Hữu sự thì vái tứ phương, vô sự nén hương chẳng mất

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Be friendly and courteous when needing help, but neglect others when having no needs

Literally: When there's a matter, bow to all four directions, when there's no matter, burn incense without loss

Examples

Anh ấy chỉ nhớ đến tôi khi cần giúp đỡ, nhưng khi không cần thì lại bỏ quênHe only remembers me when he needs help, but when he doesn't, he neglects me

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Headword listed in the vdict.com proverb dictionary index (discovery source; headword only — no source content copied). Entered as candidate 2026-08-05; definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-06; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “Hữu sự thì vái tứ phương, vô sự nén hương chẳng mất” mean?

Be friendly and courteous when needing help, but neglect others when having no needs Literally: When there's a matter, bow to all four directions, when there's no matter, burn incense without loss

Is “Hữu sự thì vái tứ phương, vô sự nén hương chẳng mất” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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