知易行难

zhī yì xíng nán

knowing is easy, doing is hard

Character by character

知zhī
know

易yì
easy

行xíng
act

难nán
hard

少吃多动就能减肥，道理谁都懂，可惜知易行难。

Eat less and move more and you will lose weight: everyone knows it, but knowing is easy and doing is hard.

Tone: neutral.

Goes back to the 尚书: 非知之艰，行之惟艰, it is not knowing that is hard but doing. 孙中山 famously argued the opposite, 知难行易, to urge people to act on his plans.

Learn this in Lesson 98 · HSK 6–7: 王阳明与知行合一 (Wang Yangming: knowing is doing)

A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.