十年樹木，百年樹人

It takes ten years to nurture a tree, but a hundred years to train a man (idiom). A good education program takes a long time to develop.

person; people / CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4]

surname Nian

year / CL:個|个[ge4]

grain / harvest (old) / variant of 年[nian2]

ten / 10

(bound form) tree / (bound form) wood / unresponsive; numb; wooden

hundred / numerous / all kinds of

hundred years / century / lifetime

tree / CL:棵[ke1] / to cultivate / to set up

tree

It takes ten years to nurture a tree, but a hundred years to train a man (idiom) / fig. a good education program takes a long time to develop / cf. 十年樹木，百年樹人|十年树木，百年树人