combining 2 4-character idioms/proverbs

[speldwiday]

hey guys... first day member here...

just wondering if any of you could help me out... I was wondering whether anyone knew 2 four charcter idioms that when combined meant something along the lines of "No victory without courage"...

so far (from very limitted resources) i've only been able to scrounge up...

"one body of courage" --> "unrivaled everywhere"

literal translation: "one / body / be / guts" --> "whatever / face / no / enemy"

I'm hoping to get a calligrapher to write out the 2 phrases on separate mattes. That way each independent idiom has meaning standing alone and come together to form "no victory without courage"

Any sort of help/advise/expertise would be appreciated. Thanks everybody. I look forward to hearing from you.

[skylee]

"one / body / be / guts" -> 一身是膽

"whatever / face / no / enemy" -> (what do you mean by "whatever"???) I would guess it is 四面無敵

The first one describes a person who is very brave/courageous.

The second one describes a person who has no equals / is invincible.

Together, however, they do not mean "no victory without courage" . They mean that the person is courageous and strong.

[speldwiday]

thnx for the correction

if i put 一身是膽 and 四面無敵 together, would it carry a meaning that "courage leads to victory everywhere"?

if not, does anyone know 2 idioms that combine to mean something similar to "no victory without courage"?

thanks in advance

[skylee]

I think there is not a causal relationship between the two, even if you put them together. But I guess you could interpret it in such a way that BECAUSE the person is 一身是膽 (courageous), he is THUS 四面無敵 (invicible, hence victory).

BTW, when you say "no victory without courage", courage is just one of the prerequisites of victory, right? Someone very brave could still fail if he is not skilled, talented, smart, lucky, etc, right? Or do you mean that courage is the only quality that is required for victory ("courage leads to victory everywhere")?

We do have a saying that goes 有勇無謀 (with / courage / without / scheme) which translates to "having bravery but no wisdom"/"more brave than wise" and is usually used to describe people who fail.

[BiJingHan]

I think you might have to alter your plan a wee bit to make it work. It'd be difficult to pull off. Maybe splitting a cheng yu into two parts for the two mats? Look for a cheng yu that has two parts which make sense alone. Difficult, but more likely.

[speldwiday]

that's exactly what i need -- 2 idioms that make sense standing alone... the hard part is finding 2 to combine that create the meaning i want... do you have any in mind or know any resources? thnx in advance