תמונות בעמוד
PDF
ePub

APOTHEMS AND PROVERBS.*

If the blind lead the blind they will both go into the pit.

Misfortunes proceed from the mouth, and by the mouth diseases enter.

A fair wind raises no storm.

The error of a thought the regret of a whole life.

A little impatience subverts great undertakings. Vast chasms can be filled; the heart of man is never satisfied.

Diseases may be healed, but fate cannot be remedied. The body may be healed, but the mind is incurable. Instruction pervades the heart of the wise, but cannot penetrate the ears of a fool.

A man may be deprived of life, but a good name cannot be taken from him.

The extreme of joy is the beginning of sorrow.

Every man sees the faults of others, but cannot discern his own.

* From Notitia Linguæ Sinica; translated from Chinese into French, by Premare; and from French into English, by J. G. Bridg

man.

Words spoken are as wind; the tracing of the pencil remains.

Man sees only what is before him, but heaven beholds all things.

Mere sound is empty; what is seen is solid: what is heard is doubtful; what is seen is certain.

Heaven directs the ways of men as a pilot directs a ship.

If the fence is secure, the dogs will not enter.

Better strong within than strong without.

With money one can raise a spirit; without it, he cannot command a man.

Virtue requires no coloring.

A near friend is better than a distant relative.

Good works remain at home; the evil, travel far abroad. The foolish husband fears his wife; the wise woman fears her husband.

Men's fortunes are as variable as the weather.

What is easily acquired is easily lost.

Never engage in what you would fear to have known. The injustice of man may be endured, but the wrath of heaven destroys.

Obsequiousness makes friends; truth excites hatred. A thing cannot be at the same time both true and false.

A man's face is known, but his heart cannot be told. Man contrives, but heaven decrees.

A wise man will not reprove a fool.

To indulge a servant is not safe; and to deceive a child is not proper.

The tiger does not walk with the hind.

He who pursues the stag disdains to notice the hare.

The tiger does not molest a lying carcase.

He who neglects a good opportunity must not afterwards complain.

Trouble neglected becomes still more troublesome. Wood is not sold in the forest, nor fish at the pool. He desires to hide his tracks, and walks upon the snow. His desire to become agreeable renders him disgusting.

He seeks the ass, and lo! he sits upon him.

When the master is not rigid, the servant is remiss.
For the crime of one, the whole family suffers.
Speak not of others, but first convict yourself.
If the root remain, the grass will grow.

Great pleasures are purchased only with great pains. Do not choke yourself in eating, nor let your foot slip in walking.

A slight deviation leads to a great error.

A man is not always known by his looks, nor is the sea measured with a bushel.

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

Extreme peril requires extreme effort.

A word spoken in the ear is heard a thousand miles off. Ivory does not come from a rat's mouth.*

If I keep with my own wife, she will not be debauched by others.

The wise forget past injuries.

Man lives one age, the flowers one spring.

Better not be, than be nothing.

The good seek each other, the bad mutually repel.

* Do not look for wisdom out of the mouth of a fool.

One thread does not make a rope; a swallow does not make a summer.

Domestic foibles must not be exposed.

A faithful subject dies without fear, and a virtuous woman meets danger with delight.

Between husband and wife there must be all affection; between friends all fidelity.

Consider the past and you will know the future.

Though the sword be sharp, it will not wound the in

nocent.

Sensual indulgence is the greatest evil; filial obedience is the highest good.

Great effects require great efforts.

Not only beauty but talents may infatuate a person. Great humility secures great honor.

That which soars not high is not hurt by a fall. When wealth is not rightly obtained, misfortune is sure to follow.

While the two contend a third secures the gain.
-A day of sorrow is longer than a month of joy.

The whole world presents no continual feast; no earthly pleasure is permanent.

No distance can separate what heaven unites, or unite what heaven separates.

The prisoner dreams of freedom; the thirsty of springs of water.

It is only the naked who fear the light.

A flower is not in bloom a hundred days, nor a man in his prime a thousand.

He who is not grateful is unworthy of being called a

man.

It is not wine that makes a drunkard, the man intoxicates himself.

He who shakes the bush rouses the serpent.

If the escort proceed a thousand miles, a separation must at length occur.

A strife may be properly ended, but not properly begun.

If what we see is doubtful, how can we believe what is spoken behind the back.

Do not show your cash when you go to the market.
Obedience is better than respect.

True gold does not fear the fire.

Every man to his taste.

Wine will both finish and furnish business.

Wine discovers the sentiments of the heart.

The full moon does not last, and the bright cloud soon vanishes.

It is man who is bad, not the law.

Happy is he who fights with himself; wretched who contends with others.

Night comes alike to the young who wake, and to the old who sleep; both old and young are exposed to death. Blessings come not in pairs; calamities occur not single.

)

« הקודםהמשך »