需要是发明之母

Traditional form:

需要是發明之母

Pinyin (reading):

xūyàoshìfāmíngzhīmǔ

Definitions:

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

Characters:

• 需 - to need, to require; must
• 要 - essential, necessary; to ask for; to coerce; to demand
• 是 - to be; indeed, right, yes; okay
• 发 - to issue, to dispatch, to send out; hair
• 明 - bright, clear; to explain, to understand, to shed light
• 之 - marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; to go to
• 母 - mother; female elders; female

Traditional characters:

• 需 - to need, to require; must
• 要 - essential, necessary; to ask for; to coerce; to demand
• 是 - to be; indeed, right, yes; okay
• 發 - to issue, to dispatch, to send out; hair
• 明 - bright, clear; to explain, to understand, to shed light
• 之 - marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; to go to
• 母 - mother; female elders; female