玩物喪志

lit. trifling destroys the will (idiom); infatuation with fine details prevents one making progress / excessive attention to trivia saps the will

to play / to have fun / to trifle with / toy / sth used for amusement / curio or antique (Taiwan pr. [wan4]) / to keep sth for entertainment

variant of 玩[wan2] / Taiwan pr. [wan4]

thing / object / matter / abbr. for physics 物理

mourning / funeral / (old) corpse

to lose sth abstract but important (courage, authority, one's life etc) / to be bereaved of (one's spouse etc) / to die / disappointed / discouraged

to become demoralized / to lose one's sense of purpose

aspiration / ambition / the will

sign / mark / to record / to write a footnote