堅持不懈

坚

堅

jia̅n

持

chí

不

bù

懈

xiè

to persevere unremittingly (idiom); to keep going until the end

Characters and words in 堅持不懈

坚

堅

jia̅n = ji + an1

strong / solid / firm / unyielding / resolute

坚 = 収 + 土 : Joan of Arc (ji) built a strong (坚) and sturdy (坚) burrow out of dirt (土) in front of the anthill (an1). She even equipped it with a strong (坚) radio (収) to keep contact with her troops.

坚

堅

jia̅n

持

chí

to persevere with / to persist in / to insist on

持

chí = ch + Ø2

to hold / to grasp / to support / to maintain / to persevere / to manage / to run (i.e. administer) / to control

持 = 寺 + 扌 : Charlie Chaplin brought his Buddhist shrine to the space station, but just inside the entrance he realizes that he didn't think of zero gravity as his shrine is about to float away. His only option at the moment is to grasp the shrine with two toy claws and manage it this way.

不

bù = bu + Ø4

(negative prefix) / not / no

不 = 丆 + 卜 : Bruno Bear (bu) is setting up a wind wheel (丆) with a voodoo staff (卜) in the space station's bathroom (Ø4). He also puts a "forbidden" sign (mnemonic symbol for 不) on it, to make clear that it may not (不) be stopped.