please help!

[zosia]

im getting a tattoo done soon and want it in traditional chinese, need help, could somebody please translate - "everything happens for a reason" for me? big thanks!!

[firefly]

事出皆有因

Anyway, this translation is not very suitable for a tatto.

Hope someone could provide a better answer.

[anonymoose]

You could try

凡事皆有其理由

but as I'm not a native speaker, you may want to wait for further advice.

[martinboy]

无风不起浪 is this ok?

[fanglu]

Can I ask a question, by 'everything happens for a reason' what do you mean exactly?

As I see it the phrase has two interpretations, one being 'everything is caused by something' and the other being 'everything that happens is fated to happen'. Firefly and Anonymouse's translations both point to 1, but my guess would be you mean 2. Right?

[anonymoose]

As I see it the phrase has two interpretations, one being 'everything is caused by something' and the other being 'everything that happens is fated to happen'. Firefly and Anonymouse's translations both point to 1, but my guess would be you mean 2. Right?

I don't think it's as clear-cut as that. As it stands, the OP's original sentence and my translation could be interpreted in both ways you suggested.

Let's take a closer look at 凡事皆有其理由. Translated literally, it is something like "Everything has it's reason". Now, "reason" could be interpreted as just the cause in a cause and effect sequence, as reflected in your "everything is caused by something" interpretation. However, "reason" could equally well be interpreted as, say the "devine reason", "God's will", which would then correspond with your “everything that happens is fated to happen” interpretation. So I believe 凡事皆有其理由 is an appropriate translation of the OP's original phrase.

Another possibility is 凡事皆有其道, which (to my ears, anyway) sounds better because it is composed of three pairs syllables.

Whether these are good phrases to use as a tattoo and whether there are better ways to translate the OP's phrase are different issues which I will leave to others to comment on.

[fengyixiao]

事出有因

[zosia]

Thanks everyone for reply.

'everything is caused by something' that would b the meaning of the phrase.

i have a ready one but dont know if its ok 有事必有因

[skylee]

IMHO all the suggestions are odd for a tattoo. Please don't do it.

[semantic nuance]

How about 因緣?

[Guoke]

"缘起" or "缘起缘灭" seems pretty cool for a tattoo.

[kk_agnostic]

how about 因果规律？

please refer to: http://baike.baidu.com/view/8748.htm

一切诸果 皆从因起 一切诸报 皆从业起 《华严经》

三世因果 循环不失 善恶之报 如影随形 《涅盘经》

因缘会遇时 果报还自受 假使百千劫 所作业不亡 《大包积经》

[zosia]

一切發生的原因

whould that b the right one ? "everything happens for a reason" ???

[skylee]

一切發生的原因

whould that b the right one ? "everything happens for a reason" ???

It means something like "the reason of everything that happend(ed/s)" or "the reaon why everthing happen(ed/s)".

[zosia]

Thanks everyone 4 all your suggestions!

[Jim]

事有起因 or if you want it a bit more pseudo-Buddhist, 凡物有起因

[zosia]

could someone tell me which of the translations is the closest to "everything happens for a reason"

事出必有因

or

凡事發生皆有其理

[HashiriKata]

Both are equally close to "everything happens for a reason" but for a tattoo, I'd take 事出必有因 for its conciseness.