莫待无花空折枝

Mandarin

simpl.		莫待无花空折枝
trad.		莫待無花空折枝

Literally: Do not wait for the flower to [already] have disappeared before you pluck the twig.

c. 8 - 9th century 杜秋娘 (Du Qiuniang), 金缕衣 (The Golden Dress)
劝君莫惜金缕衣，劝君惜取少年时，花开堪折直须折，莫待无花空折枝
Love not your golden dress, I pray, More than your youthful golden hours! Gather sweet flowers while you may, And not the twig of flowers! (300 Tang Poems, A New Translation, Edited by Xu Yuan-zhong, Loh Bei-yei and Wu Juntao, ISBN 957-586-278-3, p. 309)

莫待无花空折枝 (simplified, Pinyin mò dài wú huā kōng zhé zhī, traditional 莫待無花空折枝)

seize the day; carpe diem.
- 2005: 安妮玫瑰 (Anne Rose), 翡翠护身符 (Excerpt from "The Jadeite Amulet")
  这谁也不能怪，只能怪自己，轻易不肯爱上，爱了又不肯轻易放下，虽说花开堪折直须折，莫待无花空折枝，但是享受着爱情之花的时候，即使折了，又怎样？不还是一样结不出婚姻之果吗。
  No one can blame but me for this. I was so casual and unwilling to commit to love. Then, when I did fall in love, I was unwilling to casually let it go. People always say things like carpe diem and gather ye rosebuds while ye may. But, when it comes to enjoying the rosebuds of love, even if you gather them, then what? Isn't the result the same, that we can never be married?

"莫待无花空折枝" (in Mandarin), Guoyu Cidian On-line Mandarin Dictionary (國語辭典). URL accessed on 2009-01-09.