard to get rich instead of being lazy and hating work.

Related Idioms

• 懒惰

• 游手好闲

Opposite Idioms

• 勤劳

• 奋发