《名贤集》英译

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Collected Better-known Sayings

 

但行好事，莫问前程。

 

What you should do only is good deeds, paying no attention to the future.

 

与人方便，自己方便。

 

To help others is to help yourself.

 

善与人交，久而敬之。

 

If you are good at your contacts with other people, you’ll get respected by them some time later.

 

人贫志短，马瘦毛长。

 

When a man is poor, his ambition is not far-reaching; when a horse is thin, his hair looks long.

 

人心似铁，官法如炉。

 

People’s hearts are like iron, and official laws are like a furnace.

 

谏之双美，毁之两伤。

 

It’s a good thing for two persons to remonstrate with each other, and yet both suffer if they slander one another.

 

赞叹福生，作念祸生。

 

Praising others is the praiser’s blessing, and a man’s sinister designs on others will bring disasters to himself.

 

积善之家，必有余庆。

 

A virtuous family can enjoy long prosperity for generations.

 

积恶之家，必有余殃。

 

An evil family will have endless disasters.

 

休争闲气，日又平西。

 

Don’t get angry about trifles, for the sun sets again before you know the time.

 

(To be continued.)