Distant water does not put out a nearby fire.

More Chinese Proverbs

• Do everything at the right time, and one day will seem like three.
• A hundred no’s are less agonizing than one insincere yes.
• Want a thing long enough and you don’t.
• A man who cannot tolerate small misfortunes can never accomplish great things.
• Experience is a comb which nature gives us when we are bald.
• He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
• Behave toward everyone as if receiving a guest.
• A needle is not sharp at both ends.
• Married couples tell each other a thousand things without speech.
• Habits are cobwebs at first; cables at last.
• A bird can roost but on one branch, a mouse can drink not more than its fill from a river.
• Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.
• Learning is a weightless treasure you can always carry easily.
• Tenacity and adversity are old foes.
• In a group of many words, there is bound to be a mistake somewhere in them.
• Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without one.
• Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.
• A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
• The person who is his own master cannot tolerate another boss.
• Distant water does not put out a nearby fire.
• A fall into a ditch makes you wiser.
• Before preparing to improve the world, first look around your own home three times.
• No matter how tall the mountain is, it cannot block the sun.
• The more acquaintances you have, the less you know them.
• The people who talk the best are not the only ones who can tell you the most interesting things.
• It is easy to open a store – the hard part is keeping it open.
• Genius can be recognized by its childish simplicity.