Lên ngựa phải ra roi, lên voi phải cầm búa
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
One must be prepared to take control and make tough decisions when given a position of power
Phải sẵn sàng kiểm soát và đưa ra quyết định khó khăn khi được giao quyền lực
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Examples
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 “Lên ngựa phải ra roi, lên voi phải cầm búa” mean?
One must be prepared to take control and make tough decisions when given a position of power Literally: Get on horse must bring whip, get on elephant must hold hammer
Is “Lên ngựa phải ra roi, lên voi phải cầm búa” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.