一朝被蛇咬，十年怕草繩

Once bitten, twice shy.

一言既出，駟馬難追

A word spoken is past recalling.

一見鍾情

to fall in love at first sight

一箭雙鵰

Kill two birds with one stone.

一寸光陰一寸金

Time is money.

一失足成千古恨

The error committed on impulse may turn out to be the sorrow of a whole life.

一將功名萬古枯

What millions died that Caesar might be great.

一年之計在於春，一日之計在於晨

Plan your year in spring and your day at dawn.

一人難稱百人意

You cannot please everyone.

一氣呵成

Never make two bites of a cherry.

九死一生

to have a hair-breadth escape

人生如夢

Life is but a dream.

人生自古誰無死

Death comes to all men.

人生百歲古來稀

It is seldom that a man lives to be a hundred years old.

人定勝天

Man can conquer nature.

人不可貌相

Appearances are often deceptive./ Never judge a look by its cover.

十年風水輪流轉

Every dog has its day.

三思而後行

Look before you leap.

三句不離本行

to talk shop

三個臭皮匠勝過一個諸葛亮

Two heads are better than one.

千鈞一髮

to hang by a hair thread

大智若愚

He who canot play the fool is not a wise man.

大器晚成

Rome was not built in a day.

山窮水盡

at the end of one's resources

山中無老虎，猴子稱大王

Among the blind the one-eyed is king./When the cat's away, the mice will pay.

小題大做

Make a mountain out of a molehill.

小洞不補，大來吃苦

A stitch in time saves nine.

小不忍則亂大謀

Patience is a virtue.

工欲善其事，必先利其器

You cannot make bricks without straw.

不要厚此薄彼

Don't make fish of one and flesh of another.

不畏艱難

Take the bull by the horns.

不要不自量力

Don't put a quarter into a pint pot.

己所不欲勿施於人

Do unto others as you would be done.

仁者無敵

The benevolent have no enemy.

工欲善其事必先利器

You cannot make bricks without straw.

亡羊補牢

Better late than never./ It's never too late to mend.

不告而別

to take French leave

不要不自量力

Don't put a quarter into a pint pot.

不要厚此薄彼

Don't make fish of one and flesh of another.

不畏艱難

Take the bull by the horns.

不戰而屈人之兵

The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.

不入虎穴焉得虎子

How can one obtain tiger-cubs without entering the tiger's lair.

不經一事，不長一智

Experience is the mother of wisdom.

少年老成

to have an old head on young shoulders

天無絕人之路

God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb.

天下烏鴉一般黑

Crows are black all over the world.

天無絕人之路

God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb./ When one door shuts another opens.

天助自助者

Heaven helps those who help themselves.

天有不測風雲，人有旦夕禍福

It is the unexpected that always happens.

毛遂自薦

to recommend one's own person

心正不怕雷打

A good conscience is a soft pillow.

化干戈為玉帛

Bury the tomahwak(hatchet).

仁者無敵

The benevolent have no enemy.

今日事今日畢

Never put off till tomorrow what may be done today.

文勝於武

The pen is mightier than the sword.

以身作則

to practice what one practices

以毒攻毒

to set a thief to catch a thief

以怨報德

to bite the hand that feeds one

以逸待勞

To wait at ease till the enemy is exhausted.

以寡敵眾

to fight against longer odds

以德報怨

to render good for evil

以其人之道還治其人之身

Set a thief to catch a thief.

以子之矛，攻子之盾

to turn a person's battery against himself

四大皆空

All is vanity.

四海之內皆兄弟

All are brothers within the four seas.

未雨綢繆

to save against a rainy day

目不識丁

not know A from B

失敗為成功之母

Failure is the mother of success.

失之毫釐，差之千里

A miss is as good as a mile.

只要功夫深，鐵杵磨成針

Little strokes fell great oaks.

毛遂自薦

to recommend one's own person

打落水狗

to hit a person when he's down

打鐵趁熱

Strike while the iron is hot.

犯錯是人之常情，寬恕是超凡的

To err is human; to forgive divine.

只要功夫深，鐵杵磨成針

Little strokes fell great oaks.

任勞任怨

to bear hardship without complaint

自作自受

As you make your bed so you must lie on it.

自討苦吃

to make a rod for one's own back

自力更生

to shift for oneself

自掃門前雪

After us the deluge.

回頭浪子

the return of a prodigal

先下手為強

Offence is the best defence.

同甘共苦

to share one's joys and sorrows

因地制宜

act according to circumstances

有勇無謀

more brave than wise

有備無患

Good watch prevents misfortune.

有志者事竟成

Where there is a will, there is a way.

有錢能使鬼推磨

Money makes the world go around. /Money talks.

江山易改本性難移

The child is father of the man.

百無一失

Not a single miss in a hundred times.

百聞不如一見

To see is to believe. (Seeing is believing.)

吃得苦中苦，方為人上人

If you wish to be the best man, you must be prepared to suffer the bitterest of the bitter.

每人一生中皆有得意之日

Every dog has his day.

色是假，美是空

Charm is deceitful, and beauty empty.

吉人自有天相

The good are protected by Heaven. / All's wel that ends well.

如人飲水冷暖自知

Only the wearer knows where the shoes pain.

吃得苦中苦，方為人上人

No gain without pain.

弄巧成拙

Overreach oneself; overshoot oneself; overshoot the mark

忍無可忍

to be at the end of one's patience

忍一時之氣免百日之憂

patience for a moment; comfort for many years

忘恩負義

to kick down the ladder

走馬看花

a flying visit

防患於未然

to nip a thing in the bud

佛要金裝，人要衣裝

Fine feathers make fine birds.

兵精不必多

Too many cooks spoil the broth.

身在福中不知福

The worth of a thing is best known by the want of it.

你敬我一尺，我回你一丈

You scratch my back, and I will sratch yours.

別狗咬呂洞賓，不識好人心

Don't bite the hand that feeds you.

志在千里

Hitch your wagon to a star.

奇裝異服

a fantastic garb

忠言逆耳

Honest advice is unpleasant to the ear

明辨是非

to distinguish right from wrong

知足常樂

Happy is he who is content

知足者富

He who feels contented is rich

知人知面不知心

It's easy to know men's faces, but not their hearts.

知己知彼百戰百勝

Know your enemy and know yourself.

空中樓閣

castles in the air

金科玉律

the gold rule

奇裝異服

a fantastic garb

明辨事非

to distinguish right fromwrong

雨後春筍

like bamboo shoots after a spring shower

雨過天青

After a storm comes a calm.

秀才不出門能知天下事

A scholor does not step outside his gate, yet he knows the happenings under the sun.

事實勝於雄辯

Facts are most convincing.

來得容易去得快

Easy come, easy go.

金玉其外敗絮其中

All that glitters is not gold.

兔子不吃窩邊草

The fox preys farthest from his hole.

若要人不知除非己莫為

If you would not be known to do anything, never do it.

沒有笑臉不出門

A man without a smiling face must not open a shop.

虎父無虎子

Like father, like son.

往者不可諫，來者猶可追

A mill cannot grind with the water that is past.

姻緣天註定

Marriages are made in heaven.

逆來順受

to make the best of a bad bargain

流芳百世

a niche in the temple of fame

為虎作倀

to act as guide to a tiger

孤注一擲

to put all one's egg in one basket

勇者不懼

A brave man will not shrink from dangers.

洗心革面

to turn over a new leaf

美中不足

a fly in the ointment

背道而馳

to run counter

走湯蹈火

to go through fire and water

風燭殘年

to have one foot in the grave

風聲鶴唳，草木皆兵

to apprehend danger in every sound

活到老學到老

It's never too late to learn./ Live and learn.

前事不忘後事之師

Remember the past and it will guide your future.

星星之火可以燎原

A single spark can start a prairie fire.

待人寬容如待己

Live and let live.

按部就班

Learn to walk before you run.

病從口入禍從口出

Illness comes in by mouth and comes out by it.

笑裏藏刀

a smile to hide one's hate

留得青山在，不怕沒柴燒

Where there's life there's hope

海底撈月

to fish in the air

海底撈針

to look for a needle in a bundle of hay

差之毫釐失之千里

A miss is as good as a mile

既往不咎

Let the dead bury their dead.

殺身成仁

to sacrifice one's life to preserve one's virtue complete

殺雞焉用牛刀

Take not a musket to kill a butterfly

飢不擇食

A good appetite is a good sauce.

害群之馬

black sheep

家醜不可外揚

Don't wash your dirty linen in public.

恩威並濟

alternate weakness with severity

旁觀者清

The outside sees the best of the game.

時運不濟

to have a bad time

殊途同歸

All roads lead to Rome.

眾志成城/團結就是力量

Union is strenth.

疾風知勁草

Adversity reveals genius.

旁觀者清，當局者迷

Lookers-on see most of the game.

莫在太歲頭上動土

Let sleeping dogs lie.