ABSENT-MINDEDNESS

FELLING a tree to catch the blackbird. Asking a blind man the road.

Dragging the lake for the moon in the water. Adding fuel to put out the fire.

ACCURACY

Deviate an inch, Lose a thousand miles.

BUSINESS

Better go than send.

Surety for the bow, surety for the arrow. Great profits, great risks.

Before buying, calculate the selling.

Easy to open a shop; hard to keep it open. Without a smiling face do not become a merchant.

COMPENSATIONS

The beautiful bird gets caged.

Easier said than done.

Out of the wolf's den into the tiger's mouth.

DIVINE PROVIDENCE

Man without divine assistance cannot move an inch of distance.

EDUCATION

Easy to learn, hard to master.

Husbandry and letters are the two chief professions.

All pursuits are mean in comparison with learning.

Who teaches me for a day is my father for a lifetime.

Scholars are their country's treasure and the richest ornaments of the feast.

Extensive reading is a priceless treasure.

FAMILY

In a united family happiness springs up of itself.

GAMBLING

Losing comes of winning money. Believe in money, sell your house.

FRIENDSHIP

Tigers and deer do not stroll together.

GOVERNMENT

Heaven sees as the people see;

Heaven hears as the people hear.

The guilty emperor exhausts the mandate of Heaven (MENCIUS).

Killing a bad monarch is no murder (MENCIUS). Would you know politics, read history.

The emperor is the father of his people, not a master to be served by slaves.

GRATITUDE

Lambs have the grace to suck kneeling.

HEEDLESSNESS

In at one ear, out at the other.

Man cannot reach perfection in a hundred years; He can fall in a day with time to spare.

HONESTY

Just scales and full measure injure no man. Never do what you wouldn't have known. However much you promise, never fail to pay,

Do not vary your promise for any price.

HUMANITY

Kindness is greater than law. Guide the blind over the bridge.

HUSBANDS AND WIVES

If they match by nature, marry them. Every family has a Goddess of Mercy.

Naught must divide the married pair; Its weight the steelyard cannot spare!

Who is the wife of one, cannot eat the rice of two.

In the husband fidelity, in the wife obedience.

HUMILITY

Falling hurts Least those who fly low.

INDUSTRY

Those who will not work shall not eat.

INSTINCT

Plants surpass men in recognizing spring. Does the swallow know the wild goose's course?

KNOWLEDGE

Schools hide future premiers.

The pen conveys one's meaning a thousand miles.

LAWSUITS

Win your lawsuit, lose your money.

If one family has a lawsuit, ten families are involved.

VANITY OF LIFE

Naked we came, naked we go.

The Great Wall stands; the builder is gone.

MAN

Mind is lord of man.

Virtuous men are a king's treasure.

OPPORTUNITY

Strike while the iron is hot.

Spilt water cannot be gathered up.

PHYSICIANS

The cleverest doctor cannot save himself. Easy to get a thousand prescriptions; hard to obtain a cure.

He that takes medicine and neglects diet, wastes the skill of the physician.

Only those become priests who cannot earn a living.

One son becomes a priest, nine generations are sure of Heaven.

PROCRASTINATION

Never waste time.

Procrastination is the thief of time.

PRACTICAL RELIGION

God loves all men.

Better do a kindness near home than go far to burn incense.

To save one Life is better than to build a seven-story pagoda.

SELF-CONTROL

Think twice — and say nothing.

YOUTH

In the boy see the man.

The mark must be made in youth.

WINE

Leisure breeds Lust.

Wine is the discoverer of secrets.

Intoxication is not the wine's fault, but the man's.

WOMAN

The good-looking woman needs no paint. Never quarrel with a woman.

Three tenths of good looks are due to nature; seven tenths to dress.

SERVICE

Injure others, injure yourself.

One generation plants the trees; another sits in their shade.

SKILL

Unskilled fools quarrel with their tools. Better Master of one than Jack of all trades.

VIRTUE

Better die than turn your back on reason. Look not on temptation, and your mind will be at rest.

It is a little thing to starve to death; it is a serious matter to lose one's virtue.

GENERAL

When men come face to face, their differences vanish.

Do not neglect your own in order to weed another's field.