马无夜草不肥，人无外快不富

Traditional form:

馬無夜草不肥，人無外快不富

Pinyin (reading):

mǎwúyècǎobùféi,rénwúwàikuàibùfù

Definitions:

• a horse cannot get fat without an extra ration, a man cannot get rich without an extra income (idiom)

Characters:

• 马 - horse; surname
• 无 - no, not; lacking, -less
• 夜 - night, dark; under cover of night
• 草 - grass, herbs; straw, thatch
• 不 - no, not, un-; negative prefix
• 肥 - fat, plump, obese; fertile
• 人 - man, person; people
• 无 - no, not; lacking, -less
• 外 - out, outside, external; foreign; in addition
• 快 - speedy, rapid, quick; soon
• 不 - no, not, un-; negative prefix
• 富 - abundant, ample; rich, wealthy

Traditional characters:

• 馬 - horse; surname
• 無 - no, not; lacking, -less
• 夜 - night, dark; under cover of night
• 草 - grass, herbs; straw, thatch
• 不 - no, not, un-; negative prefix
• 肥 - fat, plump, obese; fertile
• 人 - man, person; people
• 無 - no, not; lacking, -less
• 外 - out, outside, external; foreign; in addition
• 快 - speedy, rapid, quick; soon
• 不 - no, not, un-; negative prefix
• 富 - abundant, ample; rich, wealthy