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人不可貌相，海水不可斗量

Mandarin · pinyin rén bù kě mào xiàng , hǎi shuǐ bù kě dǒu liáng

you can't judge a person by appearance, just as you can't measure the sea with a pint pot (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

人: rén · man; people; mankind; someone else
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
可: kě · may, can, -able; possibly
貌: mào · countenance, appearance
相: xiāng · mutual, reciprocal, each other
海: hǎi · sea, ocean; maritime
水: shuǐ · water, liquid, lotion, juice
斗: dòu · dǒu · a dipper; unit of volume (ten 升 or litres); Kangxi radical 68; 8th lunar mansion, determinative star φ Sagittarii
量: liàng · measure, quantity, capacity

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