Ever wonder what the secret to success really is? A curious student keeps digging for answers, but the teacher’s answer wasn’t what he was expecting.
一个学生问老师：”老师，成功的秘密是什么？”
老师说：”好的决定。”
学生想了想，又问：”怎么做好的决定？”
老师说：”经验。”
学生又问：”怎么得到经验？”
老师看着他，说：”坏的决定。”
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 成功 | chéng gōng | success |
| 秘密 | mì mì | secret |
| 决定 | jué dìng | decision; to decide |
| 经验 | jīng yàn | experience |
| 得到 | dé dào | to obtain; to get |
| 老师 | lǎo shī | teacher |
| 学生 | xué shēng | student |
| 想了想 | xiǎng le xiǎng | thought for a moment |
| 看着 | kàn zhe | to look at; watching |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 问 | wèn | to ask; to inquire |
| 的 | de | of; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); (used after a noun, verb or adjective to… |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion); variant of 是[shi4] |
| 什 | shén | what |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 好 | hǎo | good; appropriate; proper; all right!; (before a verb) easy to; (before a verb) good to; (before an adjective for exclamatory effect) so; (verb complement indicating completion); (… |
| 又 | yòu | (once) again; also; both... and...; and yet; (used for emphasis) anyway |
| 怎 | zěn | how |
| 做 | zuò | to make; to produce; to write; to compose; to do; to engage in; to hold (a party etc); (of a person) to be (an intermediary, a good student etc); to become (husband and wife, frien… |
| 他 | tā | (third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his; (bound form) other; another; some other (as in 他日[ta1 ri4] and 他人[ta1 ren2]) |
| 坏 | huài | bad; spoiled; broken; to break down; (suffix) to the utmost |
A student asked his teacher: “Teacher, what is the secret of success?”
The teacher said: “Good decisions.”
The student thought for a moment, then asked again: “How do you make good decisions?”
The teacher said: “Experience.”
The student asked again: “How do you get experience?”
The teacher looked at him and said: “Bad decisions.”