近水知魚性，近山識鳥音。
“Live close to the water and you learn the nature of fish; live close to the mountain and you learn the song of birds.”
Sustained closeness and experience with something naturally builds deep, practical understanding of it.
— Traditional Taiwan Wisdom, Taiwan
Source: Traditional Taiwan proverb, public-domain oral tradition
More Proverbs from Taiwan
Every blade of grass carries its own drop of dew.
Heaven provides for every living thing in its own way; everyone has their own fate and opportunity, so there is no need to despair.
Three parts are destined by heaven, seven parts depend on hard work.
Fate plays only a small role in success; the greater share depends on one's own effort and struggle.
Heaven favors the honest fool.
Plain, sincere people who do not scheme against others are ultimately protected and rewarded by fortune.
Living near the temple, one grows disrespectful of the gods.
Familiarity breeds contempt; what is closest to us is often the thing we take most for granted.
When you eat the fruit, give thanks to the tree.
Never forget the roots or the people who made your good fortune possible.
People have two legs, but money has four.
Money always seems to move faster than the person chasing it; wealth is hard to catch and easy to lose.