old Chinese saying about "pulling sprouts to make them grow faster"

The old Chinese saying you’re thinking of is **“揠苗助长”** (*yà miáo zhù zhǎng*), which literally means “pulling up the seedlings to help them grow.” ### Meaning It’s a classic idiom used to warn against impatience and forcing progress-if you try to rush things unnaturally, you’ll only cause harm. ### Origin The story comes from the ancient text **Mengzi (Mencius)**. A farmer, impatient for his crops to grow, pulled up all his seedlings, thinking it would help them grow faster. Instead, he ended up killing them. ### Usage This idiom is often used to describe situations where someone tries to speed up a process (learning, growth, development, etc.) in a way that’s actually counterproductive. **Example:** > Don’t push your team too hard on the new project-remember, 揠苗助长! Let me know if you want the original story or a translation! --- Answer from Perplexity: pplx.ai/share