Ernest Bramah

One may ride upon a tiger's back but it is fatal to dismount.

Eat in the dark the bargain that you purchased in the dusk.

He is capable of any crime, from reviling the Classics to diverting water courses.

He who has failed three times sets up as an instructor.

However deep you dig a well it affords no refuge in the time of flood.

One learns to itch where one can scratch.

However entrancing it is to wander unchecked through a garden of bright images, are we not enticing your mind from another subject of almost equal importance?

There are few situations in life that cannot be honourably settled, and without loss of time, either by suicide, a bag of gold, or by thrusting a despised antagonist over the edge of a precipice upon a dark night.

The one-legged never stumble.

After secretly observing the unstudied grace of her movements, the most celebrated picture-maker of the province burned the implements of his craft, and began life anew as a trainer of performing elephants.

Do not adjust your sandals while passing through a melon-field, nor yet arrange your hat beneath an orange-tree.

"It is well said: 'He who lacks a single tael sees many bargains,'" replied Sun Wei, a refined bitterness weighing the import of his words. "Truly this person's friends in the Upper Air are a never-failing lantern behind his back."

At this display the elder and less attractive of the maidens fled, uttering loud and continuous cries of apprehension in order to conceal the direction of her flight.

Alas! It is well written, "The road to eminence lies through the cheap and exceedingly uninviting eating-houses."

Should a person on returning from the city discover his house to be in flames, let him examine well the change which he has received from the chair-carrier before it is too late; for evil never travels alone.

In his countenance this person read an expression of no-encouragement towards his venture.

Before hastening to secure a possible reward of five taels by dragging an unobservant person away from a falling building, examine well his features lest you find, when too late, that it is one to whom you are indebted for double that …

Although there exist many thousand subjects for elegant conversation, there are persons who cannot meet a cripple without talking about feet.

When struck by a thunderbolt it is unnecessary to consult the Book of Dates as to the precise meaning of the omen.

It is a mark of insincerity of purpose to spend one's time in looking for the sacred Emperor in the low-class tea-shops.