只要功夫深,铁杵磨成针

zhǐ yào gōng fu shēn , tiě chǔ mó chéng zhēn

cf idiom 磨杵成針|磨杵成针, to grind an iron bar down to a fine needle (idiom); fig. to persevere in a difficult task

If you work at it hard enough, you can grind an iron bar into a needle.; to study diligently

只

zhǐ

variant of 只[zhi3]

要

yào

to want; to need; to ask for

功

gōng

meritorious deed or service

夫

fu

(classical) this, that

深

shēn

deep (lit. and fig.)

,

,

铁

tiě

iron (metal)

杵

chǔ

pestle

磨

mó

to rub

成

chéng

short name for Chengdu 成都[Cheng2 du1]

针

zhēn

variant of 針|针[zhen1], needle