Chinese Proverbs

The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.

I hear and I forget, I see and I remember. I do and I understand.

Better do a good deed near at home than go far away to burn incense.

To talk goodness is not good... only to do it is.

A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.

If your strength is small, don't carry heavy burdens. If your words are worthless, don't give advice.

The woman who tells her age is either too young to have anything to lose or too old to have anything to gain.

If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.

You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair.

People live like birds in the woods: When the time comes, each must take flight.

Better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness.

Don't open a shop unless you like to smile.

To be uncertain is to be uncomfortable, but to be certain is to be ridiculous.

If you stand straight, do not fear a crooked shadow.

Clear conscience never fears midnight knocking.

Sow much, reap much; sow little, reap little.

Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in another time.

He who sacrifices his conscience to ambition burns a picture to obtain the ashes.

Those who have free seats at a play hiss first.

Do not use a hatchet to remove a fly from your friend's forehead.

Biggest profits mean gravest risks.

Life is a dream walking death is a going home.

A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows the public opinion.

Who is not satisfied with himself will grow; who is not sure of his own correctness will learn many things.

The superior doctor prevents sickness; The mediocre doctor attends to impending sickness; The inferior doctor treats actual sickness;

Great doubts deep wisdom. Small doubts little wisdom.

I dreamed a thousand new paths. I woke and walked my old one.

The fire you kindle for your enemy often burns yourself more than him.

Experience is a comb which nature gives to men when they are bald.

Everyone pushes a falling fence.

The great question is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with failure.

Riches: A dream in the night. Fame: A gull floating on water.

All people are your relatives, therefore expect only trouble from them.

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

In a broken nest there are few whole eggs.

Man is the head of the family, woman the neck that turns the head.

If we do not change our direction, we are likely to end up where we are headed.

If fortune smiles, who doesn't? If fortune doesn't, who does?

If a man fools me once, shame on him. If he fools me twice, shame on me.

A great fortune depends on luck, a small one on diligence.

The saving man becomes the free man.

With true friends... even water drunk together is sweet enough.

A man should choose a friend who is better than himself. There are plenty of acquaintances in the world; but very few real friends.

When men speak of the future, the Gods laugh.

There are two perfectly good men, one dead, and the other unborn.

Your friend has a friend; don't tell him.

We count our miseries carefully, and accept our blessings without much thought.

Enough shovels of earth -- a mountain. Enough pails of water -- a river.

Climb mountains to see lowlands.

Habits are cobwebs at first; cables at last.

If you want happiness for an hour -- take a nap. If you want happiness for a day -- go fishing. If you want happiness for a month -- get married. If you want happiness for a year -- inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime -- help someone else.

Happiness is like a sunbeam, which the least shadow intercepts, while adversity is often as the rain of spring.

If I keep a green bough in my heart, the singing bird will come.

A hundred men may make an encampment, but it takes a woman to make a home.

One never needs their humor as much a when they argue with a fool.

Insanity is doing the same thing in the same way and expecting a different outcome.

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

One joy scatters a hundred grieves.

When you cease to strive to understand, then you will know without understanding.

Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.

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

The palest ink lasts longer than the most retentive memory.

Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without one.

If you are poor, though you dwell in the busy marketplace, no one will inquire about you; if you are rich, though you dwell in the heart of the mountains, you will have distant relatives.

To understand your parents' love you must raise children yourself.

The tongue can paint what the eye can't see.

One dog barks at something, the rest bark at him.

One step at a time is good walking.

When planning for a year, plant corn. When planning for a decade, plant trees. When planning for life, train and educate people.

If you must play, decide upon three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time.

Pleasure for one hour, a bottle of wine. Pleasure for one year a marriage; but pleasure for a lifetime, a garden.

Be not afraid of going slowly, be afraid only of standing still.

In the midst of great joy, do not promise anyone anything. In the midst of great anger, do not answer anyone's letter.

Geng Lei was a famous archer of the state of Wei. One day while he was on an excursion outside the city with the King of Wei, he saw a bird circling in the sky. The King asked him to down the goose with an arrow. He answered: I don't have to use an arrow. I can just make the bird fall down from the sky with my arch. Do you have that marvellous skill? asked the King. Presently they saw the wild goose flying from the east. Geng Ying twanged the string of his bow and indeed the wild goose at once dropped to the ground in front of them. You're really a wonderful archer, said the King with approval. Geng Lei said, This is a wounded wild goose. From its desolate cry and tired flight you can see its wound has not yet healed. When it heard the twang of my bow-string, it thought it was again hit by an arrow and fell from the sky.
-Chinese Proverb, Best Chinese Idioms, p.292

He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever.

Man who waits for roast duck to fly into mouth must wait very, very long time.

A maker of idols is never an idolater.

Ceremony is the smoke of friendship.

Respect for ones parents is the highest duty of civil life.

Of all the thirty-six alternatives, running away is best.

What is told into the ear of a man is often heard a hundred miles away.

Never do anything standing that you can do sitting, or anything sitting that you can do lying down.

To climb a tree to catch a fish is talking much and doing nothing.

If you want 1 year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people.

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life.

Think of your own faults the first part of the night when you are awake, and of the faults of others the latter part of the night when you are asleep.

An inch of time cannot be bought with an inch of gold.

With time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown.

Sour, sweet, bitter, pungent, all must be tasted.

The greatest conqueror is he who overcomes the enemy without a blow.

With virtue you can't be entirely poor; without virtue you can't really be rich.

Great souls have wills; feeble ones have only wishes.

A single conversation across the table with a wise man is worth a month's study of books.
Beauty is the wisdom of women. Wisdom is the beauty of men.

Deep doubts, deep wisdom; small doubts, little wisdom.

If you wish to know the mind of a man, listen to his words.

A man grows most tired while standing still.
Do not employ handsome servants.

If you suspect a man, don't employ him, and if you employ him, don't suspect him.

When we have nothing to worry about we are not doing much, and not doing much may supply us with plenty of future worries.