Daily Chinese Proverb: Power of Words

This proverb asks of you to think before you say things. Prompting the realisation that words have tremendous power. With a sentence you can change someones perception and in some cases lives have been changed with little more than a sentence. Yet other examples of how powerful words can be, are dimplomatic relationships between countries which can disintergrate with nothing but words.

一言既出驷马难追
yī yán jì chū sì mǎ nán zhuī
A word once spoken cannot be taken back even by a team of four horses

This will usually be said in the place of 'What has been said cannot be unsaid'
or 'A promise must be kept.' especially important in never losing face.

Photo Source:
Flickr