The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.

More Chinese Proverbs

• A wise man makes his own decisions, but an ignorant man mindlessly follows the crowd.
• Two good talkers are not worth one good listener.
• A clever person turns great troubles into little ones, and little ones into none at all.
• Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
• If you want your children to have a peaceful life, let them suffer a little hunger and a little coldness.
• A closed mind is like a closed book; just a block of wood
• To know another is not to know the person’s face, but to know the person’s heart.
• A little impatience will spoil great plans.
• A smile will gain you ten more years of life.
• The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.
• If you want to avoid being cheated, ask for prices at three different stores.
• Men trip not on mountains they trip on molehills.
• It is not the knowing that is difficult, but the doing.
• Think about your own faults during the first half of the night, and the faults of others during the second half.
• There are two kinds of perfect people: those who are dead, and those who have not been born yet.
• He who cheats the earth will be cheated by the earth.
• Listening well is as powerful as talking well, and is also as essential to true conversation.
• A clear conscience never fears midnight knocking.
• Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself.
• An inch of time is an inch of gold but you can’t buy that inch of time with an inch of gold.
• Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.
• Solve one problem, and you keep a hundred others away.
• Talk does not cook rice.
• All things change, and we change with them.
• Patience is a bitter plant, but its fruit is sweet.
• A book holds a house of gold.
• Govern a family as you would cook a small fish – very gently.