Tibetan Proverbs

Learn to stand up where one falls.

The person who gets stuck on trivial prosperity will not attain great prosperity.

By pride one causes virtue to decline.

Cold hearts can find warm words.

The rubbish we speak is like froth on the water, actions are drops of gold.

For so must it be, and help me do my part.

Medicine that heals is not always sweet and caring words are not always pleasant.

A father deserted by a wise son is like being caught in a shower without a felt.

Traveling is a return to the essentials.

The father may well be a horse, but it's most likely that the son will be a mule.

Eat according to the limits of your provisions; walk according to the length of your step.

Any fool can say "Ah" -- you need intelligence to say "Yes."

Those who have saved one life, have saved the entire world.

Landing a single punch on your enemies nose is more satisfying than hearing well-intentioned advice from your elders.

The moon grows darker as it gets nearer to the sun.

Goodness speaks in a whisper, evil shouts.

He who has had enough to eat thinks of serving God; the hungry think of stealing.

A child without education, is like a bird without wings.

Without a woman's help, a man cannot set up a tent.

At the bottom of patience is Heaven.

The thousand brilliant accomplishments of the past cannot serve today's purpose.

Cure the illness that is not yet an illness.

Who can say for sure that one will live to see tomorrow.

Each lama has his own teaching.

The young magpie that pulls feathers out of his mother thinks that he is showing gratitude in that way.

Excellent people are honored wherever they go.

He who knows a great deal has a hundred eyes.

No matter if you eat a little or a lot of garlic, the smell is just as strong.

Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

My enemy's liver is the sheath of my sword.

The highest art is the art of living an ordinary life in an extraordinary manner.

If you are a parable unto yourself--there exists no evil.

To spread the news is to multiply it.

If the inner mind is not deluded, the outer actions will not be wrong.

Men will always lose the battle against cholera and bureaucracy.

Better than the young man's knowledge is the old man's experience.

Knowing just one word of wisdom is like knowing a hundred ordinary words.

Better once to see than many times to hear.

It is better to live for one day as a tiger than to live for a thousand years as a sheep.

A nibbling rabbit can also die of overfeeding.

To change the world we must first change ourselves.

Learn what you want and leave or others.

Daughters are no better than crows.

With a resolute heart, a mouse can lift an elephant. Spreading the news is also multiplying it.