Chinese Proverbs




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


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


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


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.


Before telling secrets on the road, look in the bushes.


If you want your dinner, don't insult the cook.


A king's riches cannot buy an extra year.


To know others, know yourself first.


O eggs, don't fight with rocks.


Blame yourself as you blame others; forgive others as you forgive yourself.


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


A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.


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


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


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


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


Life is a dream walking death is a going home.


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


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


Biggest profits mean gravest risks.


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


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


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


The saving man becomes the free man.


In a broken nest there are few whole eggs.


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


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


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


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


Do not employ handsome servants.


Habits are cobwebs at first; cables at last.


Everyone pushes a falling fence.


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


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


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


Patience is power; with time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown.


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


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.


One step at a time is good walking.


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


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


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


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.


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


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


Teachers open the door but you must walk through it yourself.


Those who have free seats at a play hiss first.


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


Great souls have wills; feeble ones have only wishes.


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


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


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


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


Clear conscience never fears midnight knocking.


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


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


Great doubts deep wisdom. Small doubts little wisdom.


Talk doesn't cook rice.


The journey is the reward.


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.


Climb mountains to see lowlands.


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


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


Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.


The palest ink lasts longer than the most retentive memory.


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


One joy scatters a hundred grieves.


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


A maker of idols is never an idolater.


It is later than you think.


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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.


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


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


A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.


Beauty is the wisdom of women. Wisdom is the beauty of men.


A single conversation across the table with a wise man is worth a month's study of books.


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


A man grows most tired while standing still.


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


Ceremony is the smoke of friendship.


It is the beautiful bird which gets caged.


It takes little effort to watch a man carry a load.


A bad word whispered will echo a hundred miles.


Don't count your chickens before they are hatched.


He who seeks revenge should remember to dig two graves.


No matter how tall the mountain, it cannot block out the sun.


There are two sides to every question.


To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.


To talk much and arrive nowhere is the same as climbing a tree to catch a fish.


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



Literally: If the wind comes from an empty cave, it's not without a reason.
Moral: Most seemingly strange events and actions have logical explanations.


Literally: When a tree falls, the monkeys scatter.
Moral: When a leader loses power, his followers become disorganized. This proverb is anti-anarchistic.


Literally: Not only can water float a boat, it can sink it also.
Moral: There are opposite aspects of any tool or power. This concept is related to yin-yang.


Literally: All crows in the world are black.
Moral: Some rules, like those natural forces of the Universe, are unbendable, regardless how much you may want it to change.


Literally: Wants the horse to be good and not to eat hay at the same time.
Moral: You can't have your cake and eat it too (English equivalent).