百闻不如一见。
To hear a hundred times is not so good as to see once.
保存得好，东西就好找。
Fast bind, fast find.
抱有最大的希望，准备最坏的结果。
Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
We must hope for the best and face the worst.
本末倒置。
Put the cart before the horse.
必须做的事情不要耽搁。
What you have to do, do without delay.
不必舍近求远。
Why ask the Bishop（主教）when the Pope（教皇）’s around?
不讲究方法，做任何事都不会有成效。
Without method, little can be done to any good purpose.
不可本末倒置。
Do not put the cart before he horse.
Never put the plow before the oxen（公牛）.
The guts uphold the heart and not the heart the guts.
不可闭门造车，要高瞻远瞩。拉车要抬头看路。
Forecast is better than work-hard.
It is as well to know which way the wind blows.
不可见树不见林。
We / One cannot see the wood for the trees.
不可舍本逐末。
Catch not at the shadow and lose the substance.
不可贪多嚼不烂。
Don’t bite off more then you can chew.
不可以卵击石。
Do not kick against the pricks.
不可玉石俱焚。
Don’t empty the baby out with the bath water.
Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water.
Don’t throw away the apple because of the core.
不可缘木求鱼。
Don’t climb a tree to look for fish.
There is no getting blood from a turnip（办不到的事）.
不善始则不能善终。
A bad beginning makes a bad ending.
不同的事物评价标准不一样。
Wine by the savor（味道）, bread by the color.
不要操之过急。
Make not your sauce till you have caught the fish.
不要打草惊蛇。
He that will take the bird must not scare it.
不要大材小用。
Don’t use an elephant to crack a nut.
A great shoe fits not a little foot.
Take not a musket（步枪）to kill a butterfly.
不要对不可靠者予以重任。断裂的拐杖不可信。
Trust not a broken staff.
不要对低能者予以重任。细线挂重物，终究靠不住。
Trust not a great weight to a slender tread.
不要对“也许”寄以希望。五月没有好蜜蜂。
May bees don’t fly this month.
不要画蛇添足。不要给百合花装饰。
Don’t gild the lily.
不要换汤不换药。
Don’t serve new wine in old bottles.
不要临时抱佛脚。
Don’t have your cloak to make when it begins to rain.
不要赔了夫人又折兵。不要扔了斧头又扔斧柄。
Do not throw the helve after hatchet.
不要杞人忧天。不要自寻烦恼。
Don’t cross a bridge till / until you come to it.
Don’t cross the bridges before you come to them.
If the sky falls, we shall catch larks.
Never meet trouble half-way.
不要虚张声势。
Do not cry out before you are hurt.
Drumming is not the way to catch a hare.
不要在学走路之前学跑。
Don’t try to run before you walk.
不要占着茅坑不拉屎。
Don’t be a dog in manger.
不知道怎样掩饰的人，就不知道怎样生活。
Who knows not how to dissemble knows not how to live.
草动识风向。
A little straw shows which way the wind blows.
Straws show which way the wind blows.
长痛不如短痛。宁愿危险一次，不愿担忧不止。
Better hazard once than be always in fear.
Better pass a danger once, than be always in fear.
沉默的人像静水一样，深而难测。
Silent men, like still waters, ate deep and dangerous.
沉默是更有说服力的言词。
Silence is more eloquent than words.
沉默是金，雄辩是银。
Silence is golden, but speech is silver.
Speech is silver, silence is gold / golden.
沉默是女人最好的装饰。
Silence is the best ornament of a woman.
沉默有时是最严厉的批评。
Silence is sometimes the severest criticism.
趁机行事。
Hoist sail when the wind is fair.
Hoist your sail while the wind is fair.
趁热打铁。乘风起帆。
As the wind blows you must set your sail.
Strike the iron while it is hot.
Strike while the iron is hot.
趁着白天多干活。
Work while it is day.
迟做总比不做强。
Better late than never.
处理问题得抓关键。
The bull must be taken by the horns.
匆忙办不成任何事。
Nothing is ever done in a hurry.
错过时机。集市过了才来。
Come a day after the fair.
打草会惊蛇
Destroy the nests and the birds will fly away.
大多数事物都有两种处理方法。
Most things have two handles.
大海捞针。
Look for a needle in a bundle of hay.
To look for a needle in a haystack（干草堆）.
带刺的谴责才是真正的谴责。
The sting of a reproach is the truth of it.
担心明天就会影响今天的情绪。
To worry about tomorrow is to be unhappy today.
弹无虚发，百发百中。
Every shot told.
当断不断，必受其乱。
If you waver in your decision, you are sure to get into confusion.
到手才算数。
First catch your hare then cook him.
得不偿失。丢了西瓜捡了芝麻。
Give a lark to catch a kite.
东一榔头西一棒子。
He gives one knock on the hoop（筛）, and another on the barrel（桶）.
堆积物品就是挥霍浪费。
Drift is as bad as unthrift.
多得不如现得。
A feather in the hand is better than a bird in the air.
Better a bird in the hand than ten in the air.
Better fowl in the hand than two flying.
Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow.
多多益善。
Mair in a mair dish.
Plenty is no plague.
多看别人的优点，多看自己的缺点。
Search others for their virtue, and yourself for your vices.
多思考，少讲话，少落笔。
Think much, speak little, and write less.
多一句空话，就少一件实惠。
Every time the sheep bleats it loses a mouthful.
凡事不可匆忙，除非捉跳蚤。
Nothing must be done hastily but killing / catching of fleas.
Do nothing hastily but killing of fleas.
凡事皆有因。
Every why has a wherefore.
凡事要有备而来。
He has a second strings to his bow.
凡物皆应恰当使用。
It is right to put everything in its proper use.
凡物皆有用。
Everything is good for something.
防患于未然。
Destroy the lion while he is yet but a whelp.
To prevent is better than to cure.
非此即彼。
A door must be either shut or open.
Win the mare or lose the halter.
该称赞的就要称赞.
Give credit where credit is due.
该说话时说话，该沉默时沉默。
There is a tie to speak and a time to be silent.
该笑就笑，该说就说。
Laugh where we must, be candid where we can.
该怎么办就怎么办。
Catch as catch can.
该怎样将来就怎样。顺其自然。
We shall see what we shall see.
What shall be shall be.
What will be will be.
What must be must be.
改变一下工作是最好的休息。
A change of work is as good as a rest.
赶早不赶晚，一切都顺利。
Early start makes easy stages.
The mill cannot grind with the water that is past.
各物就各位才能有条不紊。
A place for everything and everything in its place.
寡不敌众。
A few are no match for the many.
过多的表扬成了负担。
Too much praise is a burden.
过多反成累赘。
More than enough is too much.
过多会坏事，过少不济事。
Too much spoils, too little is nothing.
过分好奇会失去乐园。
Too much curiosity lost Paradise.
过河焚船，背水一战。孤注一掷。
He has burnt his boat behind him.
行行有诀窍。
There are tricks in every trade.
好钢用在刀刃上。
Good steel should be used for the making of the sword’s blade（刀刃）.
互相帮助力量大。三人互助，可扛六人负重。
Three helping one another bear the burden of six.
话到嘴边留三分。开口说话前，舌头转七转。
Turn your tongue seven times before speaking
画饼不能充饥。空想不能解决实际问题。
Hunger cannot be appeased with a painted cake.
Painted flowers have no scent.
Many / Mere words will not fill the bushel.
The wine in the bottle does not quench（消除）thirst.
画蛇添足，多此一举。
Hard by the river he digs a well.
怀疑是安全之本。
Distrust is the mother of safety.
换汤不换药。
A hog（公猪）in armor（盔甲）is still but a hog.
浑水摸鱼。
He that will catch eels must disturb the flood.
It is good fishing in troubled waters.
机不可失，时不再来。
A tide taken at the flood leads on to fortune.
An occasion lost cannot be redeemed.
Don’t let escape the opportunity of the present, it will not return.
Everything has its time and that time must be watched.
He that will not when he may, when he will he shall have nay.
It is too late to grieve when the chance is past.