Currently viewing sayings 1 - 54 of 54 from Chinese Proverbs

This collection of Chinese Proverbs is arranged by popularity as voted by our users for your enjoyment. If you enjoy these sayings, be sure to check out other famous Proverbs!



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

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

A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.

The man who comes with a tale about others has himself an ax to grind.

Raise your sail one foot and you get ten feet of wind.

The palest ink is better than the best memory.

If you don't want anyone to know, don't do it.

Keep your broken arm inside your sleeve.

Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself.

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

Do not fear going forward slowly; fear only to stand still.

A fool judges people by the presents they give him.

The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it.

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

A nation's treasure is in its scholars.

Each generation will reap what the former generation has sown.

Habits are cobwebs at first; cables at last.

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

A thorn defends the rose, harming only those who would steal the blossom.

Not until just before dawn do people sleep best; not until people get old do they become wise.

Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.

When you drink the water, remember the spring.

Dig the well before you are thirsty.

If heaven made him, earth can find some use for him.

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

To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.

A book holds a house of gold.

A diamond with a flaw is worth more than a pebble without imperfections.

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

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

If you bow at all, bow low.

Be the first to the field and the last to the couch.

A bit of fragrance clings to the hand that gives flowers.

Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand.

Unles we change direction, we are likely to wind up where we are headed.

If you get up one more time than you fall you will make it through.

A child's life is like a piece of paper on which every person leaves a mark.

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

Do not employ handsome servants.

Do good, reap good; do evil, reap evil.

A gem is not polished without rubbing, nor a man perfected without trials.

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

With time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown.

When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.

He who cannot agree with his enemies is controlled by them.

A book tightly shut is but a block of paper.

A filthy mouth will not utter decent language.

If we don't change our direction we're likely to end up where we're headed.

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

He who is drowned is not troubled by the rain.

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

A rat who gnaws at a cat's tail invites destruction.

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.