--- title: "31 Famous Chinese Quotes With Pinyin: Confucius, Laozi and Sayings About Life, Love and Learning" description: "31 famous Chinese quotes in characters with pinyin and English, each with its source: Confucius (学而时习之), Laozi (千里之行，始于足下), Sunzi, the Book of Songs and the sayings everyone knows, about learning, life, hard work, love, friendship and time. Play to hear each one." canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-quotes" author: "Mandarin The Wild" --- Free · 31 quotes # Famous Chinese quotes Each with pinyin over every word, the English, its source and sound. [Print as flashcards](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-flashcards?level=mine&words=%E5%AD%A6%E4%B9%A0%20%E6%B8%A9%E6%95%85%E7%9F%A5%E6%96%B0%20%E4%B8%89%E4%BA%BA%E8%A1%8C%20%E5%AD%A6%E6%B5%B7%E6%97%A0%E6%B6%AF%20%E8%B6%B3%E4%B8%8B%20%E5%B7%B1%E6%89%80%E4%B8%8D%E6%AC%B2%20%E4%B8%8A%E5%96%84%E8%8B%A5%E6%B0%B4%20%E5%A1%9E%E7%BF%81%E5%A4%B1%E9%A9%AC%20%E7%84%89%E7%9F%A5%E9%9D%9E%E7%A6%8F%20%E6%9C%89%E5%BF%97%E8%80%85%E4%BA%8B%E7%AB%9F%E6%88%90%20%E9%93%81%E6%9D%B5%E7%A3%A8%E6%88%90%E9%92%88%20%E9%94%B2%E8%80%8C%E4%B8%8D%E8%88%8D%20%E8%87%AA%E5%BC%BA%E4%B8%8D%E6%81%AF%20%E7%9F%A5%E5%B7%B1%E7%9F%A5%E5%BD%BC%20%E7%99%BE%E6%88%98%E4%B8%8D%E6%AE%86%20%E5%A4%B1%E8%B4%A5%20%E6%88%90%E5%8A%9F%20%E4%B8%8E%E5%AD%90%E5%81%95%E8%80%81%20%E4%B8%80%E6%97%A5%E4%B8%89%E7%A7%8B%20%E6%9C%89%E6%83%85%E4%BA%BA%E7%BB%88%E6%88%90%E7%9C%B7%E5%B1%9E%20%E6%83%85%E4%BA%BA%E7%9C%BC%E9%87%8C%E5%87%BA%E8%A5%BF%E6%96%BD%20%E4%B8%8D%E4%BA%A6%E4%B9%90%E4%B9%8E%20%E7%9F%A5%E5%B7%B1%20%E5%A4%A9%E6%B6%AF%20%E5%90%9B%E5%AD%90%E4%B9%8B%E4%BA%A4%E6%B7%A1%E5%A6%82%E6%B0%B4%20%E4%B8%80%E5%AF%B8%E5%85%89%E9%98%B4%E4%B8%80%E5%AF%B8%E9%87%91%20%E5%85%89%E9%98%B4%20%E5%8A%AA%E5%8A%9B) Speed ## Learning xué’érshíxízhī学而时习之，bù不yì亦yuè说hū乎？ Is it not a joy to learn something and practise it often? 《论语·学而》 · The Analects, Confucius wēngù’érzhīxīn温故而知新，kěyǐ可以wéi为shī师yǐ矣。 Go over the old to understand the new, and you can be a teacher. 《论语·为政》 · The Analects, Confucius xué学ér而bù不sī思zé则wǎng罔，sī思ér而bù不xué学zé则dài殆。 Learning without thinking leaves you lost; thinking without learning leaves you in danger. 《论语·为政》 · The Analects, Confucius sānrénxíng三人行，bì必yǒu有wǒ我shī师yān焉。 When three people walk together, one of them can be my teacher. 《论语·述而》 · The Analects, Confucius bùjī-kuǐbù不积跬步，wúyǐzhìqiānlǐ无以至千里。 Without adding up small steps, you can’t go a thousand miles. 《荀子·劝学》 · Xunzi, An Encouragement to Learning huó活dào到lǎo老，xuédào学到lǎo老。 Keep learning as long as you live. 俗语 · A saying shū书shān山yǒu有lù路qín勤wéi为jìng径，xuéhǎi-wúyá学海无涯kǔ苦zuò作zhōu舟。 Hard work is the path up the mountain of books; effort is the boat across the endless sea of learning. 俗语 · A saying ## Life and wisdom qiānlǐ千里zhī之xíng行，shǐyú始于zúxià足下。 A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. 《道德经》第六十四章 · Tao Te Ching, Laozi zhīrén知人zhě者zhì智，zìzhī自知zhě者míng明。 Knowing others is wisdom; knowing yourself is insight. 《道德经》第三十三章 · Tao Te Ching, Laozi zhīzú知足zhě者fù富。 Whoever knows they have enough is rich. 《道德经》第三十三章 · Tao Te Ching, Laozi shàngshàn-ruòshuǐ上善若水。 The highest good is like water. 《道德经》第八章 · Tao Te Ching, Laozi jǐsuǒ-bùyù己所不欲，wù勿shī施yú于rén人。 Don’t do to others what you wouldn’t want done to you. 《论语·卫灵公》 · The Analects, Confucius sàiwēng-shīmǎ塞翁失马，yānzhī-fēifú焉知非福。 The old man lost his horse, but who knows if it wasn’t good luck? 俗语，出自《淮南子》 · A saying, from the Huainanzi ## Hard work and success yǒuzhìzhěshìjìngchéng有志者事竟成。 Where there’s a will, there’s a way. 《后汉书·耿弇传》 · Book of the Later Han zhǐyào只要gōngfu功夫shēn深，tiěchǔmóchéngzhēn铁杵磨成针。 Work hard enough and an iron rod can be ground into a needle. 俗语 · A saying qiè’ér-bùshě锲而不舍，jīnshí金石kě可lòu镂。 Keep carving and never stop, and even metal and stone can be engraved. 《荀子·劝学》 · Xunzi, An Encouragement to Learning tiānxíngjiàn天行健，jūnzǐ君子yǐ以zìqiáng-bùxī自强不息。 As heaven moves on with strength, the noble person never stops growing stronger. 《周易·乾》 · The Book of Changes zhījǐ-zhībǐ知己知彼，bǎizhàn-bùdài百战不殆。 Know your enemy and know yourself, and in a hundred battles you will never be in danger. 《孙子兵法·谋攻》 · The Art of War, Sunzi shībài失败shì是chénggōng成功zhī之mǔ母。 Failure is the mother of success. 俗语 · A saying ## Love zhí执zǐ子zhī之shǒu手，yǔzǐ-xiélǎo与子偕老。 I hold your hand, to grow old with you. 《诗经·邶风·击鼓》 · The Book of Songs yīrì一日bùjiàn不见，rú如sān三qiū秋xī兮。 One day without seeing you is like three autumns. 《诗经·王风·采葛》 · The Book of Songs liǎngqíngruòshìjiǔchángshí两情若是久长时，yòu又qǐ岂zài在zhāozhāo-mùmù朝朝暮暮。 If love is to last, why must two people be together every morning and evening? 秦观《鹊桥仙》 · Qin Guan, Immortals at the Magpie Bridge yǒuqíngrén有情人zhōngchéng-juànshǔ终成眷属。 Those who truly love each other end up together. 俗语 · A saying qíngrényǎnlǐchūxīshī情人眼里出西施。 In a lover’s eyes, the one they love is as beautiful as Xi Shi. 俗语 · A saying ## Friendship yǒu有péng朋zì自yuǎnfāng远方lái来，bùyì-lèhū不亦乐乎？ Is it not a delight when a friend comes from far away? 《论语·学而》 · The Analects, Confucius hǎinèi海内cún存zhījǐ知己，tiānyá天涯ruò若bǐlín比邻。 With a true friend somewhere in the world, the ends of the earth feel like next door. 王勃《送杜少府之任蜀州》 · Wang Bo, Farewell to Prefect Du jūnzǐzhījiāodànrúshuǐ君子之交淡如水。 The friendship of good people is as plain as water. 《庄子·山木》 · Zhuangzi jiǔféngzhījǐqiānbēishǎo酒逢知己千杯少。 With a true friend, a thousand cups of wine are too few. 俗语 · A saying ## Time yīcùnguāngyīnyīcùnjīn一寸光阴一寸金，cùnjīn寸金nán难mǎi买cùn寸guāngyīn光阴。 An inch of time is an inch of gold, but an inch of gold can’t buy an inch of time. 俗语 · A saying shàozhuàng少壮bù不nǔlì努力，lǎodà老大tú徒shāngbēi伤悲。 Don’t work hard while young, and you’ll grieve in vain when you’re old. 汉乐府《长歌行》 · Song in Long Measure, a Han ballad mò莫děngxián等闲，bái白le了shàonián少年tóu头，kōng空bēiqiè悲切。 Don’t idle your time away, or your young hair will turn white and you’ll grieve in vain. 岳飞《满江红》 · Yue Fei, The River All Red ## What are the most famous Chinese quotes? 千里之行，始于足下 (qiānlǐ zhī xíng, shǐ yú zú xià), “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”, from Laozi; 己所不欲，勿施于人, “don’t do to others what you wouldn’t want done to you”, and 学而时习之，不亦说乎, the Analects’ first line, from Confucius; and 知己知彼，百战不殆 from Sunzi’s Art of War. ## Are “ancient Chinese proverbs” in English real? Many are not. “May you live in interesting times” has no known Chinese source, and the word for crisis, 危机, does not mean “danger plus opportunity”: 机 there means a turning point. Every line on this page names the book or poem it comes from, or says it is a common saying. ## What does 千里之行，始于足下 mean word for word? “A journey of a thousand 里 begins beneath the feet.” A 里 (lǐ) is a Chinese mile, today half a kilometre, so the line is about the first step, not a thousand English miles. ## Can I use these quotes for a tattoo or a card? Yes. They are written in simplified characters, with pinyin over every word. Our calligraphy generator writes any of them in brush styles, and the tattoo translator checks a phrase before you ink it. ## Can’t hear it? Play uses your device’s Mandarin voice. Edge, Chrome and Safari have one; a browser with none plays each word in our recorded voice instead. ## More free tools - [Chinese idioms](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-idioms) - [Chinese poems](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-poems) - [Chinese calligraphy generator](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-calligraphy-generator) - [Chinese tattoo translator](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-tattoo-translator) English ours; pinyin from our own reader.