Một đời cha, ba đời con, nếu muốn vót tròn, thì phải vót vuông
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
One must adapt to circumstances to achieve perfection
phải thích nghi với hoàn cảnh để đạt sự hoàn hảo
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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 2026-08-07; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “Một đời cha, ba đời con, nếu muốn vót tròn, thì phải vót vuông” mean?
One must adapt to circumstances to achieve perfection Literally: One life of father, three lives of son, if want to whittle round, must whittle square
Is “Một đời cha, ba đời con, nếu muốn vót tròn, thì phải vót vuông” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.