The road to happiness is always strewn with difficulties and setbacks.
The fox assumes the tiger's might.
To bully people by flaunting one's powerful connections.
The words of the lowly carry little weight
To be calm and unhurried
To speak so eloquently that one's words could make a good essay
What one says does not come from the heart;
to speak without sincerity
To return to one's roots
Gossip is a fearful thing
Things go against one's wishes
To persevere for a long time
Frank and outspoken
To speak incoherently, irrationally
To think and act in the same way
To parrot other people's words;
to echo the view of others
It goes without saying
To estimate correctly one's own strength as well as that of one's opponent
Where water flows, a channel is formed;
when conditions are ripe, success will come
To lose one's appetite
To be on pin and needles
Poor in talent but very ambitious
To gain the initiative by striking first
A well deserved fame
First come, first served
Enter into the history books;
to make history
People cannot be judged by their appearance
More than one can bear
When drinking water, remember the source from where it originated;
never forget the source of your happiness
To whip the galloping horse;
to work at top speed
To master one's sadness and force a smile
To hope that one's children will have a bright future
Make-believe becomes reality
The punishment does not fit the crime;
to be punished too severely
If old things don't go, new things will never come;
Sprays of leaves grow where they should not;
new problems pop up unexepectedly
The medicine that tastes bad is usually the most effective one
To mistake an enemy for a friend;
give allegiance to a usurper
To gain advantage from both sides;
be able to achieve success one way or another
Eat and drink to one's heart's content;
to waste too much money on feasting and partying
To be an expert in everything
A man's happiness can be told by his face;
light up, beam with happiness
Indigo blue is obtained from the indigo plant, but such color is bluer than the plant itself;
the disciple has surpassed the master
A thin current can flow a long way;
go about something little by little without letup
A long night of sleep brings about many dreams;
a long delay may mean trouble
Don't put off until tomorrow what can be done today
Great minds think alike
Like a frog in a well;
a person with limited views
Sometimes outsiders can see a situation clearer than who is directly involved in it.
A person's words reflect his thinking.
Regret not knowing somebody before
Seeing is believing
If you plant melons you'll get melons, if you plant beans you'll get beans:
what a man sows, so he shall reap
Busy hands and shuffling feet;
to do something in a frantic rush
The big branch has big leaves;
sloppy, slapdash
Don't know where to put the hands;
don't know where to start from
Without plowing and weeding there's not going to be a harvest;
no pain, no gain
All roads lead to Rome
If you don't do bad things, no ghosts are going to knock at your door;
a clear conscience is a good pillow
You are never too old to learn
Weak, dull, uninteresting (of people)
Heaven helps those who help themselves
Take the incidental for the fundamental
Silence is gold
Tell the truth
He who talks much errs much
Trivial matters
Whoever suckles me is my mother;
lick the hand of anyone who throws a few crumbs
There is plenty more fish in the sea
To make a long story short
Out of sight, out of mind
Wholehearted, single-minded
To start from scratch
Be resigned to one's fate
Reading thousands of books is not as useful as travelling for a thousand miles;
you learn more from practical experience than from any theory
The less one has seen, the more he marvels
If you set a goal for yourself, persevere until you accomplish it
To make a show of force
To love money like your own life;
to be greedy
Nothing is impossible for those who are determined to achieve a goal.
Not used to local habits
To take a short break
Looking at the flowers while riding a horse;
to take a brief look at something
Marry a chicken and conform to its habits, marry a dog and conform to its habits;
changing habits according to who you are with
To know how strong a horse is, make it run a long way. To get to know a man well spend a long time with him.
Two different and exchangeable battle formations;
varied and everchanging
Open the window and speak clearly;
to speak straight without going around in circles
Three heads and six arms;
to have inexhaustible resources
Love the house including the crow on its roof;
to love absolutely everything about a person or something
To make a fuss over a trifling matter
First come, first served
Sometimes words cannot describe the feeling;
being unable to express one's feelings with the appropriate words
To be happy at heart like flowers in full bloom;
wild with joy
Actions speak louder than words
Feeling distressed, unbalanced
To put the fat apart and pick only the lean meat;
an annoyingly picky person
The eyes look upwards, but the hand goes downward;
to have high ambitions but limited abilities
To pursue perfection
Some people like radish, some people like other vegetables;
people's taste differ
To make a clear distinction between private and public life
Largely identical but with slight differences
Every experience makes you more knowledgeable
Talking behind someone's back
Big hands and big feet;
to spend money inconsiderately
Lofty goals are achieved by taking care of the small things
The beautiful autumn weather makes people feel good
Changing the soup but not the medicine;
to change the appearance, but not the essence of something
On Mid-Autumn day the moon is at its brightest
One flaw won't obscure the splendour of the jade;
a small mistake/defect won't influence the overall good result
Young people don't know the taste of preoccupation;
young people are unaware of the difficulties of life
To share the sweet and the bitter;
To go through thick and thin together
What is 'three' in the morning, becomes 'four' in the evening;
to change mind often, capricious
Today we have the wine (tomorrow maybe not), so might as well get drunk today;
carpe diem
Today we have the wine (tomorrow maybe we won't), so we might as well get drunk today;
carpe diem
You don't get tired of doing stuff you really enjoy
To let things take their own course without exerting external influence
A river without a water source, a tree without roots;
without a proper foundation
Bright and skilful
To be dumbfounded by an unexpected favour
To be divorced from reality
A messy autumn;
a period of time filled with annoying things to deal with
Nearly perfect
It is impossible to clap with one hand;
to be difficult to achieve anything without support
Something unsatisfactory in an otherwise perfect thing
To build up something (a project, a company) from nothing
A waste of talent
Not being afraid to ask questions or learn from one's subordinates
To stab somebody in the back
To seize every minute and second;
to make best use of time
To be incompatible
To adhere stubbornly to one's opinions
What the mind wishes the hand is able to do;
dexterous
To look on with folded arms;
to stand aside looking, without offering any help or showing concern
To have nothing to do
To be a thief with a guilty conscience;
to have a guilty conscience
To vanish like the yellow crane ridden by the Immortals;
to leave and never come back
Spoken words fly away, written words remain
To have unnecessary worries
Stopping people's mouth is more dangerous than damming rivers
To feel like a fish in the water;
to be in an ideal situation
Blow on the hairs of a fur to look for defects;
looking insistently for tiny faults
To be content with staying where one is;
it describes people who are content with things as they are, and are not eager/willing to make progress
When the map is unrolled the dagger is revealed;
at last the truth is revealed
Cutting one's feet to fit the shoes;
rigidly apply unsuitable measures
A walking corpse;
an utterly worthless person
To consider carefully
To cut deep with a knife;
to get to the point
To spare no effort
To strike a pose;
to be affected and pretentious
To be divorced from reality
Never feel tired of learning (studying)
The word of three men was enough to spread a false rumour about a tiger hiding in the town;
people easily fall prey to rumours
The word of three men was enough to spread a false rumour about a tiger hiding in the town;
people easily fall prey to rumours
The old illness always comes back;
it is difficult to get rid of a deeply rooted bad habit
Years flow like water;
time flies
To use poison to treat the skin ulcer;
to give someone the taste of their own medicine, to fight fire with fire
To have no peace of mind
To show off one's strenghts
A thunderbolt out of the blue;
a sudden, enexpected event
A drop in the sea
In times of peace don't lower your guard and be aware of future dangers
Attract a wolf in the house;
dealing with a dangerous person and not being totally aware of it
Put the cart before the horse
Wise men look like fools
All people in the world are brothers
Passing off fish eyes as pearls;
passing off something fake as genuine
Mouth of honey, heart of daggers;
sweet on the outside, but vicious on the inside
Dying leaving a name behind;
if a man has made contributions to the world his name will be remembered
The Southern Mountain can be moved, but the judgement cannot be removed;
a settled case, the decision cannot be changed
Honest advice is unpleaseant to the ear;
honest advice is often hard to accept/take
A monkey wearing a hat;
a worthless person hidden behind imposing looks
A human face with the heart of a beast;
wolf in a sheep skin
Money can make move even the Gods;
money can buy everything
What's gone is gone
Different people have different views
To put Mr. Zhang's hat on Mr. Li's head;
to mistake one thing for another
See the head of the magic dragon but not its tail;
inscrutable people
Sweeping the room clean for a visitor;
looking forward to a guest's visit
If someone is smart as a kid, it doesn't mean he will be so as an adult too
Nothing is too deceitful in war;
all is fair in love and war
To be polite at first and then resorting to force;
trying to solve a dispute through negotiations before using stronger measures
Not to bend despite many setbacks;
undaunted persistence despite many setbacks
Sitting on top of a ountain to watch the tigers fight;
two dogs fight for a bone and a third one runs away with it
To hesitate at making a move at a chess game;
shilly-shally
The strength doesn't match the will (to do or accomplish something)
Depressed and dispirited
To be fond of an easy lifestyle and averse to work
The grass that clogged the way is suddenly gone;
to reach instant enlightenment, to suddenly see the light
The hen has flown away and the eggs are broken;
all is lost
To climb one storey higher;
to improve oneself, to scale new heights
Make an incision on the side of the boat to remember where the sword fell into the sea;
to take ill-advised measures regardless of actual circumstances
To have a tacit understanding (between two people)
To be fair and unselfish
The whole truth has come out
Even the wisest of men could be wrong once
To banter flirtatiously
Sweet talks and honeyed words;
to fool people with beautiful but deceptive words
Mouth wide open and tongue tied;
flabbergasted
Be forced (as consequence of oppression) to join the Liang Shan rebels:
to be driven to revolt
Draw conclusions after an only partial understanding of a certain matter
To speak at will;
to talk irresponsibly
To persist in one's old ways no matter what others say
To fly in the sky like the legendary horse Fei Huang;
rising to sudden success and honour
Stab somebody in the back
To overcome difficulties by relying on one's own efforts
Rich, varied and colorful
To wash one's ears and listen with great respect;
to be all ears
To treat everybody equally without discrimination
If crimes could be counted like coins on a string, the string would be full;
to have committed countless crimes
All the threads of silk go through the reeds;
get something done with meticulous care
When a clay pot is broken the crack goes to the bottom;
to insist on getting to the bottom of a matter
Speak of Cao Cao and he shows up;
speak of the devil
Among three people, one will always be your master;
by looking around yourself you will always be able to find someone to learn from
To be unfit for a higher post but unwilling to take a lower one;
to be too choosy, fussy to succeed
To talk about others, to gossip
To comment on the head and to judge the feet;
to be overcritical about someone or something
One key opens one lock;
each problem has a specific solution to it
If the upper beam is not straight the lower ones will go aslant;
the fish begins to stink at the head
To adapt oneself to changing conditions
Profound in meaning and thought provoking
To have eyes but fail to see the Taishan mountain;
to be too ignorant to identify a person of importance or of great talent
The donkey's lips don't match the mouth of the horse;
An answer which has nothing to do with the question, irrelevant
Stop troops to go into battle;
to take no action
To break into a virgin territory;
to be the first to do or create something
To bow one's head and hang one's ears;
to be servile
The newborn ox is not scared of tigers;
young people are daring
To stand by one's word
Beating a dog with a meat bun
to use the wrong method to solve a problem
To overestimate one's own strength
Too impatient to bear waiting
All the previous efforts (or achievements) are wasted
Trying to extinguish a fire with one glass of water;
to be of little or no help
Nine cows missing one hair;
a drop in the ocean; a tiny, insignificant amount
To pass fish eyes off as pearls;
to fool people about the quality of a product
Insatiably greedy
To look but not to see;
to not pay attention, pretending not to see
Suddenly find a way out in an emergency situation
Thick skinned and hard to shake off;
annoyingly stubborn and persistent (of people and their behaviour)
To hurry along like a flock of ducks
Past experience, if not forgotten, is a guide for the future
To fear wolves ahead and tigers behind;
to be obsessed by all sorts of fears
A thousand mountains and ten thousand rivers;
a long and arduous journey
Prudent, conscientious and responsible
Happy and pleased with oneself
To be defeated when victory is within one's grasp
To be sound asleep on a high pillow without worries;
to be off guard because resting on your laurels
To get into every hole there is;
to seize every opportunity
To erect a bamboo pole and immediately see its shadow;
to get an instant result
Misfortunes never come alone
Evil people stick together
To stick stubbornly to one's opinions
Superb craftmanship
To make a concerted effort
To build a cart behind closed doors;
to work behind closed doors, away from reality
Gone, never to return
To draw a cake to satisfy one's hunger;
to make an ineffective attempt
To stare with the mouth open;
speechless, tongue tied
A goat in a tiger's skin;
outwardly strong, but inwardly weak
Look at the flowers while riding a horse;
to make a superficial research or investigation
Lord Ye's love of the dragon;
to profess love for something that one, in reality, fears
To praise again and again
After a considerable period of time;
for many, many years to follow
Where to leave and where to go;
don't know which option to choose, a dilemma
To come straight to the point and speak frankly
Kill a man without spilling blood;
to harm a person with insidious and vicious tricks
To have limited knowledge
To be one of the very best;
outstanding
A thunderbolt from the blue;
a sudden, unexpected event
To share thoughts and feelings;
to have mutual affinity
To rub one's eyes;
to look at somebody with new eyes
To be without spiritual sustenance;
To be bored stiff
Heaven and earth have changed their position;
Tremendous change
To be able to see the mountain as soon as the door is opened;
To come straight to the point
Fight Poison with Poison
All kinds of strange things
To be involved with something and being unable to put an end to it
Have nothing to occupy oneself with;
to have nothing to do
Deep feelings of friendship
Sincerely rectify one's errors
To wet each other with saliva;
to help each other with what little resources one has in difficult circumstances
To abide by the law and behave oneself
To dispense rewards according to one's merits
To treat everybody equally without discrimination
To control a chaotic situation and restore it to normality
A cornered dog will leap over a wall;
to be driven to extremes
An evil member of the herd;
a man who acts against the interests of the collective
Well matched in strength;
equal in strength and capabilities to each other
To be concerned about the future of one's country and people
The strength of nine bulls and two tigers;
tremendous strength
Ordinary home-cooked meal;
an everyday occurence
Seek quick success and instant benefits;
be impatient for success
Treat the head when it aches, treat the foot when it hurts;
to solve a problem not at its roots
The meaning beyond literal words:
the implied meaning
Hopelessly stupid
Light and easy to lift:
an easy job
To carry a birch on one's back and ask for punishment;
sincerely admit a fault and make an apology
To dance for joy;
great excitement and joy following success
Have honey on one's lips and murder in the heart;
an iron hand in a velvet glove
A strange event that astonishes people
It takes time to make a useful instrument;
a great mind matures slowly
Mediocre and incompetent
Cause and effect
Not understand what someone is talking about
Make war on paper;
paper talk, indulge in empty talk
The foolish old man removed the mountains;
where there's a will there's a way
Look at plums to quench thirst;
to console oneself with vain hopes
To examine one's conscience
Everything is difficult at first
To get straight to the point
The lover's eye sees the legendary beauty of Xi Shi in his mistress;
love is blind
Stop at nothing in doing evil
Beat the gongs to clear the way for officials:
prepare the public opinion for the advent of something
To waste one's talent on a petty job
An extremely rare opportunity;
the chance of a lifetime
To submit people by force
To be worthy of the reputation one enjoys
Listen to what a person says and watch what he does;
judge people by their deeds, not just by their words
To share happiness and sorrows;
through thick and thin
Rumours and gossip;
scandal
To make trouble out of nothing
Like ants on a hot pan;
in a state of feverish excitement
To make one's home everywhere, be at home everywhere
Achievement depends on human effort
Be in no position to help;
helpless
No way to Heaven, nor door into the earth;
find no way of escape
The ugly Dong Shi blindly imitates the posture of the beautiful Xi Shi;
a ludicrous attempt to imitate something or someone
The blind men feel about the elephant and each of them has a different idea of what the animal is;
a one sided view, take a part for the whole
To swallow something raw and whole;
to imitate mechanically
Listen to both sides and you'll be enlightened, listen to only one side and you'll remain ignorant
Flowers in a mirror and the moon in the water;
beautiful but unattainable dreams, a mirage
To persevere
Standing alone above others;
outstanding, eminent
Too high too reach;
unattainable
A centipede doesn't topple over when dead;
old institutions die hard
Wasting time to solve irrelevant problems;
nit-picking, hair splitting
Incomparable, unparalleled
Lay down one's life in the cause of justice
Get to the point when speaking
Both opposite and complementary to each other
To know only one aspect of a thing;
have only a one sided view
A spot in the white jade;
a little imperfection in something that would otherwise be perfect
Walls have ears
Behave like thieves and whores;
to act like a scoundrel
Foul mouthed
Be obsessed with the desire of profit
One in a hundred;
cream of the crop
To admonish somebody earnestly and maternally
A person with lofty ideals
A refreshing change
To talk nonsense all the time
Still smelling of one's mother milk;
young and inexperienced
Good will be rewarded with good and evil with evil
To advance swiftly in one's career
The proverbial donkey has used up all its tricks;
be at one's wit's end
Ice three feet thick, does not result from one day of cold;
troubles have been brewing for a long time
Crooked ways;
dishonest practices
To stick together in times of crisis
A meaning that goes beyond the literal words;
an implied meaning
To build up bit by bit
Words escaping from the lips;
a slip of the tongue
To lock the door after the thief is gone;
to lock the stable door after the horse is gone
To go from victory to victory
Flawless, perfect
To know fairly well, to know how things stand
The demand exceeds the supply
To burn with anger
To follow in somebody's footsteps
To forget the trap as soon as the fish is caught, ungrateful
You are never too old to learn
Invincible
To be deeply moved (by something)
Over a cup of tea or after dinner;
at one's leisure
Driven by wild ambition, over ambitious
When riding a tiger is difficult to step down;
difficult to get out from a dangerous or embarassing situation
To be able to swallow the soft, not the hard;
said of an individual who cannot take harsh comments
Walking on thin ice;
to walk on a razor edge
To say openly what one thinks
Both parties agree;
a done deal
If a man doesn't keep his word, what is he good for?
Feed the horses and sharpen the weapons;
prepare for battle
To lose sleep and forget to eat;
to be absorbed in work and study
When in Rome, do as the Romans do
Live in harmony;
smoke the calumet together
To live off the labour of others
Not worth a penny
Watching the tree to catch a hare;
to wait foolishly for an unlikely windfall
To clasp Buddha's feet only when in distress;
seek for help at the last moment
To put on a false smile;
a skin-deep smile
After the rain the sun shines again;
the calm after the storm
Who strikes first gets the advantage;
the early bird gets the worm
Golden words;
a valuable advice
Neither one thing nor the other;
(said of a shady person) of dubious character
To intrigue against each other
Each crab is smaller than the one before;
going from bad to worse
Dodge a pit and fall into a well;
out of the frying pan into the fire
To have an eyesight as large as a bean;
not see an inch beyond one's nose
To reach the hall through the inner chamber;
to reach a higher level in one's studies or profession
To punish one person to warn a hundred
Like father, like son
To have doubts, not quite convinced about something
You can't build something new without destroying the old
To overestimate one's strenght (or capabilities)
The more the better
To break up in a bad, unpleasant way
Knowing a man by his reputation is not as good as meeting him for real
Mistaking the reflection of a bow in the cup for a snake;
to be very suspicious
To praise the goods one sells;
to blow one's own trumpet
Indifferent, insensitive
To deliberately break the law
To revive an old dream, to relive an old experience
To reach the acme of perfection
A tree may grow very high, but its leaves always fall back to the roots;
a person living far from home, eventually comes back to his native soil
Full of energy and vigour
To redouble one's efforts
To be happy with things as they are
To have deep hatred for someone or something
To turn a defeat into a victory
One palm cannot clap and make a sound;
he who stands alone has no power
To deceive the public; to hoodwink people
To sit back and watch without lending a helping hand
The deeds don't match the words
To be caught in a dilemma
To be very scared and worried
To lay all the cards on the table;
to tell all the truth
A false display of affection
To give off an unbearable stink
To learn from other's strong points to offset one's weaknesses
To act against law and reason; to tyrannize
Cruel and unscrupulous
To advance one inch and retreat one foot;
the game is not worth the candle
Helping somebody to achieve his goal
Taken by surprise;
all of a sudden
Man of the day, man in the news;
celebrity
With the skin gone, hair won't have a place to grow ;
a thing cannot exist without its basis
To lose a sheep and get an ox;
the gain is greater than the loss
To eat one's words; fail to live up to promise
To pull the grass up by its roots; to root up all evil
To be driven to join Liangshan rebel, to be driven to revolt;
be forced to do something desperate
To become the talk of the town
To be lagging too far behind to catch up
To be unable to escape even if given wings
An unjust cause finds little support
To act according to the procedure
To dispatch troops for war without cause
To be provoked beyond endurance
To make a fuss over
Massive crowds of people
A fall into the pit, a gain in your wit
Look forward to something with great eagerness
May you be happy and prosperous
To make a wrong decision in the spur of the moment
To feel like old friends at the first meeting
To reach the pinnacle of power in one jump
How can we retrieve the baby tiger without going into the tiger's nest?;
great rewards usually require a great degree of risk
The swords are not stained with blood;
to achieve victory without fighting
To bully the weak and fear the strong
A single stick cannot sustain a tottering building;
one person alone cannot save the situation
To hang up lanterns and colored decorations
Speechless, dumbfounded
To be blinded by greed; to have a lust for profits
To let things take their own course
A word once spoken cannot be taken back even by a team of four horses;
what has been said cannot be unsaid
A horde of rough, lawless people; mob
The wind, the horse and the ox have nothing in common;
totally different, unrelated things
To turn stone into gold;
to change something worthless into something of value
The anger of a crowd is difficult to oppose
To gain the upper hand by striking first
Enigmatic, unfathomable; too profound to be understood
Within sight but beyond reach; inaccessible
An old horse who knows the way;
a person of great experience
To speak with biting sarcasm
To act independently; not following the mainstream
The strength of nine bulls and two tigers;
a tremendous effort
Return good for evil; turn the other cheek
To study the past helps to understand the present
To lose control of one's temper
Don't let slip an opportunity, it may never come again;
now or never
To make big profits with a small capital
To display a lamb's head while actually selling dogmeat;
To use misleading words
Weeding out the old to let the new emerge
To commit all manner of crimes, to stop at nothing in doing evil
To tiptoe; to avoid being noticed
To have nothing but the bare walls of one's house, to be destitute
Disaster; flood; death by drowning
Tricky, cunning, crafty; versed in the ways of the world
Perfect craftsmanship (that a human could not achieve)
Try to please the public to win praise and support
Local manners and customs
A dagger concealed in a smile;
friendliness concealing malicious motives
To be willing to help but unable to do so
Draw a snake and add feet to it;
to do something unnecessary
Penniless
To make a scene
A good-for-nothing kid of a rich family
To achieve instant fame
Unimaginable, hard to believe
To be baffled
To feel utterly ashamed
To spend three days fishing and two days drying nets;
lack of perseverance
To indulge in a life of debauchery
To be intoxicated with oneself; narcissism
Good medicine tastes bitter;
sometimes the best advice is difficult to accept
Ill timed, inopportune
Wholeheartedly, with complete devotion
Love at first sight
Kill the chicken and show it to the monkey; to punish somebody as a warning to others
A fight between dragon and tiger; a close game
Arrogant
A fine start and poor finish
To gain initiative by striking first
To be only interested in personal gain
Strike the iron while is hot
Invulnerable
Feel simply helpless
To carry on despite difficulties
Heard on the streets and told on the roads; rumours, gossip
Do what one says, live up to one's word
Grind an iron rod into a needle, perseverance makes anything possible
Where there's a will, there's a way
Select the right remedy according to the case
Widespread discontent among the masses
Planning war only on paper, to engage in idle theorizing
Castles in the air, daydream
An endless enjoyment
Make a clear distinction between right and wrong
To have a unique style
Unity is strength
One day seems like three years, to miss sb. very much
Without hesitation
It is hard to explain in a few words
Eat one's own bitter fruit, reap what one has sown
It is difficult to please everyone
The more one gets, the more he wants to have
Exactly as one wishes or hopes for
A storm may arise from a clear sky, sth. unexpected may happen
Unmatched, unique
Add fuel to the fire
The weak are the prey to the strong, the law of the jungle
Get sth. done in one vigorous effort
Too weak to stand a gust of wind, fragile
Take hearsay as true
To rush headlong into danger
Needless worry
Omnipresent, ubiquitous
Distant water won't help extinguish the nearby fire
Be clear at a glance
To talk big
Separated but still in each other's thoughts
With age comes experience and wisdom
To contradict oneself
Business is business
Better be a piece of broken jade, than an unbroken tile
Time flies
Outwardly strong, but inwardly weak
Think thrice before you do something
No possibility of failure, no risk at all
Unwilling to give a cent, very stingy
Seize the opportunity
Dance to somebody's tune, to follow slavishly
Intrigue against each other
Unable to take a decision
Practice makes perfect
To have a narrow view of things, narrow-minded
Persuade people through reasoning
Rats deserting a sinking ship
Seeing is believing
Self-opinionated, self-righteous
To stare angrily
In an awful mess
Turn over a new leaf
Judge people by their appearance
Down to earth
It takes ten years for trees to grow, but a hundred years to bring up a generation of good men
Learn from past mistakes to avoid future ones
Do something well from start to finish
The rice is already cooked; what's done is done
Earnestly practice what one advocates
Give up half way
Kill two birds with one stone