What does it mean to “put your mind before your ability, and your life before your career”?

It means "even if you have the ability to do something, you must first consider your own wishes. The prerequisite for a career is a healthy body."

It is a quotation from Wu Qingyou, a famous Taiwanese entrepreneur.

About the author: Wu Qingyou (1950 - July 18, 2017), born in 1950, is a native of Masagou, Jiangjun Township, Tainan County. He is a well-known Taiwanese entrepreneur and the founder of Eslite Bookstore.

Passed away due to illness on July 18, 2017, at the age of 67.

Wu Qingyou founded Eslite Bookstore in March 1989. He has been reported by many media for his successful operation of a special "Eslite" bookstore culture: "respecting everyone who walks into the bookstore."

Because Wu Qingyou insisted on his ideal of cultural bookstores along the way, he was respected by many literati and artists.

In the first 16 years since Eslite Bookstore started operating, it was all at a loss. Wu Qingyou still advocated the goal of specializing in art and architecture books when he started his business, and planned a business model that was different from his peers (such as opening a 24-hour business for the first time, combining

Shopping mall model sales, etc.), making Eslite Bookstore quite important and well-known in Taiwan.

This sentence is intended to advise people to follow their inner thoughts and give their mind and body a chance to relax.