Some Chinese proverbs for your enjoyment

I like these.  Short, but oh, so true...

• A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.
• A bit of fragrance clings to the hand that gives flowers.
• A book holds a house of gold.
• A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.
• A book tightly shut is but a block of paper.
• A child's life is like a piece of paper on which every person leaves a mark.
• A diamond with a flaw is worth more than a pebble without imperfections.
• A gem is not polished without rubbing, nor a man perfected without trials.
• A nation's treasure is in its scholars.
• A rat who gnaws at a cat's tail invites destruction.
• Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.
• Be the first to the field and the last to the couch.
• Dig the well before you are thirsty.
• Do not fear going forward slowly; fear only to stand still.
• Don't open a shop unless you like to smile.
• Each generation will reap what the former generation has sown.
• He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
• He who strikes the first blow admits he's lost the argument.
• If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.
• If you don't want anyone to know, don't do it.
• Keep your broken arm inside your sleeve.
• Not until just before dawn do people sleep best; not until people get old do they become wise.
• Only the man who crosses the river at night knows the value of the light of day
• The palest ink is better than the best memory.
• To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.

Courtesy of the Insurance Broadcasting newsletter.  For more Chinese proverbs, check out Wikiquote.