Better a live beggar than a dead king.
More Chinese Proverbs:
You cannot draw white cloth from a dying vat.Chinese
A man must make himself despicable before he is despised by others.
Chinese
Pick your inn before the dark; get on your road before the dawn.
Chinese
The miser does not own the gold, it is the gold that owns the miser.
Chinese
Love is blind.
Chinese
There is a time to fish and a time to dry the nets.
Chinese