能者多劳 — Chinese idiom
能者多劳
néng zhě duō láo
Traditional: 能者多勞
Meaning
- it's the most capable people who do the most work (intended as consolation for the overworked, or flattery when making a request etc)
Character by character
- 能néngcan, may; capable, full of energy
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 多duōmuch, many, multi-; more than, over
- 劳láoto labor, to toil; to do manual work
Idioms sharing a character
- 任贤使能 rèn xián shǐ néng
- 全知全能 quán zhī quán néng
- 力所能及 lì suǒ néng jí
- 勤能补拙 qín néng bǔ zhuō
- 各尽所能 gè jìn suǒ néng
- 妒能害贤 dù néng hài xián
- 嫉贤妒能 jí xián dù néng
- 德薄能鲜 dé bó néng xiǎn
- 爱莫能助 ài mò néng zhù
- 推贤让能 tuī xián ràng néng
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3). Retrieved 2026-10-22.