丧志

to become demoralized / to lose one's sense of purpose

mourning / funeral / (old) corpse

to lose sth abstract but important (courage, authority, one's life etc) / to be bereaved of (one's spouse etc) / to die / disappointed / discouraged

aspiration / ambition / the will

sign / mark / to record / to write a footnote

lit. trifling destroys the will (idiom); infatuation with fine details prevents one making progress / excessive attention to trivia saps the will