Chinese proverbs to discourage procrastination

Proverbs aimed at encouraging people to snap out of idleness and laziness.

悬崖勒马

Xuán yá lè mǎ [xuan ya le ma]

precipice rein in horse

Rein in the horse at the cliff edge

Realize danger at the last moment

志不可慢时不可失

Zhì bù kě màn shí bù kě shī [zhi bu ke man shi bu ke shi]

aspiration not can slow, time not can lose

Do not let your aspirations weaken; do not waste time

Keep hold of your hopes and dreams, waste no time in achieving them

Don't change horses midstream

五十步笑一百步

Wǔ shí bù xiào yī bǎi bù [wu shi bu xiao yi bai bu]

50 pace smile 100 pace

Fifty steps laugh at a hundred steps

Being complacent about the future. Believing a job is all but done when only half done.

Pride cometh before a fall

远水救不了近火

Yuǎn shuǐ jiǔ bù liaǒ huǒ [yuan shui jiu bu liao huo]

far water rescued not near fire

Distant water will not extinguish the nearby fire

There is no point in waiting for far off help. Get to it and solve the problem now

今日事,今日毕

Jīn rì shì, jīn rì bì [jin ri shi, jin ri bi]

this day task, this day complete

Today's task, today's job to complete

Finish the current job before starting something new

Don't put off until tomorrow what can be done today

一步登天

Yī bù dēng tiān [yi bu deng tian]

one stride reach heaven

Approach heaven with a single stride

An attempt to achieve a goal all in one go without hard work

Rome was not built in a day

也要马儿好,也要马儿不吃草

Yě yaò mǎ ér haǒ, yě yaò mǎ ér bù chī caǒ [ye yao ma er hao, ye yao ma er bu chi cao]

also want horse good, also want horse not eat grass

Want the horse to prosper, but not want the horse to eat grass

To prosper you must make compromises, you can not have it all your own way

You can't have your cake and eat it

逆来顺受

Nì lái shùn shòu [ni lai shun shou]

disobey arrive obey receive

Do not block but welcome arrival

Deal with things as they happen; do not put them off

走马看花

Zǒu mǎ kàn huā [zou ma kan hua]

walk horse look flower

Looking at the flowers while riding a horse

To take a cursory look at something. Smug

粗枝大叶

Cū zhī dà yè [cu zhi da ye]

thick branch big leaf

A large branch with large leaves. Unable to draw in fine detail

Lack of attention to detail

亡羊补牢

Wáng yáng bǔ láo [wang yang bu lao]

lose sheep mend pen

Mend the pen after the sheep are lost

Can mean taking action too late or to protect against a future repeat of misfortune

Mend the stable door after the horse has bolted

袖手旁观

Xiù shǒu páng guān [xiu shou pang guan]

sleeve hand side observe

To look on with folded arms

To look on without offering any help or showing concern

Our proverbs come with lots of information. The modern Chinese characters are followed by the proverb in pinyin. Next, there is a crude character by character transliteration into English, followed by a more accurate English translation. If this is a Chinese proverb alluding to history the meaning may still not be clear in English, so the general meaning follows. Finally some proverbs have fairly direct English equivalents, if so the English proverb is included at the end.

Our translations are in need of improvement, so please let us know your suggestions.