📖 Meaning
To think deeply and carefully about something, weighing all aspects before acting. It emphasizes thorough, repeated deliberation rather than a hasty decision.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase draws from two classical sources. '深思' appears in Qu Yuan's 'Chu Ci: Yu Fu' (楚辞·渔父) from the Warring States period, where the fisherman asks why one would think deeply and hold oneself aloof, thereby bringing about one's own exile. '熟虑' is found in Sima Qian's 'Records of the Grand Historian' (史记·穰侯列传) from the Han dynasty, advising careful and thorough consideration. The combined form '深思熟虑' later became a set phrase denoting careful, repeated deliberation.
💡 Example Usage
经过深思熟虑后，他决定放弃高薪工作去创业。
After careful deliberation, he decided to give up his high-paying job to start a business.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 深思熟虑
- Pinyin: shēn sī shú lǜ
- Literal Translation: deep, think, ripe, consider
- Category: Wisdom
- Characters: 4