Great Throughts Treasury

"The house is ready but the tools are still making noise."

"The larger the pot, the more rice sticks to the bottom."

"The mountain that is being chased will not run away."

"The more shoots, the more leaves."

"The junk capsizes and the shark has its bellyful."

"The language you speak would tell us your race."

"The more sorrow one encounters, the more joy one can contain."

"The lot of a coconut hust is to float; the lot of a stone is to sink."

"The person who hurls over flowers will not have shit thrown at him."

"The nose is flat but the cheeks are trying to make up for it."

"The mousedeer may forget the snare, but the snare does not forget the mousedeer. We may forget a misdeed to others, but there?s no assurance that the other guy will similarly forget."

"The right hand shouldn't trust the left hand."

"The poison loses its sting after a while."

"The rice has become porridge."

"The same black hair, but different hearts."

"The roundness of the water ripples is caused by the ladle, the roundness of words is caused by agreement."

"The slap was on the buttocks but the teeth are falling out."

"The sky may seem near but you cannot touch it."

"The squirrel may be old, but it still won't sleep on the ground."

"The tapioca sits still and grows its flesh but a still iron only rusts."

"The snake that crawls among the roots would not lose its venom."

"The sun cannot be covered with a sieve."

"The tree would not sway if there is no wind."

"The stork will still end up on the back of the buffalo."

"There must be reciprocity in commerce and in love."

"The winner becomes ashes, the loser becomes coal."

"The tiger dies leaving his stripes, a man dies leaving his name."

"The turtle lays thousands of eggs without anyone knowing, but when the hen lays an egg, the whole country is informed."

"Think not because the cone is bent the sugar is crooked too."

"Tigers die leaving their stripes (of their fur), but humans die leaving their names (reputation)."

"Though a tree grow ever so high, the falling leaves return to the root."

"Tis better to suffer in the beginning for the pleasure that comes later."

"To bend a bamboo, start when it is a shoot."

"Thought it would be hot until evening, turns out it rained on the way."

"To bend a bamboo, start when it's still a shoot."

"Watch your mouth/words."

"Water and water, rubbish moves aside."

"To mould a person's character, begin when he's still young and impressionable."

"To truly love your wife, leave her alone every once in a while."

"To depend on one's own child is blindness in one eyes; To depend on a stranger, blindness in both eyes."

"To depend on a stranger, blindness in both eyes."

"Tough like burnt rice. [Stubbornness that crumbles under pressure]"

"Trumpet in a herd of elephants, Crow in the company of cocks. Bleat in a flock of goats."

"Two multiply five, five multiply two."

"Ugly face, mirror cut."

"Water cannot be chopped up."

"We have same black hair, but not the heart."

"When a calf is given, a thigh is requested."

"Water cannot be cut, and blood is thicker than water. Like the seaweed that clings to each other after each passing boat separates them, so too a family will come together with the passing of each crisis."

"We may share the same physical features, but what?s in our hearts is never the same. Everyone has his own individuality. The more people there are, there will certainly be greater diversity."