Yú Gōng moves mountains
To have resolute will and not be afraid of hardship and difficulty
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只要有愚公移山的精神,就什么困难都能克服 | Zhǐyào yǒu yúgōngyíshān de jīngshén, jiù shénme kùnnán dōu néng kèfú
So long as we have resolute will, we'll be able to triumph over any hardship
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我们要以愚公移山的精神征服沙漠,让它变成绿洲 | Wǒmen yào yǐ yúgōngyíshān de jīngshén zhēngfú shāmò, ràng tā biàn chéng lǜzhōu
We must conquer the desert with steady will and determination, and turn it into an oasis
[Source]
Where there's a will, there's a way
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《列子》(Liè Zǐ), a set of Daoist texts said to be by the author of the same name. He is said to have lived during the Warring States period (475 - 221 BC)
A long time ago, there lived an almost ninety-year-old man named 愚公 (Yú Gōng). 愚公's house was surrounded by two very, very tall mountains named 太行 (Tài Háng) and 王屋 (Wáng Wū). In fact, the mountains were so close to 愚公's house that 愚公 would have to travel on a long and twisting road to get anywhere, and it always took an absurdly long amount of time.
One day, 愚公 gathered his family together and said, "Why don't we all work together to move the mountains? That way, we can build a road that will allow us to get to our destinations more easily."
Everyone rapidly agreed, though his his wife raised a point of concern. She said, "With your current strength, I don't think you'd have the strength to level a hill, let alone those two mountains. And even if you did manage to move the mountain, where would you put all of the stones and earth that you'd dig up?" To this, everyone else replied that they could put debris by the sea.
The very next day, 愚公 led his son, grandson, and three other strong people to the mountains to start their work. Progress was slow, but each day they returned and kept up their efforts.
Eventually, there was an old man who heard of 愚公's plan, and he came by and said, "愚公, you're too old! You couldn't even move a plant on this mountain, let alone rocks and dirt!" Upon hearing this, 愚公 sighed and said, "You're not thinking big enough. I may be old, but I have a son who will continue to do this work. On top of that, my son's descendants, my son's descendant's descendants, and even their descendants will also work tirelessly to move this mountain!" The old man didn't have any kind of response to that, and so he left.
It wasn't long after that that the mountain god learned what 愚公 was doing. They grew immensely alarmed, and they reported the news to the god of the heavens. The god of the heavens was moved by 愚公's persistence, and he ordered two strong immortals to take the two mountains away from 愚公's house and place them somewhere else.