Contents
Introduction 7
Chapter 1. Learning 11
Teachers 12
Experience, Including Failure and Suffering, Can Be
the Best Teacher: The School of Hard Knocks 14
Regarding Talented Students 15
Learning Is an Endless Task That Requires Great
Effort 17
“A Little Learning Is a Dangerous Thing” 18
True Knowledge 19
Chapter 2. Patience and Perseverance 20
Chapter 3. Humility and Contentment 24
Cautions Against Pride and
Boasting 27
Humility Means Not Judging or
Criticizing Others 29
Chapter 4. Talking 30
Cautions About Speaking 31
Gossip and Slander 34
Tactfulness 35
Correct Speech 36
Heed Good Advice 37
Don’t Forget to Laugh 38
Cautions About Behavior in
General 38
Chapter 5. Morality 42
Do No Harm to Others 43
The Moral Person 44
The Consequences of Wrongdoing 45
Wrongdoing Is Always Discovered and Punished
Eventually 46
Avoid Temptation 48
Repentance and Redemption 49
Chapter 6. Money 50
Chapter 7. Conformity 55
Work for the Benefit of the Group Rather Than Your
Own Individual Selfish Desires 57
Strength Lies in Unity 57
Chapter 8. Age 59
Aging and Mortality 60
People Often Do Get Better with Age 62
The Problems of Old Age 63
Chapter 9. Time 65
Chapter 10. Friends 69
True Friends Are a Treasure 70
The Nature of Friendship 71
Chapter 11. Family 74
The Family 77
Parents and Children 78
Husband and Wife 81
Chapter 12. Women 85
Chapter 13. Fate 89
The Futility of Fighting Fate 91
Challenging Authority as Futile as Fighting Fate 93
Every Cloud May Have a Silver Lining (but Every
Clear Sky May Soon Have Clouds!) 93
Not Every Misfortune Can Be Blamed on Fate.
Too Often We Bring Misfortune Down on
Ourselves. 95
But Perhaps “Where There’s a Will, There’s a
Way.” 95
Chapter 14. Animal Metaphors 97
Animals That Represent Powerful or Superior
People 99
Tigers 99 •
Dragons 104 • Phoenixes 105
Animals That Represent Ordinary People 106
Horses 106 • Oxen 110 • Pigs 111
Animals That Represent Base and Lowly People 112
Dogs 112
Animals That Represent Meek People 115
Rabbits/Hares
115 • Chickens 116
Animals That Represent Evil People 117
Snakes 117 •
Mice and Rats 119 • Foxes and
Weasels 120 •
Cats 121
Other Animals 123
Wild Geese
123 • Other Birds 123 • Fish 125 •
Miscellaneous
Animals 127
Chapter 15. Food 129
Proverbs 130
Expressions Related to Food 135
Chapter 16. Miscellaneous Favorite Sayings 146
An Individual’s Position in Society 146
Good Advice 149
Chapter 17. Proverbs That May Sound Familiar to English
Speakers 153
Chinese Sayings Borrowed from the West 154
Common Humanity, Common Wisdom 154
Chapter 18. Sayings Attributed to the Chinese—Rightly or
Wrongly 158
Index 161