Chinese wise proverbs and sayings of great wisdom from letter A to L
He who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions.
Confucius
A bad word whispered will echo a hundred miles.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A bar of iron continually ground becomes a needle.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A beautiful bird is the only kind we cage.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A bird can roost but on one branch, a mouse can drink not more than its fill from a river.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A bit of fragrance always clings to the hand that gives you roses.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A book holds a house of gold.
Proverb, (Chinese)
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.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A cat that catches mice does not meow.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A chicken is hatched even from such a well-sealed thing as an egg.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A child’s life is like a piece of paper on which every passerby leaves a mark.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A clever person turns great troubles into little ones and little ones into none at all.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A closed mind is like a closed book; just a block of wood.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A cloth is not woven from a single thread.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A country where flowers are priced so as to make them a luxury has yet to learn the first principles of civilization.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A crisis is an opportunity riding the dangerous wind.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A day of sorrow is longer than a month of joy.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A dog in desperation will leap over a wall.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A dog won’t forsake his master because of poverty; a son never deserts his mother because of her homely appearance.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A fall into a ditch makes you wiser.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A flea on top of a bald head.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A gem is not polished without rubbing, nor a man made perfect without trials.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A good dog does not block the road.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A good neighbor is a found treasure.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A hasty man drinks his tea with a fork.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A hundred men may make an encampment, but it takes a woman to make a home.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A jade stone is useless before it is processed; a man is good-for-nothing until he is educated.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A maker of idols is never an idolater.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A man must despise himself before others will.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A man must make himself despicable before he is despised by others.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A man need never revenge himself; the body of his enemy will be brought to his own door.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A man without a smiling face must not open shop.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A man’s conversation is the mirror of his thoughts.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A nation’s treasure: scholars.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A person who say it cannot be done should not interrupt the man doing it.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A person whose heart is not content is like a snake which tries to swallow an elephant.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A red-nosed man may be a teetotaler, but will find no one to believe it.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A rumour goes in one ear and out many mouths.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A single beam cannot support a great house.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A single conversation with a wise man is better than ten years of study.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A single untried popular remedy often throws the scientific doctor into hysterics.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A sly rabbit will have three openings to its den.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A smile will gain you ten more years of life.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A thorn defends the rose harming only those who would steal the blossom.
Proverb, (Chinese)
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.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A vacant mind is open to all suggestions, as a hollow mountain returns all sounds.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A whitewashed crow soon shows black again.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows public opinion.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A young branch takes on all the bends that one gives it.
Proverb, (Chinese)
A young doctor makes a full graveyard.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Able people can do more.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Abroad we judge the dress; at home we judge the man.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Add legs to the snake after you have finished drawing it.
Proverb, (Chinese)
After three days without reading, talk becomes flavorless.
Proverb, (Chinese)
All cats love fish but fear to wet their paws.
Proverb, (Chinese)
All people are your relatives, therefore expect only trouble from them.
Proverb, (Chinese)
All things at first appear difficult.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Alms given openly will be rewarded in secret.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Among ten matchmakers only nine will lie.
Proverb, (Chinese)
An ambassador bears no blame.
Proverb, (Chinese)
An embroidered pillow may be stuffed with straw.
Proverb, (Chinese)
An ignorant doctor is no better than a murderer.
Proverb, (Chinese)
An inch of time is an inch of gold, but you can’t buy that inch of time with an inch of gold.
Proverb, (Chinese)
An old friend met in a far country is like rain after drought.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Avoid suspicion: when you’re walking through your neighbor’s melon patch, don’t tie your shoe.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Be on a horse when you go in search of a better one.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Be resolved and the thing is done.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Beat your drum inside the house to spare the neighbors.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Beat your gong and sell your candles.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Because men do not like the cold, Heaven does not cause winter to cease.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Before you beat a dog, find out who its master is.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Begin with an error of an inch and end by being a thousand miles off the mark.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Behind an able man there are always other able men.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Behind one high mountain lies yet a higher one.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Better be kind at home than burn incense in a far place.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Better be too credulous than too skeptical.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Better die ten years early than live ten years poor.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Better do a kindness near home than go far to burn incense.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Better go than send.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Better the cottage where one is merry than the palace where one weeps.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Better to do a kindness near home than go far away to burn incense.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Beyond the sky there is more sky; beyond one person there are others as well.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Be in readiness for favorable winds.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Be not disturbed at being misunderstood; be disturbed at not understanding.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Careless rat chewing on a cat’s tail: beware lightning!
Proverb, (Chinese)
Ceremony is the smoke of friendship.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Cheap things are not good, good things are not cheap.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Cheat the earth and the earth will cheat you.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Clumsy birds have need of early flight.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Conquerors are kings; the beaten are bandits.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Corner a dog in a dead-end street and it will turn and bite.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Count not what is lost but what is left.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Covet wealth, and want it; don’t, and luck will grant it.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Crows everywhere are equally black.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Curse your wife at evening, sleep alone at night.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Customers are jade; merchandise is grass.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Dead songbirds make a sad meal.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Dangerous enemies will meet again in narrow streets.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Deal with the faults of others as gently as with your own.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Deer-hunter, waste not your arrow on the hare.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Despise learning and make everyone pay for your ignorance.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Deviate an inch, lose a thousand miles.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Dig a well before you are thirsty.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Diligence is the basis of wealth, and thrift the source of riches.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Do not add legs to the snake after you have finished drawing it.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Do not anxiously hope for that which is not yet come; do not vainly regret what is already past.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Do not employ handsome servants.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Do not have each foot on a different boat.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Do not talk Arabic in the house of a Moor.
Proverb, (Chinese, Spanish)
Do not tear down the east wall to repair the west.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Do not use a hatchet to remove a fly from your friend’s forehead.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Dogs do not dislike poor families.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Don’t build a new ship out of old wood.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Don’t consider your reputation and you may do anything you like.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Don’t stand by the water and long for fish; go home and weave a net.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Don’t waste good iron for nails or good men for soldiers.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Donkey’s lips don’t fit onto a horse’s mouth.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Dream different dreams while on the same bed.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Fail to steal the chicken while it ate up your bait grain.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Falling hurts least those who fly low.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Far waters cannot quench near fires.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Fight a wolf with a flex stalk.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Flowers leave a part of their fragrance in the hands that bestow them.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Flowers leave some of their fragrance in the hand that bestows them.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Flowing water never goes bad; our door hubs never gather termites.
Proverb, (Chinese)
For the sake of one good action, a hundred evil ones should be forgotten.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Forethought is easy, repentance hard.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Forget the favors you have given; remember those received.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Fortune and flowers do not last forever.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Four horses cannot overtake the tongue.
Proverb, (Chinese
Friend, do not try to borrow combs from shaven monks.
Proverb, (Chinese)
From the lowly perspective of a dog’s eyes, everyone looks short.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Get the coffin ready and watch the man mend.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Get the coffin ready and watch the man mend.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Girls marry to please parents, widows to please themselves.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Going beyond is as bad as falling short.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Gold has its price; learning is beyond price.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Gold is tested by fire, man by gold.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Good fortune may forebode bad luck, which may in turn disguise good fortune.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Govern a family as you would cook a small fish–very gently.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Govern yourself and you can govern the world.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Grass fears the frost, frost fears the sun.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Great blessings come from heaven; small blessings come from man.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Great business is good; to sit and sip this glass is better.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Great souls have wills; feeble ones have only wishes.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Garden flowers larger, field flowers stronger.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Easier to rule a nation than a son.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Easy to believe in heaven’s law, but so hard to keep.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Easy to enroll a thousand soldiers. But, ah, one general!.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Easy to know men’s faces, not their hearts.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Easy to run downhill, much puffing to run up.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Empty the clear path to heaven, crowded the dark road to hell.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Enjoy yourself. It’s later than you think.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Enough shovels of earth make a mountain, enough pails of water a river.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Even a hare will bite when it is cornered.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Every day cannot be a feast of lanterns.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Everyone pushes a falling fence.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Exaggeration is to paint a snake and add legs.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Easier to bend the body than the will.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Habits are cobwebs at first, cables at last.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Happiness is like a sunbeam, which the least shadow intercepts, while adversity is often as the rain of spring.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Happy people never count hours as they pass.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Hatred corrodes the vessel in which it is stored.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Have a mouth as sharp as a dagger, but a heart as soft as tofu.
Proverb, (Chinese)
He comes with incense in one hand, in the other a spear.
Proverb, (Chinese)
He has too many lice to feel an itch.
Proverb, (Chinese)
He painted a tiger, but it turned out a dog.
Proverb, (Chinese)
He that has no money might as well be buried in a rice tub with his mouth sewn up.
Proverb, (Chinese)
He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever.
Proverb, (Chinese)
He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
Proverb, (Chinese)
He who can predict winning numbers should not set off fire crackers.
Proverb, (Chinese)
He who cannot agree with his enemies is controlled by them.
Proverb, (Chinese)
He who carves the Buddha never worships him.
Proverb, (Chinese)
He who could foresee affairs three days in advance would be rich for thousands of years.
Proverb, (Chinese)
He who hurries cannot walk with dignity.
Proverb, (Chinese)
He who rides a tiger is afraid to dismount.
Proverb, (Chinese)
He who rides on a tiger can never dismount.
Proverb, (Chinese)
He who sacrifices his conscience to ambition burns a picture to obtain the ashes.
Proverb, (Chinese)
He who seeks revenge should remember to dig two graves.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Hold back some goods for a thousand days and you will be sure to sell at a profit.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Honey in his mouth, knives in his heart.
Proverb, (Chinese)
How can you expect to find ivory in a dog’s mouth?
Proverb, (Chinese)
How can you put out a fire set on a cart-load of firewood with only a cup of water.
Proverb, (Chinese)
I dreamed a thousand new paths. I woke and walked my old one.
Proverb, (Chinese)
If a son is uneducated, his father is to blame.
Proverb, (Chinese)
If an enemy is annoying you by playing well, consider adopting his strategy.
Proverb, (Chinese)
If heaven made him, earth can find some use for him.
Proverb, (Chinese)
If I keep a green bough in my heart, the singing bird will come.
Proverb, (Chinese)
If there is a strong general, there will be no weak soldiers.
Proverb, (Chinese)
If there is a wave there must be a wind.
Proverb, (Chinese)
If there is beauty in character, there will be harmony in the home. If there is harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.
Proverb, (Chinese)
If what we see is doubtful, how can we believe what is spoken behind the back.
Proverb, (Chinese)
If you always give, you will always have.
Proverb, (Chinese)
If you are patient in a moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.
Proverb, (Chinese)
If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people.
Proverb, (Chinese)
If you are standing upright, don’t worry if your shadow is crooked.
Proverb, (Chinese)
If you bow at all, bow low.
Proverb, (Chinese)
If you can’t change your fate, change your attitude.
Proverb, (Chinese)
If you don’t scale the mountain, you can’t view the plain.
Proverb, (Chinese)
If you get up one more time than you fall you will make it through.
Proverb, (Chinese)
If you have never done anything evil, you should not be worrying about devils knocking at your door.
Proverb, (Chinese)
If you have two loaves of bread, sell one and buy a lily.
Proverb, (Chinese)
If you must play, decide on three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time.
Proverb, (Chinese)
If you see in your wine the reflection of a person not in your range of vision, don’t drink it.
Proverb, (Chinese)
If you share a man’s wealth, try to lessen his misfortune.
Proverb, (Chinese)
If you suspect a man, don’t employ him, and if you employ him, don’t suspect him.
Proverb, (Chinese)
If you want an audience, start a fight.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Illness comes in by mouth; ills come out by it.
Proverb, (Chinese)
In every family’s cooking pot is one black spot.
Proverb, (Chinese)
In his decision the judge with seven reasons gives only one in court.
Proverb, (Chinese)
In reviling, it is not necessary to prepare a preliminary draft.
Proverb, (Chinese)
In the broken nest there are no whole eggs.
Proverb, (Chinese)
In the midst of great joy do not promise to give a man anything; in the midst of great anger do not answer a man’s letter.
Proverb, (Chinese)
In the presence of princes the cleverest jester is mute.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Insects do not nest in a busy door-hinge.
Proverb, (Chinese)
It is better to be entirely without a book than to believe it entirely.
Proverb, (Chinese)
It is easier to know how to do than it is to do.
Proverb, (Chinese)
It is harder to be poor without complaining than to be rich without boasting.
Proverb, (Chinese)
It is not economical to go to bed early to save the candles if the result is twins.
Proverb, (Chinese)
It is the beautiful bird which gets caged.
Proverb, (Chinese)
It takes little effort to watch a man carry a load.
Proverb, (Chinese)
It’s as difficult to be rich without bragging as it is to be poor without complaining.
Proverb, (Chinese)
It’s your own lantern; don’t poke holes in the paper.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Large demands on oneself and little demands on others keep resentment at bay.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Laws control the lesser man; right conduct controls the greater one.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Learn to handle a writing-brush and you’ll never handle a begging-bowl.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Learning is a weightless treasure you always carry easy.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Learning is like rowing upstream: not to advance is to drop back.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Learning is treasure no thief can touch.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Learning is weightless, treasure you can always carry easily.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Leave a bit of the tail to whisk off flies.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Let him who does not know what war is go to war.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends whom we choose.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Listen to all, plucking a feather from every passing goose, but, follow no one absolutely.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Long roads test the horse, long dealings the friend.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Look for a thing until you find it and you’ll not lose your labor.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Looking for fish? Don’t climb a tree.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Losing comes of winning money.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Love is blind, and greed insatiable.
Proverb, (Chinese)
Read also Proverbs from China and sayings of great wisdom from letter M to Y
You can also read the following posts about proverbs:
