人为生而食，非为食而活。

Man eats to live, he does not live to eat.

Source: Tatoeba

Sentence Composition

1 人为 rénwéi
  1. artificial
  2. man-made
  3. having human cause or origin
  4. human attempt or effort
2 生 shēng
  1. to be born
  2. to give birth
  3. life
  4. to grow
  5. raw
  6. uncooked
  7. student
3 而 ér
  1. and
  2. as well as
  3. and so
  4. but (not)
  5. yet (not)
  6. (indicates causal relation)
  7. (indicates change of state)
  8. (indicates contrast)
=4 食 shí
  1. to eat
  2. food
  3. animal feed
  4. eclipse
=4 食 sì to feed (a person or animal)
=5 非 Fēi abbr. for 非洲 Fēizhōu, Africa
=5 非 fēi
  1. to not be; not
  2. wrong; incorrect
  3. non-; un-; in-; de-
  4. to reproach; to blame
  5. (coll.) to insist on; simply must
=6 为 wéi
  1. as (in the capacity of)
  2. to take sth as
  3. to act as
  4. to serve as
  5. to behave as
  6. to become
  7. to be
  8. to do
  9. by (in the passive voice)
=6 为 wèi
  1. because of
  2. for
  3. to
=6 为 wéi variant of 為 wéi
=6 为 wèi variant of 為 wèi
=7 食 shí
  1. to eat
  2. food
  3. animal feed
  4. eclipse
=7 食 sì to feed (a person or animal)
8 而 ér
  1. and
  2. as well as
  3. and so
  4. but (not)
  5. yet (not)
  6. (indicates causal relation)
  7. (indicates change of state)
  8. (indicates contrast)
9 活 huó
  1. to live
  2. alive
  3. living
  4. work
  5. workmanship