you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink

English

A horse drinking water.

Proverb

you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink

1. You can show someone how to do something, but you can't make them do it.

Translations

you can show someone how to do something, but you can't make them do it

• Catalan: ja pots xiular si l'ase no vol beure (ca)
• Chinese:

  你可以把馬牽到有水的地方，但是你無法叫它喝水; 你可以把马牵到有水的地方，但是你无法叫它喝水 (nǐ kěyǐ bǎ mǎ qiān dào yǒu shuǐ de dìfāng, dànshì nǐ wúfǎ jiào tā hē shuǐ) (literal, non-idiomatic)

• Danish: man kan tvinge hesten til truget, men man kan ikke tvinge den til at drikke (da)
• Finnish: voit viedä hevosen veden ääreen, mutta et voi pakottaa sitä juomaan (fi)
• French: on ne saurait faire boire un âne qui n'a pas soif (fr) (You can't force a donkey to drink when he's not thirsty)
• German: man kann den Gaul zur Tränke führen, aber saufen muss er selber (de)

• Japanese: 馬を水辺に導く事は出来るが馬に水を飲ませる事は出来ない (うまをみずべにみちびくことはできるがうまにみずをのませることはできない, uma o mizube ni michibikukoto wa dekiru ga uma ni mizu o nomaserukoto-wa dekinai) (literal, non-idiomatic)
• Norwegian: du kan lede en hest til vannet, men du kan ikke tvinge den til å drikke (no)
• Russian: можно привести лошадь к воде, но нельзя заставить её пить (ru) (móžno privestí lóšadʹ k vodé, no nelʹzjá zastávitʹ jejó pitʹ) 
• Scottish Gaelic: ged a bheirte a' bhó dhan doras mhór rachadh i fhéin dhan bhàthaich (gd)
• Telugu: గుర్రాన్ని చెరువుదాకా లాక్కెళ్ళవచ్చు గాని, దానిచేత నీళ్ళు తాగించలేము