📖 Meaning
To lack the strength or ability to accomplish what one wishes to do. It describes a situation where one's ambition or desire exceeds one's actual capacity.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom appears in the "Book of Later Han" (后汉书·班超传), recounting the story of the Eastern Han dynasty general Ban Chao (班超). After decades of defending the western frontier, Ban Chao wrote to Emperor He in his old age, saying that his body was declining and he could no longer carry out his duties as before — his strength no longer followed his heart. The emperor, moved by his plea, eventually allowed him to return to the capital.
💡 Example Usage
我想帮他们完成这个项目，但能力有限，实在力不从心。
I want to help them finish this project, but my abilities are limited — I simply lack the capacity.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 力不从心
- Pinyin: lì bù cóng xīn
- Literal Translation: power, not, follow, heart
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4