养兵千日，用在一时

• 羊(goat; sheep)ASSOCIATIVE
• 儿(person; variant form)RADICAL

A person nourishing a lamb is the meaning of the character.

• 丘(mound; heap)ASSOCIATIVE
• 八(scattered; dispersed)RADICAL

A soldier holding a weapon gathers with others into a formation as solid as an earthen mound.

• 丿(stroke; expansion; many)ASSOCIATIVE
• 十(ten)ASSOCIATIVE

Ten multiplied many times becomes a thousand — the stroke above the number ten symbolizes an enormous quantity.

• 日(sun (pictograph))ASSOCIATIVE

The character 日 is drawn as a round sun with light rays inside.

• 用(use; utilize)ASSOCIATIVE

A bucket with a handle is what people pick up and use every day.

• 才(talent; ability (for sound))PHONETIC
• 土(earth; soil; land)RADICAL

To exist is to cling tightly to the patch of earth beneath your feet.

• 一(first; number one (pictographic))ASSOCIATIVE

A single horizontal stroke symbolizes the number one, the beginning of all things.

• 日(sun; day)RADICAL
• 寸(inch; unit of measurement)PHONETIC

Time flows like the sun moving inch by inch across the sky.