靡不有初，鲜克有终

靡不有初，鮮克有終
mǐbùyǒuchū,xiǎnkèyǒuzhōng
almost everything has a start, but not many things have an end (idiom); don't start sth you can't handle

CEDICT

Entry Composition

1 靡 mǐ
  1. extravagant
  2. go with fashion
  3. not
2 不有 bùyǒu
  1. (literary or dialectal) to not have
  2. to not have
3 初 chū
  1. at first
  2. (at the) beginning
  3. first
  4. junior
  5. basic
=4 鲜 xiǎn variant of 鲜 xiǎn
=4 鲜 xiǎn variant of 鲜 xiǎn
=4 鲜 xiǎn
  1. few
  2. rare
=4 鲜 xiǎn old variant of 鲜 xiǎn
=5 克 kè
  1. to be able to
  2. to subdue
  3. to restrain
  4. to overcome
  5. gram
  6. Tibetan unit of land area, about 6 ares
=5 克 kè
  1. variant of 克 kè
  2. to subdue
  3. to overthrow
  4. to restrain
=5 克 kè variant of 克 kè
6 有 yǒu
  1. to have; there is
  2. (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意 yǒuyì intentional)
7 终 zhōng
  1. end
  2. finish