3. idleness is the root of all evils.懒惰是万恶之源。
4. industry is fortune's right hand, and frugality her left.节俭和勤奋是幸运的左右手。 -----john. ray 约翰.雷
5. only by working hard can we reap a bumper harvest.只有通过辛勤的劳动才能收获丰硕的成果。
6. he that will thrive must rise at five.五点起床, 家业兴旺。
7. take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves.小财注意, 大财自来。
8. if each would sweep before his own door, we should have a clean city.若家家动手扫清门前, 整个城市就清洁了。
9. national progress is the sum of individual industry, energy and uprightness, as national decay is of individual idleness, selfishness and vice.国家之前进源于个人的勤奋, 奋发, 正直, 正如国家之衰落由于个人的懒惰, 自私, 堕落。
10. the love of economy is the root of all virtue.节约是一切美德的根源。
11. thrift is not only a great virtue, but also a great revenue.节俭不仅是一大美德, 而且是一大财源。
12. put your hand no further than your sleeve will reach.量入为出。
13. waste not, want not.不浪费, 不会穷。
14. who repairs not his gutters repairs his whole house.今日不补沟, 他日必补屋。
15. money is a good servant but a bad master.金钱是个好仆人, 又是个坏主人。 ----- 法国谚语
16. overeating will cause indigestion.贪多嚼不烂。
17. grasp all, lose all.什么都想要, 什么都失掉。
18. think not on what you lack as much as on what you have.少想自己欠缺的, 多想自己拥有的。
19. money is a bottomless sea, in which honor, conscience, and truth may be drowned.金钱是深不可测的海洋, 能淹没廉耻, 良心和是非感。
20. preparedness prevents calamity./where there is precaution, there is no danger.有备无患。
13. haste makes waste
a famous saying goes “haste makes waste”, which means that one should do everything step by step. even simple operations can easily be spoiled if we rush to complete them, neglecting important stages in the process. one should make full preparations before beginning any task.
taking a look around, we can find examples too numerous to list. the best illustration might be english study. without a good command of pronunciation, we can never hope to speak in an understandable way. similarly, if we do not learn to spell properly and to acquire a basic grasp of grammar, we will never succeed in writing good compositions.
(或actually, history abounds with examples of haste making waste. a well-known chinese fable goes that a farm tried to help the shoots grow by pulling them upward, only to find that they died soon. another case in point is the so-called great leap forward movement in china in 1950’s and 1960’s. at that time, the chinese people were so eager to develop their economy that they took some improper measures, only to hinder the expansion of economy.)
(或here i can think of no better illustration of the proverb than the experience of my own. at the age of 11 or 12, i began to learn to ride. eager to ride as well as others, i started by sitting on the saddle at the very beginning. predictably, i often fell from over the bike. lots of time had been wasted before i realized that i should do it step by step. i tried to slide by standing on one pedal. then i began to ride the bike from under the cross bar. finally, i succeeded. )
in short, laying a solid foundation is essential if we want to make achievements in our studies or work, or indeed in any other aspect of our lives. at every step, review what has been achieved and assess the problems ahead before moving to the next step. and remember, rome was not built in a day.