Chinese Proverbs

Chinese Proverbs

http://www.famouschinese.com/viewarticle/view?ArticleID=171

I came across this webpage, while doing a search for something else. I'm not sure all of these are Chinese proverbs, but I like a lot of them, such as:

A single conversation with a wise man is better than ten years of study.

While so many people talk from theory, or opinion, I like to listen to people who speak from successful experience. For years, I went to the MIT Enterprise Forum, and listened to business people present how they made their business succeed. While I value my teachings from business school, I got so much more out of these presentations.


Of the hundreds of proverbs, here's a sample:

A bad word whispered will echo a hundred miles.
A bad workman blames his tools.
A man cannot become wealthy without earnings apart from his regular salaries.
A man without a smiling face must not open shop.
A person who say it cannot be done should not interrupt the man doing it.
A vacant mind is open to all suggestions.
A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.
A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows public opinion.
Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.
Better the cottage where one is merry than the palace where one weeps.
Corporations have neither bodies to be punished nor souls to be damned.
Despise learning and make everyone pay for your ignorance.
Dogs have so many friends because they wag their tails, not their tongues.
Don't build a new ship out of old wood.
Don't waste good iron for nails or good men for soldiers.
Easy to believe in heaven's law, but so hard to keep.
Failing to plan is planning to fail.
Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.
Four things come not back: the spoken word, the spent arrow, the past life, and the neglected opportunity.
Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he'll eat forever.
Giving your son a skill is better than giving him one thousand pieces of gold.
He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever.
Learning is treasure no thief can touch.
Rotten wood cannot be carved.
Men trip not on mountains, they stumble on stones.
The diamond cannot be polished without friction, nor the man perfected without trials.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.
The one who first resorts to violence shows that he has no more arguments.
The one who understands does not speak, the one who speaks does not understand.
To open a shop is easy, to keep it open is an art.
Two good talkers are not worth one good listener.
Victory has hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan.
With time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown.