Recommended Reading
- ‘500 Common Chinese Proverbs and Colloquial Expressions‘ by Liwei Jiao, Benjamin Stone
- ‘The Little Book of Chinese Proverbs‘ by Jonathan Clements
- ‘Chinese Proverbs‘ by Ruthanne Lum, Hu Yong Yi, K.L. Kiu
- ‘Chinese Illustrated Dictionary‘ by McGraw-Hill
Chinese Proverbs and Inspirational Quotes
Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Experience, Fools, Failures, Mistakes
Gold cannot be pure, and people cannot be perfect.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Perfection
Women and fools never forgive.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Forgiveness
Learning is a treasure which accompanies its owner everywhere.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Learning
The best soldiers are not warlike
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Soldiers, Proverbs
The dog in the kennel barks at his fleas; the dog that hunts does not feel them.
—Chinese Proverb
I dreamed a thousand new paths… I woke and walked my old one.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Dreams
The woman who tells her age is either too young to have anything to lose or too old to have anything to gain.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Age
To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Proverbs
Going to law is losing a cow for the sake of a cat.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Law
To stop drinking, study a drunkard when you are sober.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Drunkenness
Of all the thirty-six alternatives, running away is best.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Caution
Make happy those who are near, and those who are far will come.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Goodwill, Helpfulness, Happiness, Kindness
Sorrow is the child of too much joy.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Joy
I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand.
—Chinese Proverb
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.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Fortune
A little impatience…
Big plans ruined.
—Chinese Proverb
A day of sorrow is longer than a month of joy.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Joy
Experience is a comb which nature gives to men when they are bald.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Proverbs, Experience
To trust one’s own righteousness, is like seeking shelter under one’s own shadow.—We may stoop to the ground, and the lower we bend, the shadow is beneath us still.—But if we flee to the shadow of a great rock, or a wide-spreading tree, then we find shelter from the noon-day sun.
—Chinese Proverb
Just as tall trees are known by their shadows, so are good men known by their enemies
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Proverbs
He who asks a question is a fool for a minute; he who does not remains a fool forever.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Knowledge
A smile will gain you ten more years of life.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Smile, Proverbs
It’s as difficult to be rich without bragging as it is to be poor without complaining.
—Chinese Proverb
He who keeps the hills, burns the wood; he who keeps the streams drinks the water.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Nature
Clear conscience never fears midnight knocking.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Character, Proverbs, Conscience, Virtues
It is the beautiful bird that gets caged.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Beauty
One never needs their humor as much as when they argue with a fool.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Humor, Fools, Proverbs
Laws control the lesser man. Right conduct controls the greater one.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Integrity, Proverbs
To open a shop is easy, to keep it open is an art
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Business
The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water, but to walk on the earth.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Nature, Life
Rich men accumulate money; the poor accumulate years.
—Chinese Proverb
Women are as beautiful as flowers when they are forty years old.
—Chinese Proverb
He that is afraid to shake the dice will never throw a six.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Anxiety, Fear
All people are your relatives, therefore expect only trouble from them.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Family
A clever doctor never treats himself.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Cleverness
Talk doesn’t cook rice.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Humankind, Action
You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Control, Birds, Self-Control, Proverbs, Sadness, Flying, Sorrow
Deep down all men are alike—and that is the problem.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Problems
Not the cry, but the flight of the wild duck, leads the flock to fly and follow.
—Chinese Proverb
Topics: Example, Leadership, Action