Chinese Proverbs

A bird can roost but on one branch, a mouse can drink not more that its fill from a river.
A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.
A book holds a house of gold.

A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.
A camel standing amidst a flock of sheep.
A closed mind is like a closed book; just a block of wood.
A crane standing amidst a flock of chickens.
A diamond with a flaw is preferable to a common stone with none.
A dish of carrot hastily cooked may still has soil uncleaned off the vegetable.
A dog won't forsake his master because of his poverty; a son never deserts his mother for her homely appearance.
A fall into a ditch makes you wiser.
A flea on the top of a bald head.
A frog in a well shaft seeing the sky.
A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.
A good fortune may forbode a bad luck, which may in turn disguise a good fortune.
A horse cannot gain weight if not fed with extra fodder during the night; a man cannot become wealthy without earnings apart from his regular salaries.
A Jade stone is useless before it is processed; a man is good-for-nothing until he is educated.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
A little impatience will spoil great plans.
A man must insult himself before others will.
A man who has committed a mistake and doesn't correct it is committing another mistake.
A man without a smiling face must not open shop.
A man's faults all conform to his type of mind. Observe his faults and you may know his virtues.
A needle is sharp only at one end.
A single conversation with a wise man is better than ten years of study.
A sly rabbit will have three openings to its den.
A smile will gain you ten more years of life.
A tiger never returns to his prey he did not finish off.
A vacant mind is open to all suggestions as a hollow building echoes all sounds.
A weasel comes to say Happy New Year to the chickens.
Add legs to the snake after you have finished drawing it.
After three days without reading, talk becomes flavorless.
An ant may well destroy a whole dam.
An inch of time is an inch of gold but you can't buy that inch of time with an inch of gold.
An overcrowded chicken farm produce fewer eggs.
Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.
Behave toward everyone as if receiving a guest.
Behind an able man there are always other able men.
Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without one.
Better do a good deed near at home than go far away to burn incense.
Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.
Butcher the donkey after it finished his job on the mill.
Clear conscience never fears midnight knocking.
Crows everywhere are equally black.
Dismantle the bridge shortly after crossing it.
Distant water won't help to put out a fire close at hand.
Distant water won't quench your immediate thirst.
Do not employ handsome servants.
Do not remove a fly from your friend's head with a hatchet.
Do not want others to know what you have done? Better not have done it anyways.
Donkey's lips do not fit onto a horse's mouth.
Dream different dreams while on the same bed.
Elephant tusks cannot grow out of a dog's mouth.
Enjoy yourself. It's later than you think.
Enough shovels of earth -- a mountain. Enough pails of water -- a river.
Even a hare will bite when it is cornered.

Even the most resourceful housewife cannot create miracles from a rice less pantry.
Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it.
Experience is a comb which nature gives us when we are bald.
Fail to steal the chicken while it ate up your bait grain.
Fight a wolf with a flex stalk.
Fight poison with poison.
Flies never visit an egg that has no crack.
Flowing water never goes bad; our door hubs never gather termites.
Follow the local custom when you go to a foreign place.
Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
Go home and make a net if you desire to get fishes.
Good luck seldom comes in pairs but bad things never walk alone.
Good words are like a string of pearls.
Govern a family as you would cook a small fish -- very gently.
Great souls have wills; feeble ones have only wishes.
Happiness is like a sunbeam, which the least shadow intercepts, while adversity is often as the rain of spring.
Have a mouth as sharp as a dagger but a heart as soft as tofu.
Have one's ears pierced only before the wedding ceremony starts.
He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
He who hurries can not walk with dignity.
He who rides a tiger is afraid to dismount.
He who sacrifices his conscience to ambition burns a picture to obtain the ashes.
How can you expect to find ivory in a dog's mouth?
How can you put out a fire set on a cart-load of firewood with only a cup of water?
I was angered, for I had no shoes. Then I met a man who had no feet.
If a son is uneducated, his dad is to blame.
If I keep a green bough in my heart, the singing bird will come.
If you are in a hurry you will never get there.
If you are patient in a moment of anger, you will escape a hindred days of sorrow.
If you bow at all, bow low.
If you do not study hard when young you'll end up bewailing your failures as you grow up.
If you don't go into the cave of the tiger, how are you going to get its cub?
If you have money you can make the ghosts and devils turn your grind stone.
If you have never done anything evil, you should not be worrying about devils to knock at your door.
If you must play, decide on three things at the start: the rules of he game, the stakes, and the quitting time.
If you see in your wine the reflection of a person not in your range of vision, don't drink it.
If you suspect a man, don't employ him, and if you employ him, don't suspect him.
If you walk on snow you cannot hide your footprints.
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.
If you wish to know the mind of a man, listen to his words.
In reviling, it is not necessary to prepare a preliminary draft.
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.
It is impossible to change your basic characteristics.
It is later than you think.
It is not the knowing that is difficult, but the doing.
It is only when the cold season comes that we know the pine and cypress to be evergreens.
It is the beautiful bird which gets caged.
It takes little effort to watch a man carry a load.
Judge not the horse by his saddle.
Keep your broken arm inside your sleeve.
Kill a chicken before a monkey.
Kill one to warn a hundred.
Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.
Life is a dream walking death is a going home.
Lift a stone only to drop on your own feet.
Like ants eating a bone.
Listen to all, plucking a feather from every passing goose, but, follow no one absolutely.
Look for a thing till you find it and you'll not lose your labor.
Looking for the ass on its very back.
Make happy those who are near, and those who are far will come.
Man who waits for roast duck to fly into mouth must wait very, very long time.
Man's schemes are inferior to those made by heaven.
Married couples tell each other a thousand things without speech.
Men should worry about fame just as pigs about being fat.
Men trip not on mountains they trip on molehills.
Mend the pen only after the sheep are all gone.
Much wealth will not come if a little does not go.
Never do anything standing that you can do sitting, or anything sitting that you can do lying down.
Never write a letter while you are angry.
No wind, no waves.
Not the cry, but the flight of the wild duck, leads the flock to fly and follow.
Of all the strategems, to know when to quit is the best.
Of all the thirty-six alternatives, running away is best.
Once bitten by a snake, he/she is scared all his/her life at the mere sight of a rope.
Once on a tiger's back, it is hard to alight.
One cannot refuse to eat just because there is a chance of being choked.
One dog barks at something, the rest bark at him
One monk shoulders water by himself; two can still share the labor among them. When it comes to three, they have to go thirsty.
One never needs their humor as much a when they argue with a fool.
One should be just as careful in choosing one's pleasures as in avoiding calamities.
One's good deeds are only known at home; one's bad deeds far away.
Only when all contribute their firewood can they build up a strong fire.
Paper cannot wrap up a fire.
Pick the flower when it is ready to be picked.
Pick up a sesame seed but lose sight of a watermelon.
Play a harp before a cow.
Regular feet can't be affected by irregular shoes.
Reshape one's foot to try to fit into a new shoe.
Rotten wood cannot be carved.
Set yourself as the standard.
Shed no tears until seeing the coffin.
Small men think they are small; great men never know they are great.
Some prefer carrot while others like cabbage.
Sow much, reap much; sow little, reap little.
Steal a bell with one's ears covered.
Study without reflection is a waste of time; reflection without study is dangerous.
Talk does not cook rice.

Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself.
Tens of thousands of bones will become ashes when one general achieves his fame.
Thatch your roof before rainy weather; dig your well before you become parched with thirst.
The arrogant army will lose the battle for sure.
The crafty rabbit has three different entrances to its lair.
The daughter of a crab does not give birth to a bird.
The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.
The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.
The longer the night lasts, the more our dreams will be.
The man who does not learn is dark, like one walking in the night.
The palest ink is better than the best memory.
The participant's perspectives are clouded while the bystander's views are clear.
The saving man becomes the free man.
The soldier who retreated 50 paces jeered at the one who retreated 100 paces.
There are always ears on the other side of the wall.
There is no silver here: three hundred taels.
There is no wave without wind.
They who know the truth are not equal to those who love it, and they who love it are not equal to those who find pleasure in it.
Those who have free seats at a play hiss first.
Those who know when they have enough are rich.
Three humble shoemakers brainstorming will make a great statesman.
Tiger father begets tiger son.
To attract good fortune, spend a new coin on an old friend, share an old pleasure with a new friend, and lift up the heart of a true friend by writing his name on the wings of a dragon.
To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.
To understand your parents' love you must raise children yourself.
Use attack as the tactic of defense.
Use power to curb power.
Vegetables of one's own raising are not relished --- those from other's gardens are the best.
Vicious as a tigeress can be, she never eats her own cubs.
Virtue cannot live in solitude; neighbors are sure to grow up around it.
Waiting for a rabbit to hit upon a tree and be killed in order to catch it.
Want a thing long enough and you don't.
We are not so much concerned if you are slow as when you come to a halt.
When anger arises, think of the consequences.
When eating bamboo sprouts, remember the man who planted them.
When planning for a year, plant corn. When planning for a decade, plant trees. When planning for life, train and educate people.
When the ear will not listen, the heart escapes sorrow.
When the tiger comes down from the mountain to the plains, it is bullied by the dogs.
When you are poor, neighbors close by will not come; once you become rich, you'll be surprised by visits from (alleged) relatives afar.
When you go up to the mountain too often, you will eventually encounter the tiger.
When you have musk, you will automatically have fragrance.
When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.
When you want to test the depths of a stream, don't use both feet.
When your horse is on the brink of a precipice it is too late to pull the reins.
With time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown.
Without rice, even the cleverest housewife cannot cook.
Words are the voice of the heart.
You can only go halfway into the darkest forest; then you are coming out the other side.
You cannot fight a fire with water from far away.
You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair.
You cannot push a cow's head down unless it is drinking water by it's own will.
You can't expect both ends of a sugar cane are as sweet.
You think you lost your horse? Who knows, he may bring a whole herd back to you someday.
You want your horse to look good but you also want it not to have to eat grass.
You won't help shoots grow by pulling them up higher.
Your fingers can't be of the same length.
Your neighbor's wife looks prettier than your own.

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