出处：按学科分类—语言、文字 中国对外翻译出版公司《汉英成语词典》第110页（217字）
人在穷困时，只急于解决现实的困难，而没有远大的志向，例有人鼓励我从事艺术创作，无奈人穷志短，为了生计，无暇顾及其他。
I had been encouraged to take up art as a career，but as I did not have the means．I had to work for a living．