Page:Gems of Chinese literature (1922).djvu/301

 Those who have not tasted the bitterest of life’s bitters, can never appreciate the sweetest of life’s sweets. An angry fist cannot strike a smiling face. It takes a rat to know a rat. Extraordinary men are ordinary to God. Man dreads fame as a pig dreads fat. Wine can both make and mar. You can’t get ivory out of a dog’s mouth. He who is first is prince. He who comes after is minister only. New-born calves don’t fear tigers. Money makes a blind man see. For every man that Heaven creates, Earth provides a grave. Man is God upon a small scale. God is man upon a large scale. A near neighbour is better than a distant relation. Women share adversity better than prosperity. If a man keeps his mouth shut, his words become proverbial. You can’t wrap fire in a paper parcel. Intimate talks leave us few friends. Without Error, there could be no such thing as Truth.