Proverbs from China, old saying of Chinese great wisdom from letter M to Y
The secret to living well and longer is: eat half, walk double, laugh triple and love without measure.
Tibetan Proverb
Make happy those who are near, and those who are far will come.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Man fools himself. He prays for a long life and he fears old age.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Man has a thousand plans, heaven but one.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Man is heaven and earth in miniature.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Man must be sharpened on man, like knife on stone.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Mankind fears an evil man but heaven does not.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Mankind scorns a virtuous man, but heaven does not.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Many a good face is under a ragged hat.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Many books do not use up words; many words do not use up thoughts.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Married couples tell each other a thousand things without speech.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Married couples who love each other tell each other a thousand things without talking.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Medicine can only cure curable disease, and then not always.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Men fated to be happy need not haste.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Men in the game are blind to what men looking on see clearly.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Men know not all their faults, oxen all their strength.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Misfortune is not that which can be avoided, but that which cannot.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Make sure you leave some fat for the other side.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Mallet strikes chisel; chisel splits wood.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Man cannot stir one inch without the push of heaven’s finger.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Man concocts a million schemes; god knows but one.
Proverb, (Chinese)
O eggs, never fight with stones!
Proverb, (Chinese)
O man, you who do not live a hundred years, why fret a thousand minutes?
Proverb, (Chinese)
Of a dead leopard we keep the skin, of man his reputation.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Of all the thirty-six alternatives, running away is the best.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Often one finds one’s destiny just where one hides to avoid it.
Proverb, (Chinese)
On entering a country, ask what is forbidden, on entering a village, ask what are the customs, on entering a private house, ask what should not be mentioned.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Once bitten by a snake, he is scared all his life at the mere sight of a rope.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Once on a tiger’s back it is hard to alight.
Proverb, (Chinese)
One can care little for man, but we need a friend.
Proverb, (Chinese)
One cannot manage too many affairs; like pumpkins in water, one pops up while you try to hold down the other.
Proverb, (Chinese)
One dog barks at something, the rest bark at him.
Proverb, (Chinese)
One family builds the wall, two families enjoy it.
Proverb, (Chinese)
One generation plants the trees, another gets the shade.
Proverb, (Chinese)
One happiness scatters a thousand sorrows.
Proverb, (Chinese)
One joy shatters a hundred griefs.
Proverb, (Chinese)
One monk shoulders water by himself; two can still share the labor among them. When it comes to three, they have to go thirsty.
Proverb, (Chinese)
One should be just as careful in choosing one’s pleasures as in avoiding calamities.
Proverb, (Chinese)
One step at a time is good walking.
Proverb, (Chinese)
One’s shadow grows larger than life when admired by the light of the moon.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Only he that has traveled the road knows where the holes are deep.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Only he who has traveled the road knows where the holes are deep.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Only when all contribute their firewood can they build up a strong fire.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Out of a dog’s mouth will never come ivory tusks.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Outside noisy, inside empty.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Jade and men, both are sharpened by bitter tools.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Judge not the horse by his saddle.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Just as tall trees are known by their shadows, so are good men known by their enemies.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Just scales and full measure injure no man.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Keep your broken arm inside your sleeve.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Kill a chicken before a monkey.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Kill one to warn a hundred.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Kill the chicken to frighten the monkey.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Know thyself to know others, for heart beats like heart.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Nature is better than a middling doctor.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Nature, time and patience are the three great physicians.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Never answer a letter while you are angry.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Never do anything standing that you can do sitting, or anything sitting that you can do lying down.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Never try to catch two frogs with one hand.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Never write a letter while you are angry.
Proverb, (Chinese)
No matter how stout one beam, it cannot support a house.
Proverb, (Chinese)
No matter how tall the mountain, it cannot block out the sun.
Proverb, (Chinese)
No medicines can cure the vulgar man.
Proverb, (Chinese)
No melon-peddler cries: Bitter melons! No wine-dealer says: Sour wine!
Proverb, (Chinese)
No wind, no waves.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Not wine . . . men intoxicate themselves; not vice . . . men entice themselves.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Paper can’t wrap up a fire.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Parents who are afraid to put their foot down usually have children who step on their toes.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Patience and the mulberry leaf become a silk robe.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Patience is power; with time and patience the mulberry becomes silk.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Peace and tranquility are a thousand gold pieces.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Pick your inn before the dark; get on your road before the dawn.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Plan your year in the spring, your day at dawn.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Pleasures are shallow, sorrows deep.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Politeness wins the confidence of princes.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Practice no vice because it’s trivial; neglect no virtue because it’s so.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Present to the eye, present to the mind.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Priests return to the temple, merchants to the shop.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Pure gold does not fear the smelter.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Raise your sail one foot and you get ten feet of wind.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Rather once cry your heart out than always sigh.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Rats know the way of rats.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Reform a gambler . . . cure leprosy.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Reshape one’s foot to try to fit into a new shoe.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Rich men accumulate money; the poor accumulate years.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Riches add to the house, virtues to the man.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Riches: a dream in the night; fame: a gull floating on water.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Rivers and mountains may change; human nature, never.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Rotten wood cannot be carved.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Runaway son, a shining jewel; runaway daughter, tarnished.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Scholars talk books, butchers talk pigs.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Schoolmaster, stick to your books; farmer, to your pigs.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Seeking fish? Don’t dive in the pond; go home and get a net.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Sending charcoal in the snow is better than adding flowers to a brocade.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Silly toad: planning a meal of goose!
Proverb, (Chinese)
Sit atop the mountain and watch the tigers fight.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Slander cannot destroy an honest man: when the flood recedes the rock is there.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Slow in word, swift in deed.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Small ills are the fountains of most of our groans. Men trip not on mountains, they stumble on stones.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Small men think they are small; great men never know they are great.
Proverb, (Chinese)
So long as a man is angry he cannot be in the right.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Some prefer carrots while others like cabbage.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Sorrow is the child of too much joy.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Sour, sweet, bitter, pungent, all must be tasted.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Steal a bell with one’s ears covered.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Swiftest horse cannot overtake the word once spoken.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The best soldiers are not warlike.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The black dog gets the food; the white dog gets the blame.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The broad-minded see the truth in different religions; the narrow-minded see only the differences.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The careful foot can walk anywhere.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The court official in one life has seven rebirths as a beggar.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The day your horse dies and your money’s lost, your relatives change to strangers.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The delicacy of the feast is the learned guest.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The diamond cannot be polished without friction, nor the man perfected without trials.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The emperor is rich, but he cannot buy one extra year.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The error of one moment becomes the sorrow of a whole life.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The father in praising the son extols himself.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The fire you kindle for your enemy often burns yourself more than him.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The first half of the night, think of your own faults; the second half, the faults of others.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The great question is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with failure.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The happiness in your pocket, don’t spend it all.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The house with an old grandparent harbors a jewel.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The less power a man has, the more he likes to use it.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The loftiest towers rise from the ground.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The longer the night lasts, the more our dreams will be.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The man who comes with a talk about others has himself an ax to grind.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The man who does not learn is dark, like one walking in the night.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The man who strikes first admits that his ideas have given out.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The mind is the emperor of the body.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The net of heaven is large and wide, but it lets nothing through.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The older the ginger, the more it bites.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The one who first resorts to violence shows that he has no more arguments.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The one who plants the tree is not the one who will enjoy its shade.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The one who understands does not speak, the one who speaks does not understand.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The palest ink is better than the best memory.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The path of duty lies in what is near at hand, but men seek for it in what is remote.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The pen can kill a man; no knife is needed.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The peony is beautiful, yet it is supported by a stalk.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The pine stays green in winter, wisdom in hardship.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The remedy for dirt is soap and water. The remedy for dying is living.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The rich man plans for tomorrow, the poor man for today.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The rose has thorns only for those who would gather it.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The saving man becomes the free man.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The sheep has no choice when in the jaws of the wolf.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The water that bears the ship is the same that engulfs it.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The weasel comes to say “Happy New Year!” to the chickens.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The woman who tells her age is either too young to have anything to lose or too old to have anything to gain.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The Yangtze never runs backwards; man recaptures not his youth.
Proverb, (Chinese)
There are many paths to the top of the mountain, but the view is always the same.
Proverb, (Chinese)
There are two perfectly good men, one dead, and the other unborn.
Proverb, (Chinese)
There is no economy in going to bed early to save candles if the result is twins.
Proverb, (Chinese)
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.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Those who despise money will eventually sponge on their friends.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Those who do not study are only cattle dressed up in men’s clothes.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Those who have free seats at a play hiss first.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Though you live near a forest, do not waste firewood.
Proverb, (Chinese)
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.
Proverb, (Chinese)
To believe in one’s dreams is to spend all of one’s life asleep.
Proverb, (Chinese)
To forget one’s ancestor’s is to be a brook without a source, a tree without root.
Proverb, (Chinese)
To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping.
Proverb, (Chinese)
To go beyond is as bad as to fall short.
Proverb, (Chinese)
To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.
Proverb, (Chinese)
To listen well is as powerful a means of influence as to talk well and is as essential to all true conversation.
Proverb, (Chinese)
To meet an old friend in a distant country is like the delight of rain after a long drought.
Proverb, (Chinese)
To open a shop is easy, to keep it open is an art.
Proverb, (Chinese)
To persecute the unfortunate is like throwing stones on one fallen into a well.
Proverb, (Chinese)
To talk much and arrive nowhere is the same as climbing a tree to catch a fish.
Proverb, (Chinese)
To understand your parents’ love bear your own children.
Proverb, (Chinese)
To violate the law is the same crime in the emperor as in the subject.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Transgressions should never be forgiven a third time.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Two barrels of tears will not heal a bruise.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Two good talkers are not worth one good listener.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Take a second look; it costs you nothing.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Talent counts thirty percent; appearance counts seventy.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Talk does not cook rice.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Temptation wrings integrity even as the thumbscrew twists a man’s fingers.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Thatch your roof before rainy weather, dig your well before you become parched with thirst.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The best cure for drunkenness is whilst sober to observe a drunken person.
Proverb, (Chinese)
The best memory is not so firm as faded ink.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Unplowed fields make hollow bellies; unread books make hollow minds.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Use power to curb power.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Vicious as a tigress can be, she never eats her own cubs.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Virtue becomes a wife; beauty becomes a concubine.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Virtue is not left to stand alone.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Virtue never dwells alone, it always has neighbors.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Virtue practiced to be seen is not real virtue; vice which fears to be seen is real vice.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Virtue: climbing a hill; vice: running down.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Virtuous for ten years is still not enough; evil for one day is too much already.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Wait long, strike fast.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Waiting for a rabbit to hit upon a tree and be killed in order to catch it.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Walls have ears.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Want a thing long enough, and you don’t.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Water and words are easy to pour but impossible to recover.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Water that has reached its level does not flow.
Proverb, (Chinese)
We all like lamb; each has a different way of cooking it.
Proverb, (Chinese)
We are not so much concerned if you are slow as when you come to a halt.
Proverb, (Chinese)
We can study until old age and still not finish.
Proverb, (Chinese)
We forget even incense in easy times; come hard times, we embrace the Buddha’s feet.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Wealth is but dung, useful only when spread.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Weaving a net is better than praying for fish at the edge of the water.
Proverb, (Chinese)
What is whispered in your ear is often heard a hundred miles off.
Proverb, (Chinese)
What the eye sees not, the heart craves not.
Proverb, (Chinese)
What you cannot avoid, welcome.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Whatsoever was the father of a disease, an ill diet was the mother.
Proverb, (Chinese)
When a large vessel has opened a way it is easy for a small one to follow.
Proverb, (Chinese)
When eating bamboo sprouts, remember the man who planted them.
Proverb, (Chinese)
When the cat is gone, the mice come out to stretch.
Proverb, (Chinese)
When the mantis hunts the locust, he forgets the shrike that’s hunting him.
Proverb, (Chinese)
When the tree dies, the grass underneath withers.
Proverb, (Chinese)
When the tree falls, the shadow flies.
Proverb, (Chinese)
When the tree waves, wind is stirring.
Proverb, (Chinese)
When you bow, bow low.
Proverb, (Chinese)
When you fall into a pit, you either die or get out.
Proverb, (Chinese)
When you have only two dollars left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a rose with the other.
Proverb, (Chinese)
When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.
Proverb, (Chinese)
When you say one thing, the clever person understands three.
Proverb, (Chinese)
When you want to test the depths of a stream, don’t use both feet.
Proverb, (Chinese)
When your horse in on the brink of a precipice, it is too late to pull the reins.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Whenever the water rises, the boat will rise too.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Who is not satisfied with himself will grow; who is not sure of his own correctness will learn many things.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Who rides a tiger cannot dismount.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Who teaches me for a day is my father for a lifetime.
Proverb, (Chinese)
With money one may command devils; without it, one cannot even summon a man.
Proverb, (Chinese)
With reason one can travel the world over; without it, it is hard to move an inch.
Proverb, (Chinese)
With time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Without rice, even the cleverest housewife cannot cook.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Women can hold up half the sky.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Yellow gold is plentiful compared to white-haired friends.
Proverb, (Chinese)
You burn incense before the god, and then topple him.
Proverb, (Chinese)
You can hardly make a friend in a year, but you can easily offend one in an hour.
Proverb, (Chinese)
You can’t catch a cub without going into the tiger’s den.
Proverb, (Chinese)
You can’t clap with one hand only.
Proverb, (Chinese)
You can’t expect both ends of a sugar cane to be as sweet.
Proverb, (Chinese)
You can’t fill your belly painting pictures of bread.
Proverb, (Chinese)
You cannot draw white cloth from a dying vat.
Proverb, (Chinese)
You cannot hook trout? Try digging clams.
Proverb, (Chinese)
You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair.
Proverb, (Chinese)
You must have crossed the river before you may tell the crocodile he has bad breath.
Proverb, (Chinese)
You must scale the mountains if you would view the plain.
Proverb, (Chinese)
You think you’ve lost your horse? Who knows, he may bring a whole herd back to you someday.
Proverb, (Chinese)
You want no one to know it? Then don’t do it.
Proverb, (Chinese)
You won’t help shoots grow by pulling them up higher.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Your fingers can’t be of the same length.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Read also Chinese proverbs and sayings of great wisdom from letter A to L
You can also read the following post on proverbs:
