can anyone tell me what this picture says? (chinese)?

Question

i was a foreign exchange student in shanghai last year and this was a gift, can anyone translate it into english for me? (picture found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhcoc/)

i was a foreign exchage student in shanghai last year and this was a gift, can anyone translate it into english for me?
picture found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhcoc/

Answer 1

Hi Nemo, here's my translation:

「 儉以養德 靜以修身 」pronounced as《 jiǎn yǐ yǎng dé，jìng yǐ xiū shēn 》

"Practice Frugality to cultivate Virtue, practice Calmness to strengthen one's Moral Character."

儉 (as in 節儉) means frugality, thriftness
以 in this context, means to be able to
養 to cultivate
德 is virtue
靜 is calmness, tranquility
修身 is to strengthen/develop one's moral character
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In other words: Frugality, or keeping a simple life, enables one to live a more virtuous / upright life; and, keeping at the calm of things removes one from the dangers of anger, ultimately strengthening one's moral character.

Answer 2

我不了解

Answer 3

The Chinese word is actually a saying which means good peace.

Answer 4

It means something like this: Frugality nourishes virtue, tranquility restores the body.

Answer 5

By means of peace and frugality, one cultivates one's heart