一劃
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.
一分耕耘一分收穫 Even game wineven so whore!
一樣米養百樣人 Some kind of manWhat kind of bird.
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.
二劃
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.
三劃
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.
四劃
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.
什麼人養什麼鳥 Some kind of manWhat kind of bird..
文勝於武 The pen is mightier than the sword.
五劃
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.
六劃
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.)