A classical Chinese line for “Stay strong under pressure”

Ground a thousand times and struck ten thousand, still it stands firm, whatever wind blows from any direction.

Plain meaningStay strong no matter how many setbacks come or where the pressure comes from.

Wealth and honor cannot corrupt him, poverty and low status cannot move him, and force cannot make him bend.

Plain meaningHold your principles through temptation, hardship, and pressure.

Praised by the whole world, he is not further encouraged; condemned by the whole world, he is not discouraged.

Plain meaningLet neither praise nor criticism control who you are.

A time will come to ride the long wind and break the waves; I will set my cloudlike sail straight across the vast sea.

Plain meaningYour chance will come. Keep going toward the larger horizon.

A journey of a thousand miles begins beneath one's feet.

Plain meaningBegin with the first real step, however small.

Without accumulating small steps, one cannot reach a thousand miles; without gathering small streams, rivers and seas cannot form.

Plain meaningGreat progress is built from small, repeated actions.