Page:Gems of Chinese literature (1922).djvu/299

 He who has his back to a draught has his face to the grave. Be quick over your work, but not over your food. He who will only mount a unicorn will never ride a horse. If you suspect a man, don’t employ him; if you employ him, don’t suspect him [Confucius]. Men grow old and pearls yellow. There is no cure for age. When a man is at peace, he is silent; as level water does not flow. It is not the wine which makes a man drunk: it is the man himself. Whispered words are heard afar. Ripe melons drop without plucking. Better a dog in peace than a man in war. The faults which a man condemns when out of office, he commits when in. Losing money is begotten of winning. One needn’t devour a whole chicken to know the flavour of the bird. There’s sure to be fuel near a big tree. Man combs his hair every morning. Why not his heart? There is no thief like a family of five daughters. There is something to be learnt from every book. The sky covers no man in particular. Dogs do not object to poor masters. Have no friends not equal to yourself. The tusks of the elephant are its own undoing. The tongue is a sharp sword which slays though it draws no blood. One man makes a road and another walks on it. Don’t break a vase for a shy at a rat. Every one gives a shove to the tumbling wall. Sweep the snow from your own doorstep. You can’t chop a thing as round as you can pare it. One jibbing horse throws out the troop. All language is not in books, nor all thoughts in language.