有意栽花花不发，无心插柳柳成阴
Traditional form:
有意栽花花不發，無心插柳柳成陰
Pinyin (reading):
yǒuyìzāihuāhuābùfā,wúxīnchāliǔliǔchéngyīn
Definitions:
- lit. you plant a garden and the flowers do not bloom, you poke a stick in the mud and it grows into a tree
- fig. things do not always turn out as one would expect
- well-laid plans may fail, and success may come where you least expect it
Characters:
- 有 - to have, to own, to possess; to exist
- 意 - thought, idea, opinion; desire, wish; meaning, intention
- 栽 - to cultivate, to plant, to tend
- 花 - flower, blossom; to spend (time or money)
- 花 - flower, blossom; to spend (time or money)
- 不 - no, not, un-; negative prefix
- 发 - to issue, to dispatch, to send out; hair
- 无 - no, not; lacking, -less
- 心 - heart; mind; soul
- 插 - to insert, to stick in; to pierce; to plant
- 柳 - willow tree; pleasure; surname
- 柳 - willow tree; pleasure; surname
- 成 - to accomplish; to become; to complete, to finish; to succeed
- 阴 - the female principle; dark, shaded; hidden, implicit, secret
Traditional characters:
- 有 - to have, to own, to possess; to exist
- 意 - thought, idea, opinion; desire, wish; meaning, intention
- 栽 - to cultivate, to plant, to tend
- 花 - flower, blossom; to spend (time or money)
- 花 - flower, blossom; to spend (time or money)
- 不 - no, not, un-; negative prefix
- 發 - to issue, to dispatch, to send out; hair
- 無 - no, not; lacking, -less
- 心 - heart; mind; soul
- 插 - to insert, to stick in; to pierce; to plant
- 柳 - willow tree; pleasure; surname
- 柳 - willow tree; pleasure; surname
- 成 - to accomplish; to become; to complete, to finish; to succeed
- 陰 - the female principle; dark, shaded; hidden, implicit, secret