生如夏花之绚烂 死如秋叶之静美
美国人挂在嘴边的200句子---其文化和价值观 101-200
2007-05-21 11:54:22
101-----Many hands make light work
Cooperation makes a job much easier.
102-----There is safety in numbers
Do not take large risks all by yourself. Do not walk alone on a dangerous street at night.
103-----Charity begins at home
One should be kind to close relatives before doing good to the community in general.
104-----There is no place like home
Home is the best place in the world. The most relaxing and enjoyable place.
105-----Silence is consent
Do not stay silent when you see a problem or an injustice. Speak out against it. Say, "Enough is enough." or people will think you do not mind the situation.
106-----What goes around comes around
What you do to others, especially if it is bad, will eventually be done to you. As you seek your own success, do not treat other people badly. They may take revenge and spoil your success.
107-----Honesty is the best policy
When one is tempted to cheat, this proverb serves as a reminder of the importance of good character. Honesty brings trust and trust leads to success.
108-----If the shoe fits, wear it
If an accusation is true, accept the blame. This saying can also mean, " if a
suitable opportunity comes to you, take it!"
109-----You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink
Even when given an opportunity, some people will not use it. In that case the blame is all on him.
110-----You made the bed, you lie in it
You created a certain situation so you are now responsible to take the consequences.
111-----The pot calling the kettle black
Since the pot and the kettle are equally black from the cooking fire, the pot has not right to criticize the kettle. This might be used if someone known to be
a gossip criticizes someone else for gossiping.
112-----Don't get mad, get even
When someone treats you badly, do not just get angry, express your anger in action.
113-----Get a life
Do not be so unreasonably critical about tiny things. Find something better to do with your time.
114-----My country, right or wrong
I am absolutely loyal to my country whether or not I agree with its policy in a certain
area.
115------There are two sides to everything
Never assume that all the blame for a conflict lies on one side, especially if you have
heard only one side of the story.
116-----Forgive and forget
Conflicts should be resolved and ended, not left alone to cause years of regret, bitterness and pain.
117------Business and pleasure don't mix
When you work, work. When you play, play. It is inefficient and therefore unwise to try to mix the two.
118-----Let a sleeping dog lie
Do not meddle in something that will cause you no trouble if you leave it alone. If you wake up the "dog," it may bite you.
119------No man can serve two masters
Divided loyalty will break down sooner or later.
120-----Make it short and sweet
Speak briefly and to the point. We don't have time for the details
121-----What will be will be
Some things cannot be changed or avoided.
122-----A friend in need is a friend indeed
My true friend is the one who show loyalty to me by helping me when I am in need.
123-----People who live in glass house should not throw stones
Do not attact anyone if you have no way to defend yourself when they attact you in the same way.
124-----Opposites attract
As positive and negative magnets attract each other, so people of very different types attract each other. For example, a quiet woman marries a very outgoing man.
These differences have a mixed effect on the couple, partly making them interested
in each other but also leading to miscommunicationand conflict.
125-----The early bird catches the worm
Punctuality is important. If you want to succeed, arrive early, like the bird that hunts worms at dawn before they go into hiding for the day.
126-----Blood is thicker than water
Blood relationship is stronger than voluntarily chosen friendship. Brothers will stick up for each other against their own friends if they have to. This proverb is not quoted much anymore because kinship is not as highly valued as it used to be.
127-----You can't teach an old dog new tricks
Once habits are learned, it is very hard to change them.
128-----To err is human
It is normal for humans to make mistakes and it is godly (or God-like) to forgive them.
129-----Haste makes waste
Through acting quickly is generally a good thing, acting too quickly may cause troulbe. This proverb is used when someone has done a jobcarelessly and wrongly.
For example, a carpenter in a hurry may cut a board too short and have to throw it away.
130-----Make hay while the sun shines
If you do not seize the opportunity, rain may come and spoil the hay before you get into the barn.
131-----If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen
Withdraw from an activity if you don't like the conflict and criticism it brings. Let
other people do it without you.
132-----Everyone puts their pants on one leg at a time
This is to tell us that we are all equal.
133-----Life is a pie
It's dished out in large and small pieces and when's gone, it's gone. If we ask for more than our share, we're just begging to be disappointed.
134-----Making every minute count
Doing something productive all the time, not letting any time "slip away."
135-----A pen is mightier than the sword
A conflict maybe resolved more deeply and effectively by writing the truth than by resorting to violence.
136-----A new broom sweeps clean
A new person in power will change many things and improve the situation.Change is better than leaving things as they are.
137-----Tomorrow is another day (or, Tomorrow is a new day.)
No matter how bad things are right now, a person may hope for better prospects in the morning. New opportunities will come.
138-----Opportunity only knocks once
Opportunity is like an unexpected stranger passing by. It knocks on someone's door.
If the person fails to answer the door, opportunity goes away and knocks on someone else's door. It does not return to the same person.
139-----Business is business
Do business with strangers as if they were brothers and with brothers as if they were strangers.
140-----History repeats itself
There are patterns in history. Nations rise and fall for similar reasons. Nations do not change their ways or learn from the mistakes of others. They repeat them.
141-----People are people
Their human nature is predictable. They respond to stimulus and incentives.
142-----Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer
A man without enemy is a man without quality. Think not? Even Jesus Christ had
many, many enemies.
143-----Better late than never
Though being on time is better than being late, doing something late isbetter than giving up or doing nothing.
144-----Punish one, teach a hundred
People problems sometimes must be dealt with harshly. When you make an example of someone, make sure that everyone knows what the lesson is.
145-----Attitude is everything
A pessimist sees a glass half-empty, An optimist sees it half-full.
146-----Like father, like son
A son will be like his father. This may be quoted whenever the son has done
something that reminds people of the father. Whether it is good or bad.
147-----When the cat's away the mice will play
People will take advantage of a situation if they can. Employees will get
lazy if the supervisor is not keeping an eye on them. A teenage son or daughter
might hold a wild party at home during a weekend when the parents have gone out of town.
148-----Praise when praise is due(sometimes even when it isn't)
Do not criticise beyond necessity and seldom in public. And always precede
criticism with a few words of praise.
149-----Turnabout is fair play
If a person is taking advantage of someone else, the situation may change.The one on top may end up on the bottom. Then the one who has turned the tables will say, "I am only doing to you what you did to me."
150-----Here today, gone tomorrow
Things may change quickly. This is said as a criticism of a person who changes quickly for no good reason. It may also be said of a thing or situation which does not last. Change is not good when it indicates unreliability.
151-----Will wonders never cease?
Said when someone has done something untypical of him or her and much better
than was expected. It may also be used of a technological breakthrough.
152-----Do not stand out, fit in
Make no long-term, close friendships with any colleague., but be cordial to all.
153-----There is no morality in struggles for power
In struggles for power, your judgements should be based entirely on self-interest
and finding as direct and economical a route to your goal as possible.
154-----Natural law is blind
Just like water, cleaness and refreshes without any distinction, and without any
judgement either.
155-----The more things change, the more they stay the same
Said when an apparent change is only superficial.
156-----Happiness is a choice and misery is optional
The way we choose to see the world creates the world we see.
157-----The leopard cannot change his spots
Some people are not willing or able to change their chartacter. This is said when a notoriously bad person tries to change but fails into the same mistake all over again.
158-----Man proposes, God disposes
Human beings make their plans but God determines whether they succeed or not.
159-----A live dog is better than a dead lion
It may be better to run away like a scared dog with its tail between its legs than to stand and fight to the death like a courageous lion.
160-----It's a woman's prerogative to change her mind
Since women are often considered more emotional and less logical than men,
and since emotions are more changeable than reasons, women are allowed to change their minds.
161-----Spare the rod and spoil the child
An undisciplined child will turn out to be a rotten person. Many parents think
that any physical punishment of children is abusive, while many others think that without it, children grow up to be morally retarded.
162-----Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me
A taunt used by people claiming that an insult did not affect them.
163-----The worm turns
Everything chnages. Do not expect situations or people to stay the same for
very long.
164-----You are what you eat
A nation's diet can be more revealing than it's art or literature.
165-----Marriages are made in heaven
God is the source of human love and the one who destines two individuals to be married. This proverb is going out of fashion since it goes against individual freedom.
166-----If you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours
If you do something good for me, I should do something good for you.
167-----Office politics are secret and dirty and there is never an end to it
To survive, be patient--watch, listen and say little; to win, be patient--survive,
plan and then strike swiftly.
168-----Work smarter, not harder
Get others to do as much as they can for you.
169-----Time heals all wounds
The damage done by a conflict is like a wound that will heal naturally over time if it is not re-injured.
170-----No news is good news
If a friend is travelling and one does not hear from him/her, one may assume that everything is going well. As another proverb says, Bad news travels fast.
171-----Time marches on
Time is marching to its own drumbeat. It does not slow down or stop for anyone.
172-----Keeping up with Joneses
This means buying things that you see your neighbors buying. That way you look like just as much a success as they do.
173-----A man may work from sun to sun, but woman's work is never done
Men may have to work long days but they can go home to rest in the evening.
Women can never get away from what used to be called "women's work," such as cooking and cleaning.
174-----The sooner the better
A wish for quick action or quick change. Once a decision has been made,
there is no point in waiting to carry it out.
175-----A good captain goes down with his ship
The captain remains on board his ship even when all hope to save it is lost.
176-----Every cloud has a silver lining
Even bad situations will contain something good if we look for it. Clouds are considered symbols of undersirable things. The bright edge of a dark clouds is like something good that can cheer us up.
177-----The exception proves the rule
Though we are making an exception and breaking the rule in this one case,
we do it only becasue the circumstances are so unusual.
178-----Shop till you drop
Shopping is a form of considering options. People think this is fun so they keep doing it untill they are worn out.
179-----The devil can quote scrīpture
A quotation from an authoritative book or person cannot always be trusted.
The quote may be distorted or incorrectly applied.
180-----Hindsight is always 20/20
Looking back on the past, it is easy for anyone to see what should have been done even though it was impossible for anyone to see it at the time. ("20/20 vision" is an eye doctor's term for eyes that see perfectly.)
181-----The good die young
Life is not always fair. Some very fine people die at a young age though it seems they were so good they deserved to live longer.
182-----Power corrupts
When people are put into positions of power, they gradually forget
what life is like for ordinary people. They become more likely to abuse their power, perhaps without even realizing it.
183-----Half a loaf is better than no bread at all
Sometimes we will not be able to get all we want or hope for. As such times of only partial success, we should look on bright side and be glad for what we got.
184-----A house divided against itself cannot stand
Unity is the strength that preserves a family or a nation.
185-----Easy said than done
We promise according to our hope but we perform according to our fear.
186-----A dog is a man's best friend
Dogs are know for their loyalty. Their friendship is more reliable than the
friendship of people.
187-----Practice makes perfect
Effort brings improvement and success.
188-----Where there is a will, there's a way
Any problem can be solved if one is determined enough.
189-----He who laughs last, laughs best
If a person does wrong to someone and laughs at him or her, the victim will look for a way to get revenge. When revenge is taken, the victim gets the last laugh, defeating the other person.
190-----It takes two to make a quarrel
Avoid a fight if you can. An insult does not become a fight unless it is answered by an insult.
191-----Let bygones be bygones
Do not bring up an old problem. Pretent it never happened.
192-----Two wrongs don't make a right
If someone does a wrong to you, react with justice, not by doing something vicious. (He did wrong to you, but you do right in response.
193-----Crime does not pay
Though crime appears to have benefits, this is an illusion. for example, shoplifting seems like an easy way to get things one wants, but crime always puts the criminal in danger of punishment.
194-----So far so good
Said by or to someone who is carrying out a plan taking one step at a time. Confidence increases with each step.
195-----Two is company and three is a crowd
This may be used when two people are talking and a third, unwanted person approaches.
196-----Innocent untill proven guilty
In a court of law, the accused person is presumed innocent at the start. The
burden of proof always rests on the accuser, not the accused. The jury will not convict the person unless the proof is clear.
197-----The devil made me do it
I am not to blame for what I did. I could not help it. Some power outside of me was forcing me to act in that way. This is playfully used as an excuse by people who know they have done something wrong but want to avoid the penalty.
198-----Home is where the heart is
Home is wherever ones loved ones are. The size or appearance of a house does not make it a home or keep it from being a home.
199-----Time and tide wait for no man
When something's time has come, it will happen and nothing can stop it. It is like an ocean tide coming in to the shore.
200-----Home, sweet home
This phrase reminds people of the ideal home--It should be a place of warmth, love and joy.
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