Chinese Proverbs 16 Life Lessons The Proverbs That The Successful Persons Must Understand!

" The genius, wit, and spirit of a nation are discovered in its proverbs." - Francis Bacon.

Chinese proverbs are no exception – they too, as Bacon so rightly mused, reveal the essence of Chinese culture and history. Quite apart from its literal, or nominal meaning, a Chinese proverb often has a hidden if not a double meaning that may be ironic.

Because many of the most popular Chinese proverbs express distilled wisdom, they are as much in use today as when they were first coined. To help strangers to China better understand the implicit as well as the explicit meanings of Chinese proverbs, here are 16 amazing life lessons that we must learn and understand for success in our lives :

Lesson 1 : Add legs to the snake after you have finished drawing it Meaning : You are doing unnecessary work that is ruining your result. Don’t take more than is offered. Don’t do something that is totally unnecessary and you'll end up spoiling what you have already done!

Lesson 2 : Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still Meaning : We must keep moving to slowly reach our goals in life. Slow progress is better than no progress.

Lesson 3 : A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials Meaning : The "tumbling" action of adversity can show us the beauty of our lives. If we allow that adversity to motivate our actions. We can see challenges as life stopping problems or as stepping- stones to a better life. We can choose to give up when life gets hard OR we can choose to re- adjust our endeavors and keep going.

Lesson 4 : He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever Meaning : If we don’t ask a question and pretend that we know it all, we will not get the knowledge. By asking questions, you may look like a fool for a little while, but at least you will know the answer. You will be much smarter if you ask questions.

Lesson 5 : If you are patient in a moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow Meaning : Always think BEFORE you speak or take action. If you allow yourself a moment of patience when you feel anger you will not react with a knee-jerk response to it. So, if you choose not to take that breath and use patience, you are choosing to misuse your anger. Anger never controls you, you let it control you, your choice.

Lesson 6 : If you want 1 year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people Meaning : It is certainly wise to return to the employee's job description, but one area that we frequently overlooked is the manager's responsibility to develop his/her people. After we recruit talented people, we have to nurture them to reveal their potential. Otherwise our business will fail.

Lesson 7 : An inch of time is an inch of gold, but you can't buy that inch of time with an inch of gold Meaning : It's saying that time is precious, you can't buy time with money! Money can be returned, but time can’t.

Lesson 8 : A dog will jump over a wall when cornered Meaning : Avoid putting others in a very difficult position, or you'll get hurt yourself.

Lesson 9 : Dripping water can eat through a stone Meaning : Perseverance will lead to success. In dealing with a seemingly very difficult task, keep on working at it without fear, and you will eventually succeed.

Lesson 10 : A good fortune may forebode a bad luck, which may in turn disguise a good fortune Meaning : Do not over rejoice over good fortune and be over dejected by a mishap. There are always the unforeseeable turns for the better or worse.

Lesson 11 : A long march starts from the very first step Meaning : Success does not come from nothing, instead it comes from actions taken and concrete hard work. Nothing successful EVER comes easy...but it will come. Just taking the first step and live as though you've already seen the success you know is coming...it will boost your motivation to keep striving.

Lesson 12 : One thing well done is a hundred done; one thing that fails dooms the rest Meaning : If one is capable of accomplishing one thing, he is likely to accomplish many more or vice versa. Just taking the first step, learn from the mistakes and do the right thing, you will succeed.

Lesson 13 : Steal a bell with one's ears plugged Meaning : A bell is supposed to be ringing when moved and alert the owner. The theft here thought if he covered up his own ears, no one else in the world will hear it either. That is stupid. This proverb is just to mock someone who takes it for granted that if he thinks others do not know what he is doing. Be careful of what you think, do, and speak.

Lesson 14 : Your fingers can't be of the same length Meaning : That is true. And that is true with life: we can't expect everything or everybody is perfect. As a good team player, we have to use the strengths of each persons to replace the weaknesses of other members.

Lesson 15 : You can't expect both ends of a sugar cane are as sweet Meaning : You can't have both: In order to get something, you have to sacrifice something else. You have to take actions for getting results. You have to invest for getting the returns. Don’t dream too much, because you get nothing in this world for free.

Lesson 16 : If you must play, decide on three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time Meaning : Decide when to quit beforehand. There are certain situations when persistence and hard work are not going to change anything; and there are other situations when being consistent and sticking pays off, when if you do whatever it takes, you will succeed.

Thank You Very Much Sompong Yusoontorn