Famous Proverbs - Chinese Proverbs, African, Irish, and English Proverbs
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| 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. |
| To believe in one's dreams is to spend all of one's life asleep |
| Do not use a hatchet to remove a fly from your friend's forehead. |
| With true friends...even water drunk together is sweet enough. |
| 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. |
| There is only one pretty child in the world and every mother has it. |
| A book is like a garden carried in the pocket. |
| Mankind fears an evil man but heaven does not. Chinese Proverb |
| Not the cry, but the flight of the wild duck, leads the flock to fly and follow. |
| Not wine...men intoxicate themselves; Not vice...men entice themselves. |
| One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade. |
| One joy scatters a hundred griefs. |
| Public before private and country before family. |
| An ant may well destroy a whole dam. |
| A book holds a house of gold. |
| Butcher the donkey after it finished his job on the mill. |
| A crane standing amidst a flock of chickens. |
| A camel standing amidst a flock of sheep. |
| Crows everywhere are equally black. |
| A dish of carrot hastily cooked may still has soil uncleaned off the vegetable. |
| 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 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. |
| A dog won't forsake his master because of his poverty; a son never deserts his mother for her homely appearance. |
| Add legs to the snake after you have finished drawing it. |
| Dream different dreams while on the same bed. |
| Even a hare will bite when it is cornered. |
| Fail to steal the chicken while it ate up your bait grain. |
| A fall into a ditch makes you wiser. |
| Fight a wolf with a flex stalk. |
| A flea on the top of a bald head. |
| Flowing water never goes bad; our door hubs never gather termites. |
| A frog in a well shaft seeing the sky. |
| Flies never visit an egg that has no crack. |
| A good fortune may forbode a bad luck, which may in turn disguise a good fortune. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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? |
| If you do not study hard when young you'll end up bewailing your failures as you grow up. |
| If a son is uneducated, his dad is to blame. |
| If you have never done anything evil, you should not be worrying about devils to knock at your door. |
| An inch of time is an inch of gold but you can't buy that inch of time with an inch of gold. |
| 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. |
| A Jade stone is useless before it is processed; a man is good-for-nothing until he is educated. |
| Kill a chicken before a monkey. |
| Kill one to warn a hundred. |
| Like ants eating a bone. |
| Looking for the ass on its very back. |
| Lift a stone only to drop on your own feet. |
| The longer the night lasts, the more our dreams will be. |
| Mend the pen only after the sheep are all gone. |
| No wind, no waves. |
| Of all the strategems, to know when to quit is the 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 monk shoulders water by himself; two can still share the labor among them. When it comes to three, they have to go thirsty. |
| Only when all contribute their firewood can they build up a strong fire. |
| An overcrowded chicken farm produce fewer eggs. |
| Pick up a sesame seed but lose sight of a watermelon. |
| Play a harp before a cow. |
| Paper can't wrap up a fire. |
| Reshape one's foot to try to fit into a new shoe. |
| Regular feet can't be affected by irregular shoes. |
| Shed no tears until seeing the coffin. |
| A smile will gain you ten more years of life. |
| A sly rabbit will have three openings to its den. |
| Some prefer carrot while others like cabbage. |
| Steal a bell with one's ears covered. |
| Three humble shoemakers brainstorming will make a great statesman. |
| There are always ears on the other side of the wall. |
| There is no silver here: three hundred taels. |
| A tiger never returns to his prey he did not finish off. |
| Vicious as a tigeress can be, she never eats her own cubs. |
| Waiting for a rabbit to hit upon a tree and be killed in order to catch it. |
| We are not so much concerned if you are slow as when you come to a halt. |
| A weasel comes to say Happy New Year to the chickens. |
| When you are poor, neighbors close by will not come; once you become rich, you'll be surprised by visits from (alleged) relatives afar. |
| Without rice, even the cleverest housewife cannot cook. |
| You can't catch a cub without going into the tiger's den. |
| You think you lost your horse? Who knows, he may bring a whole herd back to you someday. |
| You won't help shoots grow by pulling them up higher. |
| You can't expect both ends of a sugar cane are as sweet. |
| Your fingers can't be of the same length. |
| Age and time do not wait for people. |
| Attack is the best defence. |
| Bad things never walk alone. |
| A bird in your hand is worth more than 100 in the forest. |
| The death of the heart is the saddest thing that can happen to you. |
| Different flowers look good to different people. |
| Giving your son a skill is better than giving him one thousand pieces of gold. |
| A great man can bend and stretch. |
| Once you pour the water out of the bucket it's hard to get it back in it. |
| Once a word leaves your mouth, you cannot chase it back even with the swiftest horse. |
| Only when all contribute their firewood can they build up a strong fire. |
| The soldier who retreats 50 paces jeers at the one who retreats 100 paces. |
| To cultivate trees, you need 10 years. To cultivate people, you need 100 years. |
| May you get what you wish for. |
| Laws control the lesser man. Right conduct controls the greater one. |
| Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come. |
| Pray to God, but keep rowing toward(s) the shore. |
| Mankind fears an evil man but heaven does not. Chinese Proverb |
| Not the cry, but the flight of the wild duck, leads the flock to fly and follow. Chinese Proverb |
| Not wine...men intoxicate themselves; Not vice...men entice themselves. Chinese Proverb |
| One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade. Chinese Proverb |
| One joy scatters a hundred griefs. Chinese Proverb |
| Public before private and country before family. Chinese Proverb |
| An ant may well destroy a whole dam. |
| A book holds a house of gold. |
| Butcher the donkey after it finished his job on the mill. |
| A crane standing amidst a flock of chickens. |
| A camel standing amidst a flock of sheep. |
| Crows everywhere are equally black. |
| A dish of carrot hastily cooked may still has soil uncleaned off the vegetable. |
| 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 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. |
| A dog won't forsake his master because of his poverty; a son never deserts his mother for her homely appearance. |
| Add legs to the snake after you have finished drawing it. |
| Dream different dreams while on the same bed. |
| Even a hare will bite when it is cornered. |
| Fail to steal the chicken while it ate up your bait grain. |
| A fall into a ditch makes you wiser. |
| Fight a wolf with a flex stalk. |
| A flea on the top of a bald head. |
| Flowing water never goes bad; our door hubs never gather termites. |
| A frog in a well shaft seeing the sky. |
| Flies never visit an egg that has no crack. |
| A good fortune may forbode a bad luck, which may in turn disguise a good fortune. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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? |
| If you do not study hard when young you'll end up bewailing your failures as you grow up. |
| If a son is uneducated, his dad is to blame. |
| If you have never done anything evil, you should not be worrying about devils to knock at your door. |
| An inch of time is an inch of gold but you can't buy that inch of time with an inch of gold. |
| 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. |
| A Jade stone is useless before it is processed; a man is good-for-nothing until he is educated. |
| Kill a chicken before a monkey. |
| Kill one to warn a hundred. |
| Like ants eating a bone. |
| Looking for the ass on its very back. |
| Lift a stone only to drop on your own feet. |
| The longer the night lasts, the more our dreams will be. |
| Mend the pen only after the sheep are all gone. |
| No wind, no waves. |
| Of all the strategems, to know when to quit is the 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 monk shoulders water by himself; two can still share the labor among them. When it comes to three, they have to go thirsty. |
| Only when all contribute their firewood can they build up a strong fire. |
| An overcrowded chicken farm produce fewer eggs. |
| Pick up a sesame seed but lose sight of a watermelon. |
| Play a harp before a cow. |
| Paper can't wrap up a fire. |
| Reshape one's foot to try to fit into a new shoe. |
| Regular feet can't be affected by irregular shoes. |
| Shed no tears until seeing the coffin. |
| A smile will gain you ten more years of life. |
| A sly rabbit will have three openings to its den. |
| Some prefer carrot while others like cabbage. |
| Steal a bell with one's ears covered. |
| Three humble shoemakers brainstorming will make a great statesman. |
| There are always ears on the other side of the wall. |
| There is no silver here: three hundred taels. |
| A tiger never returns to his prey he did not finish off. |
| Vicious as a tigeress can be, she never eats her own cubs. |
| Waiting for a rabbit to hit upon a tree and be killed in order to catch it. |
| We are not so much concerned if you are slow as when you come to a halt. |
| A weasel comes to say Happy New Year to the chickens. |
| When you are poor, neighbors close by will not come; once you become rich, you'll be surprised by visits from (alleged) relatives afar. |
| Without rice, even the cleverest housewife cannot cook. |
| You can't catch a cub without going into the tiger's den. |
| You think you lost your horse? Who knows, he may bring a whole herd back to you someday. |
| You won't help shoots grow by pulling them up higher. |
| You can't expect both ends of a sugar cane are as sweet. |
| Your fingers can't be of the same length. |
| Age and time do not wait for people. |
| Attack is the best defence. |
| Bad things never walk alone. |
| A bird in your hand is worth more than 100 in the forest. |
| The death of the heart is the saddest thing that can happen to you. |
| Different flowers look good to different people. |
| Giving your son a skill is better than giving him one thousand pieces of gold. |
| A great man can bend and stretch. |
| Once you pour the water out of the bucket it's hard to get it back in it. |
| Once a word leaves your mouth, you cannot chase it back even with the swiftest horse. |
| Only when all contribute their firewood can they build up a strong fire. |
| The soldier who retreats 50 paces jeers at the one who retreats 100 paces. |
| To cultivate trees, you need 10 years. To cultivate people, you need 100 years. |
