Chinese Proverbs and Popular Sayings. Larry Herzberg

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      The foolish old man moved the mountain.

      (Anything can be done if you work long and hard enough at it.)

      Yú gōng yí shān.

      愚公移山。

      With enough work, an iron rod can be ground into a needle.

      (Almost anything can be achieved if you put enough effort into it.)

      Zhǐyào gōngfu shēn, tiě chǔ móchéng zhēn.

      只要功夫深，铁杵磨成针。

      Good things are produced only through much grinding.

      (Nothing good can be accomplished without a lot of work and many setbacks.)

      Hǎo shì duō mó.

      好事多磨。

      Many little drops of water can turn into a [mighty] river.

      (Giant oaks from tiny acorns grow.)

      Juānjuān zhī dī huaì chéng jiānghé.

      涓涓之滴汇成江河。

      A thousand-mile journey starts under your feet.

      (The longest journey begins with a single step.)

      Qiān lǐ zhī lù shǐ yú zú xià.

      千里之路始于足下。—Lao Zi

      Don’t fear going slow [making slow progress]; just fear standing still.

      Búpà màn, jiù pà zhàn.

      不怕慢，就怕站。

      [Don’t] pull on seedlings to help them grow.

      (It’s human nature to be impatient for good things to happen, but you can’t force good things to happen before the required time has elapsed.)

      Bá miáo zhù zhǎng.

      拔苗助长。

      It takes one [full] year for a tree to start growing; it takes ten years for a person to start growing.

      (Good things take time, especially for a person to mature into wisdom.)

      Yìnián shù mù, shí nián shù rén.

      一年树木，十年树人。

      Failure is the mother of success.

      Shībài shì chénggōng zhī mǔ.

      失败是成功之母。

      Everything is hard in the beginning.

      Wàn shì qǐ tóu nán.

      万事起头难。

      3 Humility and Contentment

      Every traditional culture has stressed the need for humility. Many centuries ago, the Christian Church in Europe posited the seven deadly sins, pride first among them. East Asian societies throughout their history have emphasized the virtue of humility more than most other societies.

      For millennia, China has been one of the most densely populated countries in the world, as have Japan and Korea. Perhaps this is what caused the peoples of these three East Asian cultures to emphasize the good of the group over that of the individual. In a crowded society, where people lived in large communities side by side with their neighbors, a high priority was placed on maintaining social harmony. The need for humility was stressed to prevent that harmony from being disturbed by boastfulness and selfishness.

      To this day, people in China, as well as in Japan and Korea, do not accept a compliment by saying “thank you,” as we do in the West. Instead, the reply to every compliment is a set phrase such as “not at all, not at all” (nǎlǐ, nǎlǐ 哪里，哪里) or “I don’t dare accept” (bùgǎndāng 不敢当). When someone invites guests to his home for a meal, in spite of the fact that the table will be groaning with dishes, the host will humbly declare, “There’s nothing to eat” (méi shénme cài 没什么菜). Most important, Chinese and other Asians have been culturally trained to speak little about themselves or their accomplishments. This restraint extends to boasting about family members as well, because in China your family is an extension of yourself. So praising a family member is akin to praising oneself.

      The Chinese have argued throughout the ages that having a humble attitude should encourage you to admit when you don’t know something. They have also stressed that people should not pridefully compare themselves with others but modestly accept the fact that there will always be others who are superior to them in some way. The proverbs and sayings below all emphasize the importance of being humble, dating back to the words of Confucius 2,500 years ago. Contentment can only be found in not envying others or comparing yourself to them but in being satisfied with what you have.

      Compare yourself to those who are superior to you, and you’ll find yourself lacking; compare yourself to those who are inferior to you, and you’ll find yourself more than good enough.

      Bǐ shàng bùzú, bǐ xià yǒu yú.

      比上不足，比下有余。—Confucius