Better to Choose Nothing Rather Than Make a Poor Choice in Chinese / Japanese...

This Japanese proverb literally translates as: [After having achieved a fair degree of success,] one should still try to do better.

Others may translate this as “Always try to improve,” or “Always try to be better.”

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

See Also:  Never Give Up

寧缺毋濫 is a Chinese proverb that can be translated as “Better to have nothing (than substandard choice).”

It basically suggests that one should prefer to go without something rather than accept a shoddy option.

See Also:  A Deliberate Inaction is Better Than a Blind Action

安貧樂道 means “It's better to be happy than rich” in Chinese.

Even if you are poor, you should still feel satisfied in your life...

...Satisfaction, happiness and the meaning of your life come from within yourself and not from money or riches of the world.

In Chinese, there are a lot of four-character proverbs which express some very old philosophies.
Though there are only four characters on this scroll, in Chinese, the meanings often surpass the dictionary definition of each character.

In this case, you should not set your expectations too high for the money or riches you wish to have. One who sets their expectations too high is almost always disappointed. Instead, you should cherish what you have, seek to improve yourself from within, and not measure your worth by the size of your bank account.

See Also:  A Sly Rabbit Will Have Three Openings to Its Den

This single Chinese character, old Korean Hanja, and Japanese Kanji means: to choose; to pick; to select; to elect; selection; choice; choosing; picking; election.

In Japanese, it can also be the male given name Hitoshi.

In the Buddhist context, it means to choose, or a myriad.

選擇生活 can mean to choose life instead of death (or suicide) or to choose to live life to the fullest.

I think of it as the key phrase used by Renton (Ewan McGregor) in the movie Trainspotting. While Chinese people will not think of Trainspotting when they see this phrase, for me, it will always be what comes near the end of this colorful rant:

Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television. Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players, and electrical tin can openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed-interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisure wear and matching luggage. Choose a three-piece suite on-hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked-up brats you have spawned to replace yourself. Choose your future. Choose life.

選擇自己的命運 means “Choose your destiny” or “pick your own fate” in Chinese.

Let's break down the words in this phrase here...
選擇 means to choose, pick, or select.
自己 means oneself or one's own.
的 is a possessive modifier.
命運 means fate or destiny.

Tell somebody how to do something and they might get it.
Show them how to do it, and they will master it in no time.

身教勝於言教 can also be translated as “Behavior teaches more than words.”

See Also:  Wisdom

無所畏懼 means “fear nothing,” but it's the closest thing in Chinese to the phrase “fear no man” which many of you have requested.

This would also be the way to say “fear nobody” and can be translated simply as “undaunted.”

Sometimes 一動不如一靜 is translated by others as “Look before you leap” but the more accurate and direct translation is the one I used in the title.

While somewhat military in its origin, this proverb can apply to any situation where a decision needs to be made, but perhaps there are still some “unknowns.”

This phrase suggests that in our “action-based” world, sometimes the “smarter move” is “no move at all.”

表壯不如里壯 literally translates as: [Better to be] strong inside than [to be] strong outside.

The ancient original meaning was:
[An] able [husband] outside [working to support a family is] not as good as [an] able [wife] inside [working and saving to take care of the family].

The current meaning is:
Inner strength is more important than outward appearance.

内面の強さは外見の良さに勝る is a Japanese proverb that literally translates as “inner/internal strength/power [versus] outward-appearance [the] merit/virtue/good quality [does] excel/surpass/exceed/outweigh.”

More naturally in English, this would be “Inner Strength Outweighs Outward Appearance.”

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

不經旅途不成目的 is the English proverb, “The destination is nothing without the journey,” translated into Chinese.

移山 is the Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja for “to remove mountains” or “to move a mountain.”

Figuratively, this means you can accomplish the impossible by sheer persistence.

移山 is the short form of a proverb about a man who had much persistence and could move a whole mountain (a bucket of soil at a time).

Long ago in what is now China, there were many kingdoms throughout the land. This time period is known as “The Warring States Period” by historians because these kingdoms often did not get along with each other.

Sometime around 279 B.C. the Kingdom of Chu was a large but not particularly powerful kingdom. Part of the reason it lacked power was the fact that the King was surrounded by “yes men” who told him only what he wanted to hear. Many of the King's court officials were corrupt and incompetent which did not help the situation.

The King was not blameless himself, as he started spending much of his time being entertained by his many concubines.

One of the King's ministers, Zhuang Xin, saw problems on the horizon for the Kingdom, and warned the King, “Your Majesty, you are surrounded by people who tell you what you want to hear. They tell you things to make you happy and cause you to ignore important state affairs. If this is allowed to continue, the Kingdom of Chu will surely perish, and fall into ruins.”

This enraged the King who scolded Zhuang Xin for insulting the country and accused him of trying to create resentment among the people. Zhuang Xin explained, “I dare not curse the Kingdom of Chu but I feel that we face great danger in the future because of the current situation.” The King was simply not impressed with Zhuang Xin's words.
Seeing the King's displeasure with him and the King's fondness for his court of corrupt officials, Zhuang Xin asked permission from the King that he may take leave of the Kingdom of Chu, and travel to the State of Zhao to live. The King agreed, and Zhuang Xin left the Kingdom of Chu, perhaps forever.

Five months later, troops from the neighboring Kingdom of Qin invaded Chu, taking a huge tract of land. The King of Chu went into exile, and it appeared that soon, the Kingdom of Chu would no longer exist.

The King of Chu remembered the words of Zhuang Xin and sent some of his men to find him. Immediately, Zhuang Xin returned to meet the King. The first question asked by the King was “What can I do now?”

Zhuang Xin told the King this story:

A shepherd woke one morning to find a sheep missing. Looking at the pen saw a hole in the fence where a wolf had come through to steal one of his sheep. His friends told him that he had best fix the hole at once. But the Shepherd thought since the sheep is already gone, there is no use fixing the hole.
The next morning, another sheep was missing. And the Shepherd realized that he must mend the fence at once. Zhuang Xin then went on to make suggestions about what could be done to reclaim the land lost to the Kingdom of Qin, and reclaim the former glory and integrity of the Kingdom of Chu.

The Chinese idiom shown above came from this reply from Zhuang Xin to the King of Chu almost 2,300 years ago.
It translates roughly into English as...
“Even if you have lost some sheep, it's never too late to mend the fence.”

This proverb, 亡羊补牢犹未为晚, is often used in modern China when suggesting in a hopeful way that someone change their ways, or fix something in their life. It might be used to suggest fixing a marriage, quitting smoking, or getting back on track after taking an unfortunate path in life among other things one might fix in their life.

I suppose in the same way that we might say, “Today is the first day of the rest of your life” in our western cultures to suggest that you can always start anew.

Note: This does have Korean pronunciation but is not a well-known proverb in Korean (only Koreans familiar with ancient Chinese history would know it). Best if your audience is Chinese.

知子莫若父 can be translated as “No one knows a son better than his father.”

This idiom is based on the idea that after spending many years together, family members know everything about each other. Better than anyone else, a father knows the qualities and shortcomings of his son.

If you are looking for something about “father and son,” this is probably the best selection.

While this is the original proverb (very old), others have been composed about various combinations of mothers, sons, daughters, and fathers. Let me know if you need a custom version.

無 is the simple way to express “nothing.”

However, this single character leaves a bit of mystery as to what you might really mean if you hang it as a wall scroll. I'm not saying that's a bad thing; as you can decide what it means to you, and you won't be wrong if you stay within the general context.

More info: 無 is usually used as a suffix or prefix for Chinese and Japanese words (also old Korean). It can be compared to “un-” or “-less” in English. It can also mean “not to have,” no, none, not, “to lack,” or nothingness.

没有什么不可能 is a Chinese phrase that means “Nothing is impossible.”

何も不可能じゃない is a Japanese phrase that means “nothing is impossible.”

This is just one of a few ways to express this idea. This one is probably the most common but other valid versions include these:
何も不可能でない
何事も不可能ではない

Some shorter versions that just mean “not impossible” include these:
不不可能
不可能はない

Another common phrase that roughly means “No such thing as impossible” looks like this: 不可能なことはない

Some others include these...
Impossible things are possessed not by me: 無理なことなんてない
Where there's a will, there's a way: 精神一到何事か成らざらん

If you want any of these other versions for your wall scroll, just contact me and I'll set it up for you.

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

捨生取義 is a Chinese proverb that comes from the philosopher Mencius.

It can be translated in a few different ways:
To give up life for righteousness.
To choose honor over life
Better to sacrifice one's life than one's principles.

我隻願和你在一起 is a Chinese phrase that is the rough equivalent of, “You are the one I want to be with,” or “I only wish to be with you.”

行万里路胜读万卷书 translates a few ways:
To travel ten thousand miles beats reading ten-thousand books.
Better to travel ten thousand li than to read ten thousand books. (a “li” is an ancient Chinese mile)
Traveling thousands of miles is better than reading thousands of books.

No matter how you slice it, this Chinese proverb is claiming that experience is more profound and meaningful than what you can get from a book. Go do it! Don't just read about it.

花園里的戰士好過戰場上的園丁 is the Chinese for the phrase, “It is better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war.”

This proverb is purported to come from the following exchange:

A student approaches his samurai master and says,
“Teacher, you instruct me how to fight, yet you preach to me about peace. How do I reconcile the two?”
The samurai responds,
“Because it is better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war.”