墨迹留芳 In His Own Hand

交友须带三分侠气，做人要存一点素心。

In friendship, keep a measure of chivalry; in life, keep a heart of plain sincerity.

若要人不知，除非己莫为。举头三尺有神明。

If you would not have it known, do not do it — three feet above your head, the gods are watching.

耳聋不怕人家骂，理直不怕舆论偏。胆大不怕妖魔扰，勤学不怕天资鲁。智高不怕难事临，志坚不怕逆境考。

Deaf ears fear no cursing; a clear conscience fears no biased talk.Courage fears no demons; diligence fears no dull gifts.Wisdom fears no hard task; firm resolve fears no test of adversity.

酒中不语真君子，财上分明大丈夫。

Discreet in drink — a true gentleman; scrupulous in money — a true man.

能受苦方为志士，肯吃亏不是痴人。

Only one who can endure hardship is a person of purpose; one willing to take a loss is no fool.

做事要有灵气，用人要有豪气，交友要有义气，决策要有勇气，团队要有风气。

Work with ingenuity; employ people with generosity; make friends with loyalty; decide with courage; and give the team a spirit of its own.

有真才者不矜才，有实学者必不夸学。谦，美德也；默，懿行也。

True talent does not flaunt itself; real learning does not boast. Modesty is a virtue; quiet restraint, a noble habit.

做人要知足，做事要知不足，做学问要不知足。

In life, know contentment; in work, know your shortcomings; in learning, never be content.

勤为无价之宝，慎是护身之符。寡言则省谤，寡欲则保身。

Diligence is a priceless treasure and prudence a protective charm; few words spare you slander, few desires preserve you.

善欲人见，不是真善。恶恐人知，便是大恶。

Goodness done to be seen is not true goodness; a wrong one fears to have others know is a great wrong indeed.

实事求是，不讲空话。要说得巧，要说得少。

Seek truth from facts and waste no breath on empty talk: say it well, and say it briefly.

君子持身处事，须要律己宽人。凡事退一步，身自安稳；出言忍一句，让他一分，何等清闲；容他片时，何等自在。

A gentleman holds himself to strict account and treats others with generosity. Step back one pace and you stand secure; hold back one sharp word, yield one small point — what ease; bear with another for a moment — what freedom.

宽以待人，严以律己。以责人之心责己，以恕己之心恕人。

Be lenient with others and strict with yourself: judge yourself as sternly as you would judge others, and forgive others as readily as you forgive yourself.

多一点忍耐，就会少后悔。少讲几句狠话，就多一些余地。

A little more patience, a little less regret; a few fewer harsh words leave a little more room.

利刀割体痕易合，恶语伤人恨难消。良言一句三冬暖，恶语伤人六月寒。

A knife wound heals; a wounding word festers. One kind sentence warms three winters; one cruel word chills even a June day.

大丈夫当容人，勿为人所容。勿以贵己而贱人，勿以自大而蔑小，勿以恃勇而轻敌。

The greater man is the one who accommodates others, not the one who must be accommodated. Do not honour yourself and belittle others; do not let self-importance scorn the small, nor bravado underrate an opponent.

以德胜人者则强，以财胜人者则凶，以力胜人者则亡。

Prevail by virtue and you grow strong; prevail by money and you invite misfortune; prevail by force and you perish.

有人谤我、欺我、骂我、笑我，我只是容他、宽他、恕他。

When people slander me, cheat me, curse me, mock me — I simply bear with them, make room for them, forgive them.

临事让人一步，自有余地；临财放宽一分，自有余味。在人生道路上能让三分，即能天宽地阔。

Yield a step in any affair and there is always room; loosen your grip a little where money is concerned and there is always grace. Give way three parts on the road of life, and heaven and earth open wide.

不与人争者常得多利，退一步者常进百步。胜利属于最坚忍之人。

Those who do not contend often gain the most; those who step back one pace often advance a hundred. Victory belongs to the most patient.

凡事莫生事，省事莫惹事。大事化小事，小事化无事。

Start no trouble and court none: turn great matters into small ones, and small ones into none at all.

你生气，我受气；受气不生气，是修养，也是涵养。

You lose your temper; I take the heat. To take it without returning it — that is cultivation.

善气迎人，亲如兄弟。

Meet people with kindness, and they become as brothers.

不如意事常八九，可与人言无二三。人生哪能多如意，万事只求半称心。

Eight or nine matters in ten fall short of our wishes, and barely two or three can be told to anyone. Life can never go all our way — in all things, be content with half.

人骑马来我骑驴，看来我比人不如。但看眼前推车汉，比上不足比下有余。

He arrives on horseback, I on a donkey — it seems I fall short. But look at the man pushing the cart: short of those above, ahead of those below.

知足常足，终身不辱；知止常止，终身不耻。

Know sufficiency, and you will never be humiliated; know when to stop, and you will never be disgraced.

人之所以快乐，不是得到的多，而是计较的少。

Happiness comes not from having more, but from minding less.

人到无求品自高。有求皆苦，无欲则刚。

When a man wants nothing, his character stands tall of itself. All craving is suffering; free of desire, one is unbending.

不义而富且贵，于我如浮云。

—— 孔子《论语》 · Confucius, The Analects

Wealth and rank gained without honour are to me but drifting clouds.

富贵如浮云，命由天定。

Riches and rank are drifting clouds; fate is decreed by Heaven.

良田万顷，日食一升；大厦千间，夜眠八尺。

Own ten thousand acres — you still eat one measure of rice a day. Own a thousand rooms — you still sleep on eight feet of bed.

遇事不必钻牛角尖，人亦舒坦，心亦舒坦。

Don’t bore into the horn’s dead end over every matter — the person is at ease, and so is the heart.

无苦即是乐，平安便是福。家财万贯，如无健康，都等于零。

To be without suffering is already joy; to be safe and well is already fortune. Ten thousand strings of cash, without health, amount to zero.

春有百花秋有月，夏有凉风冬有雪。若无闲事挂心头，便是人间好时节。

—— 无门慧开禅师 · Wumen Huikai, Chan Master

Spring has its hundred flowers, autumn its moon; summer its cool breeze, winter its snow. If no idle worry hangs upon the heart, every season is the best season on earth.

心里有花开，人生春常在。

Keep a flower blooming in the heart, and life is always spring.

财富不是一辈子的朋友，朋友却是一辈子的财富。

Wealth is not a lifelong friend, but a friend is lifelong wealth.

友不贵多，得一人胜百人；友不论久，得一日可逾千古。友不择时，得一缘可益百世。

Friends are not counted in numbers — one true friend outweighs a hundred; nor in years — one true day speaks across the ages; nor in timing — one true bond blesses a hundred generations.

酒逢知己千杯少，话不投机半句多。

With a kindred spirit, a thousand cups are too few; with the wrong company, half a sentence is too many.

相识满天下，知己无几人。

Acquaintances may fill the world; true confidants are few.

交了许多好朋友，烟酒茶；一旦有事去找他，不在家。自己跌倒自己爬，莫靠人拉。

I made many fine friends — over cigarettes, wine and tea; the day I needed them, none was home. When you fall, climb up yourself; don’t wait to be pulled.

人情似纸张张薄，世事如棋局局新。易涨易退山溪水，易反易复小人心。

Human feeling is paper, sheet by sheet thin; the world is chess, game after game new. Quick to rise and quick to fall is the mountain stream — quick to turn and turn again, the petty heart.

结交有德之士，断绝无义之人。知而后信，择而后交，思而后动，谋而后成。

Befriend the virtuous; part with the faithless. Know, then trust; choose, then befriend; think, then act; plan, then accomplish.

用人之长，弃人之短，天下无不可用之人；揭人之短，弃人之长，天下无可用之人。

Use a person’s strengths and overlook his weaknesses, and no one under heaven is useless; seize on weaknesses and discard strengths, and no one under heaven can be used.

山有美景人有缘，不论远近心相连。

清晨醒来道当先，隔屏问候道当先。

相互牵挂心中暖，平安健康胜金钱。

我们相互多保重，开心快乐每一天。

—— 父亲自作的问候诗 · A greeting verse of his own

Mountains have their scenery, people their affinity; near or far, hearts stay joined. Waking at dawn, a greeting comes first — even across a screen, a greeting comes first. To be held in each other’s thoughts warms the heart; peace and health are worth more than money. Let us take good care of one another, and be happy every single day.

明日复明日，明日何其多。我生待明日，万事成蹉跎。

—— 钱福《明日歌》 · Qian Fu, Song of Tomorrow

Tomorrow, and tomorrow — how many tomorrows there are! Live waiting for tomorrow, and everything slips away.

今日复今日，今日何其少！今日又不为，此事何时了？

—— 文嘉《今日歌》 · Wen Jia, Song of Today

Today, and today — how few todays there are! If we do not do it today, when will it be done?

时不我待，珍惜生活的每一天。立足现在，把握当下，让过去不再遗憾，让未来充满希望。

Time waits for no one — treasure every day. Stand in the present and grasp the moment, so the past holds no more regret and the future fills with hope.

明知山有虎，偏向虎山行。路不行不到。

Knowing full well the mountain holds a tiger, still I walk the tiger’s mountain — for no road is reached without walking it.

有谁催我，三更灯火五更鸡。

Who urges me on? The lamp at midnight, and the cock at dawn.

举世尽从忙里老，谁人肯向死前休。

The whole world grows old in its busyness — yet who is willing to rest before death?

劳则思，思则善心生；逸则淫，淫则忘善。

Labour breeds reflection, and reflection breeds goodness; idleness breeds indulgence, and indulgence forgets the good.

缓事宜急干，敏则有功；急事宜缓办，忙则有错。

Do unhurried things briskly — promptness bears fruit; do urgent things calmly — haste breeds mistakes.

岁月不催人自老，光阴快慢各自知。岁月不饶人，我亦未曾饶过岁月。

The years do not press us — we age of ourselves; how fast time runs, each heart knows for itself. Time spares no one; but neither did I ever spare time.

挫折是最好的老师。平静的海，练不出好水手。

Setbacks are the best teachers — smooth seas never made a skilful sailor.

三分醉，七分饱，多做运动，常常跑，多笑笑，少烦恼，自由自在乐逍遥。

Three parts merry, seven parts full; keep moving, keep walking; laugh often, worry little — and live free and easy.

不暴饮，不暴食。不要害怕浪费，每日七分饱，健康自来找。

Never binge on food or drink. Do not fear waste — stop at seven-tenths full each day, and health will come looking for you.

养生在动，养心在静。饮食有节，起居有时。物熟始食，水沸始饮。知足常乐，无求常安。

Nourish the body with movement, the heart with stillness. Eat with moderation, keep regular hours; eat only what is cooked, drink only what is boiled. Contentment brings lasting joy; wanting nothing brings lasting peace.

睡得好，起得早，七分饱，常常跑，多笑笑，少烦恼。

Sleep well, rise early, eat to seven-tenths, walk often, laugh much, worry little.

节食养胃，清心养神。口腹不节，致病之因；念虑不正，杀身之本。

Moderate eating nurtures the stomach; a clear heart nurtures the spirit. An unbridled appetite is the root of illness; crooked thoughts, the root of ruin.

寡言养气，寡视养神，寡思养精，寡念养性。

Speak less to nourish your breath; look less to nourish your spirit; brood less to nourish your essence; crave less to nourish your nature.

心平能愈三千疾，心静可通万事理。心浮可染三千愁，心和可容万粒尘。

A calm heart can heal three thousand ills; a still heart can fathom ten thousand truths. A restless heart catches three thousand sorrows; a harmonious heart can hold ten thousand grains of dust.

钢刀不磨生黄锈，胸膛不挺背要驼。

An unpolished blade gathers rust; a chest never held straight becomes a stooped back.

一笑解千愁。生命太短，没时间伤春悲秋。你若笑过，便会懂得世间风雨琳琅。

One laugh dissolves a thousand sorrows. Life is too short to mourn the springs and autumns; once you have truly laughed, you understand that even the world’s wind and rain have their splendour.

药能医假病，酒不解真愁。

Medicine cures only false illness; wine dissolves no true sorrow.

积善之家必有余庆，积不善之家必有余殃。勿以恶小而为之，勿以善小而不为。

A house that stores up goodness will have blessings to spare; a house that stores up wrongdoing will have calamity left over. Do no wrong, however small; leave no good undone, however small.

积金以遗子孙，子孙未必能守；积书以遗子孙，子孙未必能读；不如积阴德于冥冥之中，以为子孙长久之计。

—— 司马光 · Sima Guang

Pile up gold for your descendants — they may not keep it; pile up books — they may not read them. Better to store up quiet, unseen virtue, as the long plan for one’s children and grandchildren.

但存方寸地，留与子孙耕。

Keep but a square inch of good ground — of conscience — and leave it for your descendants to till.

善是青松恶是花。有朝一日浓霜降，只见青松不见花。

Goodness is the green pine, wrongdoing the flower. The day the heavy frost comes down, the pine still stands — the flower is gone.

人恶人怕天不怕，人善人欺天不欺。

The wicked are feared by men but not by Heaven; the good are bullied by men but never by Heaven.

根深不怕风摇动，树正何愁月影斜。

Deep roots fear no shaking wind; a tree that grows straight never worries that the moon casts its shadow aslant.

种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆。善恶终有报，只争来早与来迟。

Plant melons and you reap melons; plant beans and you reap beans. Good and evil are each repaid in the end — the only question is sooner or later.

济人须济急时无，渴时一滴如甘露，醉后添杯不如无。救人须救急时无，求人须求大丈夫。

Help people when they have nothing and the need is urgent: to the thirsty, one drop is sweet dew; a cup added when one is already drunk is as good as none. Rescue those in true emergency; and when you must ask for help, ask it of a person of honour.

赠人以言，重如珠玉；伤人以言，甚于剑戟。

A word given in kindness is weightier than pearls and jade; a word that wounds cuts deeper than sword or spear.

不惊扰别人的宁静就是慈悲，不伤害别人的自尊就是善良。人活着，发自己的光就好，别去吹灭别人的灯。

Not to disturb another’s peace is compassion; not to wound another’s dignity is kindness. In living, it is enough to shine one’s own light — never blow out another’s lamp.

将心比心，便是佛心。

To measure another’s heart by your own — that is the heart of the Buddha.

随时，随性，随遇，随缘，随喜。随遇而安，顺其自然。

Follow the moment, follow your nature, follow circumstance, follow affinity, follow joy. Be at peace wherever you find yourself, and let things take their natural course.

因为无能为力，所以顺其自然；因为心无所恃，所以随遇而安。

Because some things are beyond our power, we let nature take its course; because the heart leans on nothing, it is at ease wherever it lands.

人到了一定年龄，总要懂得静而不争，万般随缘。留得住的无需用力，留不住的无需费力。来者要惜，去者要放。所得所不得，不如心安理得；所愿所不愿，不如心甘情愿。

Past a certain age, one must learn stillness without striving, and let all things follow their affinities. What can stay needs no forcing; what cannot stay is not worth the strain. Cherish what comes; release what goes. Better than gaining or losing is a conscience at ease; better than wishing or refusing is a willing heart.

睡前原谅一切，醒来不问过往。

Before sleep, forgive everything; on waking, ask nothing of the past.

糊涂时，放下执著，看淡得失，方能活得轻轻松松；清醒时，洞察世事，深信因果，守本真心，得大自在。人生如戏，一半糊涂，一半清醒。装糊涂是一种智慧。

In muddled hours, set down your grasping and hold gain and loss lightly — then life is lived at ease. In clear hours, see the world plainly, trust cause and effect, keep the original heart — and find great freedom. Life is a play: half muddled, half awake. Knowing when to play the fool is itself wisdom.

佛在灵山莫远求，灵山只在汝心头。人人有个灵山塔，好向灵山塔下修。

Seek not the Buddha on some far Vulture Peak; the sacred mountain is in your own heart. Each of us carries that mountain’s pagoda — practise, then, at its foot.

手把青秧插满田，低头便见水中天。六根清净方为道，退步原来是向前。

—— 布袋和尚《插秧诗》 · Budai, Planting Poem

Planting green seedlings, filling the paddy field, I bow my head — and see heaven in the water. A body and mind kept pure: that is the Way; and stepping backward, I find, is moving forward.

心随境移，境由心转，相由心生。心若安定，哪里都是桃花源。我心定处是吾乡。

The heart shifts with circumstance, yet circumstance turns with the heart, and the face is born of the heart. When the heart is settled, anywhere is the Peach Blossom Land — where my heart is at rest, there is my home.

是非终日有，不听自然无。青山不管人间事，绿水何曾惹是非。

Gossip there is all day long; do not listen, and it ceases to exist. The green mountains mind no human quarrels; when did the clear waters ever stir up strife?

穷达皆由命，何劳发叹声。但知行好事，莫要问前程。冬去冰须泮，春来草自生。请君观此理，天道甚分明。

—— 冯道《天道》 · Feng Dao, The Way of Heaven

Poverty and success are both decreed — why waste a sigh on them? Simply do good deeds and do not ask about the road ahead. When winter goes, the ice must melt; when spring comes, the grass grows of itself. Observe this truth: the way of Heaven is perfectly clear.

缘聚缘散皆是注定。相聚时好好珍惜，缘散时不必纠缠。一情一爱皆恩赐，一聚一散皆因缘。

Meetings and partings are both ordained. While together, treasure it well; when the bond disperses, do not cling. Every affection is a gift of grace; every meeting and parting, the work of affinity.

A major cause of unhappiness is overestimating the happiness of others.

不快乐的主要原因，是高估了别人的快乐。

Truth usually is the same old story.

真理通常都是老生常谈。

Life affords no greater responsibility, no greater privilege, than the raising of the next generation.

养育下一代，是人生最大的责任，也是最大的特权。

A true friend is one who overlooks your failures and tolerates your success.

能宽恕你的失败和容忍你的成就的人，才是你真正的朋友。

Age does not protect you from love, but love, to some extent, protects you from age.

年老不能保护你免受爱的冲击，但爱在某种程度上却能保护你不受年老的影响。

The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves.

爱自由就等于爱人，爱权力就等于爱自己。

In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins — not through strength, but by perseverance.

溪流与岩石对抗，总是溪流胜——胜在持续不断，而非力取。

A half truth is a whole lie.

一半的真实，无异全部的谎言。

The pursuit of perfection often impedes improvement.

追求完美，往往妨碍了改进。

He who dares to think will dare everything.

敢于思谋，则天下无不可为之事。

Nothing can bring out our weakness more than power.

没什么比权力更能使人暴露弱点。

If you can’t make a mistake, you can’t make anything.

如果你从不犯错误，便只会一事无成。

One of the secrets of life is to make stepping stones out of stumbling blocks.

人生的一个秘诀，是化绊脚石为踏脚石。

To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.

有施有受的爱，犹如两面都感受得到阳光。

Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.

锲而不舍，是你做厌了艰巨工作之后，要做的另一项艰巨工作。

Perfectionism is the enemy of creation, as extreme self-solicitude is the enemy of well-being.

完美主义是创作的敌人，正如对自己过分关心，是身心健康的敌人一样。

The best proof of love is trust.

爱的最佳凭证，就是信任。

I have never met a man from whom I could learn nothing.

我从来没有遇过一个我不能从他身上学到一点东西的人。

If all difficulties were known at the outset of a long journey, most of us would never start out at all.

如果我们出发前去长途旅行时，已经知道路上会遇到一切困难，相信大部分人根本不会出发。

You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.

要毁灭一个文化，不必把书焚掉，只要令人不再看书就行了。

The difference between a smart man and a wise man is that a smart man knows what to say, and a wise man knows whether or not to say it.

聪明人和智者的区别在于：聪明人知道说什么，智者知道该不该说那句话。

God made time, but man made haste.

上帝创造时间，人类制造匆忙。

Never miss a chance to keep your mouth shut.

有机会闭嘴，千万不要放过。

Never assume the obvious is true.

绝不假定显然即为确然。

When you can’t have what you want, it’s time to start wanting what you have.

如果得不到你所爱的，该爱你所得到的。

As long as you are green, you will continue to grow; as soon as you think you are ripe, you will rot.

常葆青绿，方能生长；自以为熟，便要腐烂。

新年贺卡我没寄，并非我没有心意。好朋友我珍惜，诚心在此祝福你们：一年四季如意，财源滚滚如山聚，好运年年跟随你，岁岁平安好福气。时间冲不淡真情。

—— 父亲致友人的新年贺辞 · His New Year message to friends

I sent no New Year card — not for want of feeling. Good friends, I treasure you, and from my heart I wish you this: may all four seasons go your way; may fortune gather like a mountain; may good luck follow you year upon year, and peace and blessing attend you always. Time cannot dilute true affection.

回首往事多沧桑，成功失败寻常事。商海沉浮有教训，人生路上多虎狼。潜心艺坛勤努力，年近古稀再辉煌。

—— 自述诗 · On his own life, written as he neared seventy

Looking back, the years were full of upheaval — success and failure, both ordinary things. The rise and fall of the sea of commerce taught its lessons; the road of life had its share of tigers and wolves. Now, devoted heart and soul to the arts, working hard still — approaching seventy, to shine once more.

执笔再画故乡情，往事历历脑中停。四十一年风雨劫，是非曲直理难清。时近黄昏风景好，保持健康心态正。不追虚荣不逐利，书画史上留英名。

—— 自述诗 · In his own voice, on painting and on growing old

Taking up the brush again, I paint the feeling of my old home town; the past stands vivid in my mind. Forty-one years of wind and rain — the rights and wrongs can never be fully untangled. Near dusk, the scenery is at its best: keep the body healthy and the mind upright; chase neither vanity nor profit — and let the name be left among the painters and calligraphers.

阅尽世上多少事，体察人间多少情。是非曲直心有悟，不再盲从与迷信。往事如烟随风去，沧桑变换不觉惊。气定神闲观万象，心静如水不兴波。

—— 他在册中先后抄录三遍的自勉之句 · The credo he wrote out three times over

Having read my fill of the world’s affairs and felt my share of human feeling, I now understand right and wrong for myself — no more blind following, no more superstition. The past drifts off like smoke on the wind; the world’s great changes no longer startle me. Composed and unhurried, I watch the ten thousand things; the heart, still as water, raises not a wave.

二零二六年至，天马行空自骋驰。神州龙腾九万里，中华民族复兴始。任它风云多变幻，一带一路顺势起。世界大同终有日，江山一统志不移。

—— 册中最后一则有纪年的手迹 · The last dated entry in his notebook, 2026

The year 2026 arrives, and the heavenly steed gallops free across the sky. The dragon of the divine land soars ninety thousand li; the renewal of the Chinese nation begins. Let wind and cloud shift as they will — the Belt and Road rises with the tide. A world in great harmony will come at last; rivers and mountains made one — the resolve unmoved.