You can t have it both ways, how to say it in English

The original text and translation of the fish and the bear's paw are as follows:

Original text: Mencius said: "Fish, I also want it; Bear's paws, as well as I want. You can't have both, and you can't have both, and those who give up the fish and take the bear's paw are also. Life is also what I want, and righteousness is also what I want; You can't have both, and those who sacrifice their lives to take righteousness are also. (Mencius, 10).

Translation: Mencius said, "The fish is what I want, and the bear's paw is what I want, and if I can't get both at the same time, then I will give up the fish and take the bear's paw."

Life is what I cherish, and morality is also what I cherish, if I can only choose one of the two, then I will give up my life and take morality. ”

Insight: This sentence not only refers to the fish and the bear's paw, it is a metaphor for the fish and the bear's paw, when we are in the choice, we will involuntarily consider this, especially when we need to choose one of the two, we often think that both can choose how good it is.

However, it is impossible for our ideas to come true, because there is no such thing as the best of both worlds in this world, and most of the time we talk about facing choices.

From kindergarten to primary school, our parents helped us make a better choice for us, from primary school to junior high school, we almost had to make our own choice, from junior high school to high school, we made our own choice, and from high school to university, we also made our own choice. Therefore, we have to make choices in every aspect of our lives.

Almost everyone chooses the right one time, and almost all of them can only make a better choice for themselves after trying and failing, but we have to believe in one sentence: there is no road in vain in life, every step counts.

When we want both "fish" and "bear's paws", we might as well think about which choice is good for us and others, and then make a choice, so that it may be easier to make a choice. Even if you fail, maybe it's not so hard.

Sacrifice the fish and take the bear's paw, sacrifice the life and take the righteousness, everyone faces different choices, and the background is different, so we can't generalize, I hope everyone can make the most suitable choice for themselves Douchun Mountain.

The original text and translation of the fish and the bear's paw are as follows:

Original text: Fish, I want it too; Bear's paws, as well as I want. You can't have both, and you can't have both, and those who give up the fish and take the bear's paw are also. Life, also what I want; Righteousness is also what I want. You can't have both, and those who sacrifice their lives to take righteousness are also.

Translation: Fish is what I want, bear's paw is also what I want, if these two things can't be obtained at the same time, then I give up the fish and choose to eat the bear's paw. Life is what I want, justice is also what I want, if these two can't be obtained at the same time, then I give up my life and choose to disturb my friends.

You can't have both fish and bear's paws" meansInBetween two or more choices, you can't have or implement all of the options at the same time, you have to make a sacrifice or choose one or the other. You can't have bothBecause the fish and the bear's paw represent two different choices or goals, and these two goals are mutually exclusive. In other words, when we are faced with two choices, we have to make one choice, not both, because they may be in conflict with each other.

[Source].

The source of this sentence is Mencius's "Fish I Want".

[Excerpt from the original text].

Fish, I want too; Bear's paws, as well as I want. You can't have both, and you can't have both, and those who give up the fish and take the bear's paw are also. There is an end to life, there is no end to knowledge, and there is no end to it, and there is no end to it!

[Translation].

I like fish, and I guess Sakura likes bear's paws. However, you can't have both at the same time. If I had to choose one, I would forgo the fish in favor of the bear's paw. Life is limited, but the pursuit of knowledge is unlimited, and if you only care about the fame and fortune in front of you, you will endanger your pursuit and development.

[Appreciation].

The main purpose of this quote is to tell us that there are often sacrifices and choices to be made in life, and it is impossible to have the best of both worlds. This is not only reflected in material interests, but also in terms of morality, life values, etc. We have to make difficult choices in order to achieve higher levels of pursuit and purpose.

[Background].

Mencius was a thinker and educator during the Qin period, and his ideas influenced the development and evolution of traditional Chinese culture. In the essay "Fish I Want", Mencius uses this fable to warn people not to covet immediate pleasures and forget their own pursuits and responsibilities, and at the same time reflects some of the shortcomings and contradictions of the society at that time.

[Notes].

Ya,boundaries, limitations;

Death,Dangerous, sinister.

[Life Enlightenment].

The phrase "you can't have it both ways" tells us that there are times when we are faced with two or more different choices in life, but sometimes these choices are not possible and we need to make trade-offs. This is a universal truth in life, not limited to the choice of fish and bear's paw, but reflects the reality and necessity of the choices we need to make in life.

Personally, I used to choose between studying and socializing. During college, I wanted to do well academically, but at the same time, I wanted to have more social activities. However, I quickly realized that there was a trade-off between the two.

If I'm going to spend more time socializing, then my studies will suffer; Vice versa. Eventually, I decided to devote more time and energy to my studies so that I could better achieve my goals.

In addition, the phrase "you can't have it both ways" also reminds us that we need to have clear trade-offs and directions when pursuing our goals and achieving our ideals. We need to think hard about our values and goals in life, and we need to have the courage to give up and focus on what we think is most important to those choices that we can't have both. Only through such trade-offs and choices can we better realize our life values and ideals.

Life is also what I want, and righteousness is also what I want; You can't have both, and those who sacrifice their lives to take righteousness are also. Mencius used an analogy with the specific things that people are familiar with in life: the fish is what I want to get, and the bear's paw is also what I want, and in the case that the two cannot be obtained at the same time, I would rather give up the fish and have the bear's paw; Life is what I cherish, and righteousness is also what I cherish, and in the case that the two cannot be obtained at the same time, I would rather give up my life in favor of righteousness.

Here, Mencius compares life to a fish and righteousness to a bear's paw, arguing that righteousness is more precious than life just as a bear's paw is more precious than a fish.

This article is excerpted from "Mencius: Gaozi I".The main content of "Confession I" is to clarify the "theory of goodness", that is, human nature is born with the seeds of goodness, the so-called "compassion of the heart of jujube core, everyone has it; Everyone has a heart of shame; Respectful heart is shared by everyone; Everyone has the heart of right and wrong".This kind of good nature is the "original heart" of man

"Originality" should not be underestimated, because they are the germination forms of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom: "The heart of compassion is the end of benevolence; The heart of shame is also the end of righteousness; The heart of resignation (meaning close to "respectful") is also the end of courtesy; The heart of right and wrong, the end of righteousness. One should seek one's own mind, develop it in the direction of one's own mind, and carry it forward in order to become a morally perfect person.

Therefore, in the full text of "Under the Confession", this article is about everyone having a "heart", and no matter what the situation, people should keep their own "heart".As long as the "heart" is there, even at the moment of life and death, people can withstand the test; And if we lose our "heart," we will do things that are detrimental to our personality.

1.Because if you want to get a bear's paw, you have to go to the mountains to fight, and if you want to get a fish, you have to go to the water to catch them, and you can't get both at the same time, so you can't have both the bear's paw and the fish.

Mencius's original words were: "I want the fish, and the bear's paw is also what I want, and you can't have both. He used the fish and the bear's paw as a metaphor for the trade-off between "life" and "righteousness".

Life, what I want, righteousness, and what I want, you can't have both, sacrifice your life to seek righteousness. ”

Therefore, it should be said that it is possible to have both fish and bear's paws without conflict.