Paper can't wrap up a fire. Paper cannot wrap up a fire. Parents who are afraid to put their foot down usually have children who step on their toes. Patience and the mulberry leaf become a silk robe. Patience is a bitter plant, but it has sweet fruit. Patience is a plaister for all sores. Patience is a virtue. Patience is power; with time and patience the mulberry becomes silk. Peace and tranquility are a thousand gold pieces. Pick the flower when it is ready to be picked .  Pick the flower when it is ready to be picked. Pick up a sesame seed but lose sight of a watermelon. Pick your inn before the dark; get on your road before the dawn. Plan your year in the spring, your day at dawn. Plant the crab-tree where you will it will never bear pippins. Play a harp before a cow. Pleasures are shallow, sorrows deep. Politeness wins the confidence of princes. Politics makes strange bedfellows. Practice no vice because it's trivial; neglect no virtue because it's so. Present to the eye, present to the mind. Priests return to the temple, merchants to the shop. Pure gold does not fear the smelter. Raise your sail one foot and you get ten feet of wind. Rare commodities are worth more than good. Rather once cry your heart out than always sigh. Rats know the way of rats. Reform a gambler . . . cure leprosy. Regular feet can't be affected by irregular shoes. Rein in the horse at the edge of the cliff. Reshape one's foot to try to fit into a new shoe. Rich men accumulate money; the poor accumulate years. Rich not gaudy. Riches add to the house, virtues to the man. Riches: a dream in the night; fame: a gull floating on water. Rivers and mountains may change; human nature, never. Rotten wood cannot be carved. Rule the roost. Runaway son, a shining jewel; runaway daughter, tarnished. Scholars talk books, butchers talk pigs. Schoolmaster, stick to your books; farmer, to your pigs. Seeking fish? Don't dive in the pond; go home and get a net. Sending charcoal in the snow is better than adding flowers to a brocade. Set yourself as the standard Shed no tears until seeing the coffin. Shoot two birds (geese , wild foul, whatever) with one single arrow. Silly toad: planning a meal of goose! Sit atop the mountain and watch the tigers fight. Slander cannot destroy an honest man: when the flood recedes the rock is there. Slow in word, swift in deed. Sma' winnings mak a heavy purse. Small ills are the fountains of most of our groans. Men trip not on mountains, they stumble on stones. Small is beautiful. Small men think they are small; great men never know they are great. So long as a man is angry he cannot be in the right. So lovers, to their fair one fondly blind, E'en on her ugliness with transport gaze. Some prefer carrot while others like cabbage. Some prefer carrots while others like cabbage. Some roads aren't meant to be travelled alone. Sorrow is the child of too much joy. Sour, sweet, bitter, pungent, all must be tasted. Steal a bell with one's ears covered. Strike while the iron is hot. Swiftest horse cannot overtake the word once spoken. Take a second look; it costs you nothing. Talk does not cook rice. Talk doesn't cook rice. Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself. Teaching others teacheth yourself. Temptation wrings integrity even as the thumbscrew twists a man's fingers. 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 (soldier who retreated ) 50 paces jeered at the one who (retreated) 100 paces. The arrogant  (or over-confident) army will lose the battle for sure. The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names. The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names. The best cure for drunkenness is whilst sober to observe a drunken person. The best doctors are Dr. Diet, Dr, Quiet, and Dr. Merryman. The best memory is not so firm as faded ink. The best soldiers are not warlike. The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today. The black dog gets the food; the white dog gets the blame. The broad-minded see the truth in different religions; the narrow-minded see only the differences. The careful foot can walk anywhere. The court official in one life has seven rebirths as a beggar. The crafty rabbit has  three different entrances to it's lair The day your horse dies and your money's lost, your relatives change to strangers. The delicacy of the feast is the learned guest. The devil can quote Scripture for his own ends. The diamond cannot be polished without friction, nor the man perfected without trials. The drunken gentleman's desire is not about the wine. The emperor is rich, but he cannot buy one extra year. The error of one moment becomes the sorrow of a whole life. The evening crowns the days. The father in praising the son extols himself. The fierce tiger is inferior to the local worm. The fire you kindle for your enemy often burns yourself more than him. The first half of the night, think of your own faults; the second half, the faults of others. The first hen that cackles is the one that laid the egg. The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials. The great question is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with failure. The happiness in your pocket, don't spend it all. The harder you fall, the higher you bounce. The hardest step is over the threshold. The house with an old grandparent harbors a jewel. The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. The less power a man has, the more he likes to use it. The loftiest towers rise from the ground. The lone sheep is in danger of the wolf. The longer the night lasts, the more our dreams will be. The man who comes with a talk about others has himself an ax to grind. The man who does not learn is dark, like one walking in the night. The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones. The man who strikes first admits that his ideas have given out. The man who wakes up and finds himself famous hasn't been asleep. The man will surely fail, who dares delay, And lose to-morrow that has lost to-day. The mind is the emperor of the body. The net of heaven is large and wide, but it lets nothing through. The older the ginger, the more it bites. The one who first resorts to violence shows that he has no more arguments. The one who plants the tree is not the one who will enjoy its shade. The one who understands does not speak, the one who speaks does not understand. The palest ink is better than the best memory. The participant's perspective are clouded while the bystanders'   views are clear. The participant's perspectives are clouded while the bystander's views are clear. The path of duty lies in what is near at hand, but men seek for it in what is remote. The pen can kill a man; no knife is needed. The pen of the tongue should be dipped in the ink of the heart. The peony is beautiful, yet it is supported by a stalk. The pine stays green in winter, wisdom in hardship. The pitcher doth not go so often to the well, but it comes home broken at last. The remedy for dirt is soap and water. The remedy for dying is living. The remedy for love is--land between. The rich man plans for tomorrow, the poor man for today. The rose has thorns only for those who would gather it. The saving man becomes the free man. The sheep has no choice when in the jaws of the wolf. The squire at the frontier lost his horse.  (The horse eventually came back bringing some other horses with it.) The views (opinions) of heroes are roughly the same. The water that bears the ship is the same that engulfs it. The way of a slothful man is as a hedge of thorns. The weasel comes to say "Happy New Year!" to the chickens. The woman who tells her age is either too young to have anything to lose or too old to have anything to gain. The Yangtze never runs backwards; man recaptures not his youth. There are always ears on the other side of the wall. There are many paths to the top of the mountain, but the view is always the same. There are two perfectly good men, one dead, and the other unborn. There are two sides to every question. There belongs more than whistling to going to plough. There is no economy in going to bed early to save candles if the result is twins. There is no never ending banquet under the sun. There is no silver here: three hundred taels. There is no wave without wind. There is the second line of a couplet. The first line says: A hunting dog will eventually lost its life on the mountain. Things of the same characteristics congregate together. Think of your own faults the first part of the night when you are awake, and the faults of others the latter part of the night when you are asleep. Those who despise money will eventually sponge on their friends. Those who do not study are only cattle dressed up in men's clothes. Those who have free seats at a play hiss first. Those who hear not the music think the dancers mad. Though you live near a forest, do not waste firewood. Three humble shoemakers brainstorming will make a great statesman. Three monks fetching water resulted in no rice gruel (to eat.) 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 believe in one's dreams is to spend all of one's life asleep. To forget one's ancestor's is to be a brook without a source, a tree without root. To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping. To go beyond is as bad as to fall short. To know the road ahead, ask those coming back. To listen well is as powerful a means of influence as to talk well and is as essential to all true conversation. To meet an old friend in a distant country is like the delight of rain after a long drought. To open a shop is easy, to keep it open is an art. To persecute the unfortunate is like throwing stones on one fallen into a well. To talk much and arrive nowhere is the same as climbing a tree to catch a fish. To understand your parents' love bear your own children. To violate the law is the same crime in the emperor as in the subject. Transgressions should never be forgiven a third time. Transliteration: (Even) Theives have "their (own) way/code of behaviour" (Tao) Two barrels of tears will not heal a bruise. Two good talkers are not worth one good listener.