需要是发明之母 xū yào shì fā míng zhī mǔ

DEFINITIONS

  1. Necessity is the mother of invention (European proverb).

CHARACTERS

需 xū need, require, must
要 yào necessary, essential; necessity
是 shì indeed, yes, right; to be; demonstrative pronoun, this, that
发 fā issue, dispatch, send out; hair
明 míng bright, light, brilliant; clear
之 zhī marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
母 mǔ mother; female elders; female