Work.

Meaning: Past recognition may fade unless it is supported by continuing substance or renewed attention. Feeding old praise gives reputation the needs of a living thing.

Meaning: Talk alone cannot provide the resources needed for a practical result. The land-purchase contrast asks what is actually available to support a plan, without dismissing useful discussion or reducing every achievement to money.

Meaning: Attractive appearance alone does not meet a practical need. The contrast with a meal asks what something actually provides, without implying that beauty is worthless or that useful things must be plain.

Meaning: Reducing the chance of a problem can be easier than dealing with its consequences afterward. Planning, maintenance or a small precaution may spare a larger repair or disruption.

Meaning: Consider a commitment carefully before making it, then follow through without unnecessary delay. The contrast between slow promising and quick performing values realistic agreement and dependable action, rather than hesitation in every conversation.

Meaning: The quality of an idea, promise or product is best assessed by how it performs in practice. A convincing description is less useful than relevant evidence of the actual result.

Meaning: An effort can be wasted when it directly opposes a force it cannot realistically change. Puffing against the wind pictures a very small action facing a much larger one.

Meaning: Do not put more pressure on a fragile arrangement than it can reasonably bear. The weak rope pictures limited support, without requiring someone to accept permanent weakness or avoid every demanding task.

Meaning: Destroying or undoing something can require less effort than creating it. The contrast between pulling down and building asks for care before removing useful work, without making every existing structure or practice worth preserving.

Meaning: The available material may not suit the result someone wants to produce. The rough contrast between a purse and an animal’s ear points to a mismatch, rather than proving that people or materials can never change.

Meaning: The saying associates quick eating with quick work. It carries a pace observed in one activity into an expectation about another.

Meaning: A modest contribution can have a useful effect when it meets the need. The rain-and-dust image values a fitting small response, without claiming that every large difficulty can be settled by minimal effort.

Meaning: Do not set more activity or conflict in motion than you can responsibly manage. The conjuring image warns about consequences, without requiring total control over others or claiming that every uncertain undertaking should be avoided.

Meaning: Even a seemingly simple task can have a reasoned method. The egg-roasting image challenges dismissing a process as beneath thought, without making every minor choice complicated or defending a custom that no longer helps.

Meaning: A plan made without considering a key person or condition may need to be revised. The host image warns against assuming an arrangement is settled before those it depends on have been consulted.

Meaning: A poorly checked calculation or expectation may leave an arrangement short of what it needs. The saying criticises careless reckoning, without making every shortage proof of foolishness or personal fault.

Meaning: The saying credits a good recorder with putting things in order. It associates a role with orderly conduct while leaving the type of recorder unstated.

Meaning: Repeated disruption can make it harder for something to establish itself. The transplanted plant gives continuity a vivid image.

Meaning: Resources can be more useful when put to a beneficial purpose than when merely amassed. The manure image contrasts an unused heap with productive distribution, without specifying which distribution is fair or effective.

Meaning: A modest option that reliably serves its purpose may be better than an impressive one that fails you. Choose usefulness and dependability over prestige alone.

Meaning: Starting early may indicate a purpose someone wants to pursue. The saying reads an early beginning as a sign of intention rather than idle movement.

Meaning: A prosperous area can still have a neglected practical need. Rich country and bad road contrast overall resources with the condition of a shared route.

Meaning: In a contest decided by speed, faster performance gains the reward. The saying can encourage focused effort while inviting questions about what the contest actually measures.

Meaning: A very intense pace may be difficult to sustain over a long task. Match the effort to the distance ahead rather than assuming that the fastest start produces the best overall result.