宁为玉碎，不为瓦全

Traditional form:

寧為玉碎，不為瓦全

Pinyin (reading):

nìngwéiyùsuì,bùwéiwǎquán

Definitions:

• Better broken jade than intact tile.
• Death is preferable to dishonor. (idiom)

Characters:

• 宁 - calm, peaceful; healthy; rather; to prefer
• 为 - to do, to act; to handle, to govern; to be
• 玉 - jade, gem, precious stone
• 碎 - to break, to smash; broken, busted
• 不 - no, not, un-; negative prefix
• 为 - to do, to act; to handle, to govern; to be
• 瓦 - tile; pottery, earthenware
• 全 - whole, entire, complete; to preserve

Traditional characters:

• 寧 - calm, peaceful; healthy; rather; to prefer
• 為 - to do, to act; to handle, to govern; to be
• 玉 - jade, gem, precious stone
• 碎 - to break, to smash; broken, busted
• 不 - no, not, un-; negative prefix
• 為 - to do, to act; to handle, to govern; to be
• 瓦 - tile; pottery, earthenware
• 全 - whole, entire, complete; to preserve