失道寡助

an unjust cause finds little support (idiom, from Mencius) / cf 得道多助[de2 dao4 duo1 zhu4] a just cause attracts much support

Characters and words in 失道寡助

失

shi̅ = sh + Ø1

to lose / to miss / to fail

失 = 𠂉 + 大 : Sherlock (sh) locked himself out of the space station (Ø1)! He lost (失) his key (𠂉)! After he was floating in front of the space station for an eternity, a robot (大) came by with a lost+found box (失) which contained his lost key.

失

shi̅

道

dào

(literary) to lose one's way; to get lost / (literary) to stray from the proper course

道

dào = d + ao4

road / path / CL:條|条[tiao2],股[gu3] / principle / truth / morality / reason / skill / method / Dao (of Daoism) / to say / to speak / to talk / classifier for long thin things (rivers, cracks etc), barriers (walls, doors etc), questions (in an exam etc), commands, courses in a meal, steps in a process / (old) circuit (administrative division)

道 = 辶 + 首 : The chief and Don Quixote decided to follow the path of the Dao in the aorta's bathroom. They wear gladiator sandals and meditate sitting on the floor of the bathroom, envisioning the path to enlightment.

寡

guǎ = gu + a3

few / scant / widowed

寡

guǎ

助

zhù

(esp. of an unjust cause) to receive little support

助

zhù = zhu + Ø4

to help / to assist

助 = 且 + 力 : Mnemonic symbol: water wings helping you to learn how to swim.

Julian Giant Squid wants to learn how to swim and put on a lot of floaties in the space station's bathroom. As he hits the power button to inflate the high tech floaties remotely he forgot that there are still a lot of floaties left, stored in the shelf—he is reminded instanlty as also all of them inflate.