làm quan thì dễ, làm thể thì khó
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Becoming an official is easy; becoming worthy of it is hard — the office arrives faster than the dignity.
Literally: being a mandarin easy, bearing the station hard
Sources & notes
Discovered via Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897; public domain, via vi.wikisource); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Attested in Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897). Definition is an original editorial synthesis, not copied from the source.
Common questions
What does “làm quan thì dễ, làm thể thì khó” mean?
Becoming an official is easy; becoming worthy of it is hard — the office arrives faster than the dignity. Literally: being a mandarin easy, bearing the station hard
Is “làm quan thì dễ, làm thể thì khó” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.