liángyī bù néng jiù wúmìng 良医不能救无命
Even a Good Doctor Cannot Save a Doomed Patient.
再好的医生治不好必死之人。任何事物的效力都不是无限的,无论医生的医术多高超,医疗条件多优良,都不可能包治百病,总有一些病是不治之症,总有一些人的生命不能挽回。这是不幸的事,也是无可避免的。人们对此必须理性认知,坦然面对。此语也用来提示人们总是有不可抗力与人力极限的存在。
A doctor, no matter how good he is, cannot cure a fatal illness. No power is unlimited. No matter how skillful a doctor is and how advanced the medical facilities are, it is not possible to cure all diseases. There are always some diseases that cannot be cured and some lives that cannot be saved. This is very unfortunate yet inevitable. People should face the reality rationally and calmly. The expression is also used to remind people of force majeure and the limitations of human beings.
引例 Citations:
◎良医能治未当死之人命,如命穷寿尽,方用无验矣。(王充《论衡·定贤》)
(好的医生能救治病不至死的人,如果一个人的寿命确实到了尽头,任何药方都无济于事了。)
A good doctor can only cure those who are treatable. If one is fatally ill, then no medicine can save him. (Wang Chong: A Comparative Study of Different Schools of Learning)
◎良医不能救无命,强梁不能与天争。故天之所坏,人不得支。(《后汉书·苏竟传》)
(再好的医生治不好必死之人,再强壮的人不能与上天争高下。所以,如果上天想要让其坏灭的东西,人力是抵挡不了的。)
Even the best doctor cannot save a doomed patient, and even the strongest man cannot prevail against Heaven. Therefore, what is doomed by Heaven is not for man to save. (The History of the Later Han Dynasty)
◎死病无良医。(《资治通鉴·周纪五·赧王五十六年》)
(对于必死之病,再好的医生也束手无策。)
Even a good doctor can do nothing about a deadly disease. (History as a Mirror)