先天下之忧而忧，后天下之乐而乐

xiān tiān xià zhī yōu ér yōu , hòu tiān xià zhī lè ér lè

to be the first to worry about affairs of state, and the last to enjoy oneself (quotation from the essay On Yueyang Tower 岳陽樓記|岳阳楼记[Yue4 yang2 Lou2 Ji4] by Song writer Fan Zhongyan 范仲淹[Fan4 Zhong4 yan1])

先

xiān

beforehand; first; earlier

天

tiān

day

下

xià

down

之

zhī

(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5])

忧

yōu

to worry

而

ér

and

忧

yōu

to worry

，

,

后

hòu

back

天

tiān

day

下

xià

down

之

zhī

(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5])

乐

lè

happy

而

ér

and

乐

lè

happy