Monday, April 09, 2007

Ancient Wisdom III



If there is light in the soul, there will be beauty in the person.
If there is beauty in the person, there will be harmony in the house.
If there is harmony in the house, there will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.

A day of sorrow is longer than a month of joy.


Time and age wait for no one.

He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever.

Great thoughts come from the heart.

Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself.

Blind men hear what deaf men see.

A great man can bend and stretch.

A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows the public opinion.

Small men think they are small; great men never know they are great.

If a man does only what is required of him, he is a slave.
If a man does more than is required of him, he is a free man.

There is a great man who makes every man feel small. But the really great man is the man who makes every man feel great.

Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.

Better late than never, but better never late.

Be kind to unkind people; they need it the most.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Only the man who crosses the river at night knows the value of the light of day.

To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.

Do not look where you fell, but where you slipped.

Only he that has travelled the road knows where the holes are deep.

The water that bears the ship is the same that engulfs it.

When drinking water, remember the source.

When the blind lead the blind, they will both fall into the water.

The wise adapt themselves to circumstances, as water moulds itself to the pitcher.

Once the water is out of the bucket it's hard to pour it back.

Blessings do not come in pairs; misfortunes seldom come singly.

It is not necessary to light a candle to the sun.

Those who play the game do not see it as clearly as those who watch.

There are many paths to the top of the mountain, but the view is always the same.

Even the highest mountain begins from the ground.

The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.

An enemy will agree, but a friend will argue.

One hundred men may make an encampment, but it takes one woman to make a home.

Forget injuries but never forget kindness.

He who seeks revenge should remember to prepare two graves.

Thousands of bones will become ashes before a general achieves his fame.

The greatest victory is the battle not fought.

Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.

Better to do a good deed at home than go far away to burn incense.

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Ancient Wisdom II



If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap.
If you want happiness for a day, go fishing.
If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune.
If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody.

If you want to know your past -- look into your present conditions.
If you want to know your future -- look into your present actions.

A fall into a ditch makes you wiser.

You can't expect to find ivory in a dog's mouth.

Go home and make a net if you desire to catch fish.

Distance tests the strength of horses; only time reveals the hearts of men.

You think you lost your horse? Who knows, it may someday return with a stable of horses.

Once a word leaves your mouth, you cannot chase it back even with the swiftest horse.

A bird in hand is worth more than 100 in the forest.

To cultivate trees, you need 10 years. To cultivate man a 100 years.

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

A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.

An inch of time is an inch of gold but you can't buy that inch of time with an inch of gold.

A man who has committed a mistake and doesn't correct it is committing another mistake.

A smile will gain you ten more years of life.

If you must play, decide on three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time.

Make happy those who are near, and those who are far will come.

The tongue is like a sharp knife... It kills without drawing blood.

A word whispered can be heard for miles.

Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand.

Failure is the foundation of success and the means by which success is achieved.

Great fortunes depend on luck; small fortunes depend on diligence.

Make no promises in a moment of joy; write no letters when seized by anger.

To be happy and contented, you must let go of what it means to be happy or content.

If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of regret.

Seeing it once is better than being told 100 times.

A man without a smiling face must not open shop.

To open a shop is easy, to keep it open is an art.

One person tells a falsehood. One hundred repeat it as true.

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life.

Black cat or white cat: if it can catch mice, it's a good cat.

Crows everywhere are equally black.

Listen carefullly. There are always ears on the other side of the wall.

If you know, to recognize that you know, if you don't know, to realize that you don't know -- that is knowledge.

You can't expect both ends of a sugar cane to be sweet.

Even the most clever housewife does not cook without rice.

Have a mouth as sharp as a dagger but a heart as soft as tofu.

At birth we bring nothing with us, at the end of the journey we take nothing away.

A man who waits for a roast duck to fly into his mouth must wait a very, very long time.

Saturday, April 07, 2007

Ancient Wisdom I



Who is not satisfied with himself will grow;
Who is not sure of his own correctness will learn many things.

Life is finite, while knowledge is infinite.

One's good deeds are only known at home; one's bad deeds far away.

Life is what we and our friendships make of it.

With true friends.. Even water drunk together is sweet enough.

When brothers and sisters argue, the bystander takes advantage.

Giving your son a skill is better than giving him one thousand pieces of gold.

Love your neighbours, but don't pull down the fence.

When you are poor, neighbours close by will not come; once you become rich, you'll be surprised by visits from relatives afar.

A friend is the one who arrives when the whole world has departed.

Hire a young carpenter but consult an old physician.

A room common to many will be swept by none.

Easier to rule a kingdom than to run a family.

Disease can be cured, fate is incurable.

When you go outside, watch the weather;
When you come inside, watch people's faces.

A dog won't forsake his master because of his poverty as a son never forsakes his mother for her homely appearance.

If a son is uneducated, his father is to blame.

Everyday cannot be a feast of lanterns.

If the family lives in harmony, family affairs will prosper.

To understand your parents' love, raise children yourself.

Good advice, like good medicine, is hard to swallow.

Dream different dreams while in the same bed.

Knowing is not as good as loving; loving is not as good as enjoying.

It is the beautiful bird which invariably gets caged.

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees beauty.

Different flowers look good to different people.

Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.

A vacant mind is open to all suggestions as a hollow building echoes all sounds.

The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names.

When we lose, we don't lose the lesson.

A book is like a garden carried in a pocket.

A closed mind is like a closed book; just a block of wood.

Learning a lesson never ends.

There are no mistakes, only lessons.

Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance.

Study without reflection is a waste of time; reflection without study is dangerous.

If you wish to know the mind of a man, listen to his words.

After three days without reading, talk becomes flavourless.

Avoid the employment of servants too pleasing to the eye.

Friday, April 06, 2007

Get Inspirational



No other success in life -- not being President, or being wealthy, or going to college, or writing a book, or anything else -- comes up to the success of the man or woman who can feel that they have done their duty and that their children and grandchildren rise up and call them blessed. ~ Theodore Roosevelt



A hug is the perfect gift, one size fits all; And no one minds if you exchange it.




Cheerfulness is a yellow umbrella covering the rainy days of life. ~ Kimber Anne Engstrom



A man was walking in a wilderness. He became lost and was unable to find his way out. Another man met him. "Sir, I am lost, can you show me the way out of this wilderness?"

"No," said the stranger

"I cannot show you the way out of the wilderness, but maybe if I walk with you, we can find it together."

~ Emery Nester




Are you a leader? Look behind and see if anyone is following. He who thinks he is leading and no one is following is only taking a walk.