哀莫大于心死 āi mò dà yú xīn sǐ

DEFINITIONS

  1. nothing sadder than a withered heart (idiom attributed to Confucius by Zhuangzi 莊子|庄子[Zhuang1 zi3])
  2. no greater sorrow than a heart that never rejoices
  3. the worst sorrow is not as bad as an uncaring heart
  4. nothing is more wretched than apathy

CHARACTERS

哀 āi sad, mournful, pitiful; pity
莫 mò do not, is not, can not; negative
大 dà big, great, vast, large, high
于 yú in, on, at; go to; surname
心 xīn heart; mind, intelligence; soul
死 sǐ die; dead; death