OverviewWong Tai Sin Sign 83
- Name
- The Heart That's Never Satisfied
- Grade
- Average
- Use
- Start with the poem and story, then choose the life topic that matches your question.
Sign 83
Wong Tai Sin Sign 83 · The Heart That's Never Satisfied
人心不足
In this busy world, hard we have to strive.
Our problems pile like mountains in this miserable life.
Even the wealthiest may suffer for having no son.
So behold!
Flowers bloom, flowers fall, why worry at all?
Traditional fortune poem
The Heart That's Never Satisfied
This sign takes its name from an ancient Chinese saying: 'The human heart is never satisfied' (人心不足蛇吞象 - literally 'an unsatisfied heart is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant'). The proverb comes from a folk tale about a greedy farmer who saved a magical snake. In gratitude, the snake offered to grant him wishes. The farmer asked for gold, then more gold, then a mansion, then power. Each gift only made him want more. Finally, he demanded to become emperor. The snake, disgusted by his endless greed, devoured him instead. The story became a cornerstone of Chinese philosophy about contentment. During the Song Dynasty, scholars often quoted this tale when advising emperors against excessive expansion or citizens against chasing status. It's not about having no ambition — it's about recognizing when enough is enough.
Six Short Readings
Career
The verse opens on a busy world where problems pile like mountains, then closes with flowers blooming and falling.READLove
The snake trying to swallow the elephant is the image sitting underneath this stick, and in matters of love it lands differently than most people expect.READHealth
The stick called 人心不足 carries one of the oldest cautions in Chinese folk wisdom: the heart that cannot stop reaching, the snake that tried to swallow the elephant.READStudy
You're caught in the achievement trap that plagues so many students today.READFamily
The classical figure here is the wealthy man who has everything except a son, and so has nothing.READThe whole situation
Stick 83 carries the old proverb of the snake and the elephant, the farmer who kept asking until his benefactor swallowed him whole.READ
The verse opens on a busy world where problems pile like mountains, then closes with flowers blooming and falling.READLove
The snake trying to swallow the elephant is the image sitting underneath this stick, and in matters of love it lands differently than most people expect.READHealth
The stick called 人心不足 carries one of the oldest cautions in Chinese folk wisdom: the heart that cannot stop reaching, the snake that tried to swallow the elephant.READStudy
You're caught in the achievement trap that plagues so many students today.READFamily
The classical figure here is the wealthy man who has everything except a son, and so has nothing.READThe whole situation
Stick 83 carries the old proverb of the snake and the elephant, the farmer who kept asking until his benefactor swallowed him whole.READ