A bad word whispered will echo a hundred miles. A bad workman blames his tools. A bar of iron continually ground becomes a needle. A beautiful bird is the only kind we cage. A bird can roost but on one branch, a mouse can drink not more than its fill from a river. A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song. A bird in your hand is worth more than 100 in the forest. A bit of fragrance always clings to the hand that gives you roses. A book holds a house of gold. A book is like a garden carried in the pocket. A bride received into the home is like a horse that you have just bought; you break her in by constantly mounting her and continually beating her. A bridle for the tongue is a necessary piece of furniture. A camel standing amidst a flock of sheep. A chicken is hatched even from such a well-sealed thing as an egg. A child's life is like a piece of paper on which every passerby leaves a mark. A child's words have no guile. A clever person turns great troubles into little ones and little ones into none at all. A client twixt his attorney and counselor is like a goose twixt two foxes. A closed mind is like a closed book; just a block of wood. A cloth is not woven from a single thread. A country where flowers are priced so as to make them a luxury has yet to learn the first principles of civilization. A courageous foe is better than a cowardly friend. A courtesy much entreated is half recompensed. A crane standing amidst a flock of chickens. A crisis is an opportunity riding the dangerous wind. A day of sorrow is longer than a month of joy. A diamond with a flaw is worth more than a pebble without imperfections. A dish of carrot hastily cooked may still has soil uncleaned off the vegetable. A dog in a kennel barks at his fleas; a dog hunting does not notice them. A dog in desperation will leap over a wall. A dog won't forsake his master because of his poverty; a son never deserts his mother for her homely appearance. A dog won't forsake his master because of his poverty; a son never deserts his mother for her homely appearance. A dog won't forsake his master because of poverty; a son never deserts his mother because of her homely appearance. A fall into a ditch makes you wiser. A fallen lighthouse is more dangerous than a reef. A false report rides post. A flea on the top of a bald head. A flea on top of a bald head. A flower cannot blossom without sunshine nor a garden without love. A fly before his own eye is bigger than an elephant in the next field. A frog in a well shaft seeing the sky. A frog in a well-shaft seeing the sky. A fu purse never lacks freends. A fu' sack will tak a clout o' the side. A gem is not polished without rubbing, nor a man made perfect without trials. A good dog does not block the road. A good fortune may forbode a bad luck, which may in turn disguise a good fortune. A good neighbor is a found treasure. A great (or successful)  man can bend and stretch. A hasty man drinks his tea with a fork. A hasty man never wants woe. 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 hundred men may make an encampment, but it takes a woman to make a home. 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 maker of idols is never an idolater. A man must despise himself before others will. A man must make himself despicable before he is despised by others. A man must plough with such oxen as he hath. A man need never revenge himself; the body of his enemy will be brought to his own door. A man without a smiling face must not open shop. A man's conversation is the mirror of his thoughts. A man's discontent is his worst evil. A murder may be forgiven, an affront never. A nation's treasure: scholars. A needle is not sharp at both ends. A person who say it cannot be done should not interrupt the man doing it. A person whose heart is not content is like a snake which tries to swallow an elephant. A person with a bad name is already half-hanged. A red-nosed man may be a teetotaler, but will find no one to believe it. A reed before the wind lives on, while mighty oaks do fall. A rumour goes in one ear and out many mouths. A single beam cannot support a great house. A single conversation with a wise man is better than ten years of study. A single untried popular remedy often throws the scientific doctor into hysterics. A sly rabbit will have three openings to its den. A smile will gain you ten more years of life. A smile will gain you ten more years of life. A thorn defends the rose harming only those who would steal the blossom. A thousand cups of wine do not suffice when true friends meet, but half a sentence is too much when there is no meeting of minds. A thousand pounds and a bottle of hay are all one at domesday. A tiger never returns to his prey he did not finish off. A vacant mind is open to all suggestions, as a hollow mountain returns all sounds. A weasel comes to say "Happy New Year" to the chickens. A whitewashed crow soon shows black again. A wicked book cannot repent. A wicked companion invites us all to hell. A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows public opinion. A woman's heart is like a needle in the bottom of the ocean. A young branch takes on all the bends that one gives it. A young doctor makes a full graveyard. Abroad we judge the dress; at home we judge the man. Add legs to the snake after you have finished drawing it. After three days without reading, talk becomes flavorless. Age and time do not wait for people. All cats love fish but fear to wet their paws. All crows are of the same colour (black) under the sky. All men eat, but Fu Man Chu. All people are your relatives, therefore expect only trouble from them. All things at first appear difficult. All things change, and we change with them. Lat., Omnia mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis. Alms given openly will be rewarded in secret. Among ten matchmakers only nine will lie. An ambassador bears no blame. An ant may well destroy a whole dam. An ignorant doctor is no better than a murderer. An inch of time is an inch of gold but you can't buy that inch of time with an inch of gold. An inch of time is an inch of gold, but you can't buy that inch of time with an inch of gold. An old friend met in a far country is like rain after drought. An overcrowded chicken farm produce fewer eggs. Avoid suspicion: when you're walking through your neighbor's melon patch, don't tie your shoe. Back to Table of Contents Back to Table of Contents Be in readiness for favorable winds. Be just before you're generous. Be not afraid of going slowly; be afraid only of standing still. Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still. Be not disturbed at being misunderstood; be disturbed at not understanding. Be on a horse when you go in search of a better one. Be resolved and the thing is done. Beat your drum inside the house to spare the neighbors. Beat your gong and sell your candles. Because men do not like the cold, Heaven does not cause winter to cease. Before dinner, let us explore the southern plains and climb the northern mountains. After dinner, there are snakes in the southern plains and tiger in the northern mountains. Before enlightenment chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment chop wood and carry water. Before you beat a dog, find out who its master is. Begin with an error of an inch and end by being a thousand miles off the mark. Behind an able man there are always other able men. Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without. Better a dinner of herbs than a stalled ox where hate is. Better a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith. Better be kind at home than burn incense in a far place. Better be too credulous than too skeptical. Better die ten years early than live ten years poor. Better do a kindness near home than go far to burn incense. Better do it than wish it done. Better go than send. Better go to heaven in rags than to hell in embroidery. Better the cottage where one is merry than the palace where one weeps. Better the devil you know than the devil you don't. Better to do a kindness near home than go far away to burn incense. Big trees have rotten branches and large clans have beggars. Butcher the donkey after it finished his job on the mill. Careless rat chewing on a cat's tail: beware lightning! Ceremony is the smoke of friendship. Cheap things are not good, good things are not cheap. Cheat the earth and the earth will cheat you. Clumsy birds have need of early flight. Conquerors are kings; the beaten are bandits. Corner a dog in a dead-end street and it will turn and bite. Corporations have neither bodies to be punished nor souls to be damned. Count not what is lost but what is left. Covet wealth, and want it; don't, and luck will grant it. Covetous men's chests are rich, not they. Crowded elevator smells different to midget. Crows everywhere are equally black. Curse your wife at evening, sleep alone at night. Cursed cows have short horns. Customers are jade; merchandise is grass. Dangerous enemies will meet again in narrow streets. Dead songbirds make a sad meal. Deal with the faults of others as gently as with your own. Deal with the faults of others as gently as with your own. Deer-hunter, waste not your arrow on the hare. Defeat isn't bitter if you don't swallow it. Defer not till to-morrow what may be done to-day. Despise learning and make everyone pay for your ignorance. Despise not a small wound or a poor kinsman. Deviate an inch, lose a thousand miles. Devil take the hindmost. Different flowers look good to different people Dig a well before you are thirsty. 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 add legs to the snake after you have finished drawing it. Do not all you can; spend not all you have; believe not all you hear; and tell not all you know. Do not allow the sheep to die for a halfpenny of tar. Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself. Do not anxiously hope for that which is not yet come; do not vainly regret what is already past. Do not employ handsome servants. Do not have each foot on a different boat. Do not insult the crocodile until you've crossed the river. Do not tear down the east wall to repair the west. Do not use a hatchet to remove a fly from a friend's forehead. Do not use a hatchet to remove a fly from your friend's forehead. Do not want others to know what you have done? Better not have done it anyways. Dogs do not dislike poor families. Dogs have so many friends because they wag their tails, not their tongues. Don't build a new ship out of old wood. Don't chase a dog into a blind ally. Don't consider your reputation and you may do anything you like. Don't count your chickens before they are hatched. Don't cross the bridge until you come to it. Don't stand by the water and long for fish; go home and weave a net. Don't waste good iron for nails or good men for soldiers. Don't waste too many stones on one bird. Donkey's lips do not fit onto a horse's mouth. Donkey's lips don't fit onto a horse's mouth. Dream different dreams while on the same bed. Dream of a funeral and you hear of a marriage. Each family has its own difficult scripture (or sutra) to recite. Easier to bend the body than the will. Easier to rule a nation than a son. Easy to believe in heaven's law, but so hard to keep. Easy to enroll a thousand soldiers. But, ah, one general!. Easy to keep the castle that was never besieged. Easy to know men's faces, not their hearts. Easy to run downhill, much puffing to run up. Elephant tusks cannot grow out of a dog's mouth. Empty the clear path to heaven, crowded the dark road to hell. Enjoy yourself. It's later than you think. Enough shovels of earth make a mountain, enough pails of water a river. Enough's as good as a feast. Even a hare will bite when it is cornered. Even a hare will bite when it is cornered. Every day cannot be a feast of lanterns. Everyone pushes a falling fence. Everyone rakes the fire under his own pot. Everyone should carefully observe which way his heart draws him, and then choose that way with all his strength. Everyone speaks well of the bridge which carries him over. Everyone stretches his legs according to the length of his coverlet. Exaggeration is to paint a snake and add legs.