Chinese Proverbs

• Chinese Proverbs

Chinese Proverbs

The second best times tend to be more difficult

Enjoy yourself. It may be later than you think [Mod].

If you don't scale the mountain, you can't view the plain.

Girls marry to please parents, widows to please themselves.

The wind sweeping through the tower heralds a storm rising in the mountain.

Not a few things at first appear difficult [Mod].

A rat who gnaws at a cat's tail invites destruction.

A mouse-catching dog steps on the cats' paws.

Paper can't wrap up a fire.

Do not tear down the east wall to repair the west.

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.

No wind, no waves.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

Conquerors are kings; the beaten are bandits.

Man is heaven and earth in miniature.

The sheep has no choice when in the jaws of the wolf.

The best memory is not so firm as faded ink.

Take a second look; it costs you nothing.

When the cat is gone, the mice come out to stretch.

Deal with the faults of others almost as gently as with your own [Mod].

You cannot hook trout? Try digging clams.

How can you expect to find ivory in a dog's mouth?

A red-nosed man may be a teetotaller, but will find no one to believe it. ¤

It is at times useless to mend a sinking boat in the middle of the sea. *

Withholding truth generates fears and obsessions along the way of life. *

Avoid suspicion: when you're walking through your neighbour's melon patch, don't tie your shoe.

Learning is like rowing upstream: not to advance is to drop back.

Some try to fish in muddled water for their own gains. *

Long dealings test the friend.

No medicines can cure the vulgar man.

A child's life is like a piece of paper on which a passer-by leaves a mark [Mod].

Talk does not cook rice.

Many a good face is under a ragged hat.

Flies never get into an egg that has no crack. *

Just as tall trees are known by their shadows, so can good men be known by their enemies.

If you want to know things, build a ship

Deer-hunter, waste not your arrow on the hare.

Once a tree falls, the monkeys on it will scatter.

Keep your broken arm inside your sleeve.

It only takes three winks to get degraded. *

He who plays with fire may become its victim.

One dog snarls at a shadow, and a hundred fall in to howl and bark barking. *

Some prefer carrot while others like cabbage.

Distant water won't quench your immediate thirst.

Offer help where help is needed. *

Laws control the lesser man; right conduct controls the greater one.

Plan your year in the early spring, your day at dawn.

Those who do not study are only cattle dressed up in men's clothes.

One cannot refuse to eat just because there is a chance of being choked.

You want no one to know it? Then don't do it.

The one who plants the tree is not the one who will enjoy its shade.

You won't help shoots grow by pulling them up higher. ¤

A clumsy bird that flies first will get to the forest earlier.

Be not disturbed at being misunderstood; be disturbed at not understanding.

Dripping water can eat through a stone.

It is easy to dodge a spear that comes in front of you but hard to keep harms away from an arrow shot from behind.

Right skills may be your inexhaustible treasures, keeping you from hunger in most fields of life. *

The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names.

The delicacy of the feast is the learned guest.

Ruthlessness is a key to a man's solid accomplishment. *

If all contribute their firewood they may build up a strong fire.

The happiness in your pocket, don't spend it all.

Don't build a new ship out of old wood.

To cook a small fish without plenty of friction is best

Easier to know men's faces than their hearts [Mod].

Falling hurts least those who fly low.

Make happy those who are near and those who are far will come.

Rich men accumulate money; the poor accumulate years.

One cannot manage too many affairs; like pumpkins in water, one pops up while you try to hold down the other.

The best soldiers are not warlike.

Dead song-birds make a sad meal.

Of a dead animal we may keep the skin, of man his reputation [Mod].

The less power a man has, the more he likes to use it.

Dig a well before you are thirsty.

Yellow gold is plentiful compared to white-haired friends.

Govern a family as you would cook a small fish--very gently.

Rein in a horse at the edge of a cliff, if not earlier. *

Weaving a net is better than praying for fish at the edge of the water.

The diamond cannot be polished without friction, nor the man perfected without trials.

Clumsy birds have need of early flight.¤

When you drink the water, remember the spring.

Trying to put out a fire while holding firewood is not recommended. *

Judge not the horse by his saddle.

The man who does not learn is like one walking in the night.

The rose has thorns only for those who would gather it.

A jade stone is useless before it is processed; a man is good-for-nothing until he is educated.

The weasel comes to say "Happy New Year!" to the chickens.

One happiness scatters a thousand sorrows.

Crowded is the dark road to hell.

Abroad we judge the dress; at home we judge the man - or woman.

Read critically and you may find each saying worth a thousand ounces of gold. *

Summary

1. The second best times tend to be more difficult than the best times.
2. If you want to know things, build a ship.
3. To cook small fish without plenty of friction (stirring) is best

Long enough legs

• To avoid hardships, don't overstretch - and reach the ground too.