Before in Chinese / Japanese...

补漏趁天晴未渴先掘井 is a Chinese proverb that literally translates as: Mend the roof while the weather is fine, [and when you are] not yet thirsty, dig the well beforehand.

In simple terms, this means: Always being prepared in advance.

転ばぬ先の杖 is a Japanese proverb that literally translates as: Have a walking stick ready before stumbling.

This is similar to the English idiom, “A stitch in time saves nine.”

In simple terms, this means: Always being prepared in advance.

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

見色忘義 is a modern Chinese idiom that means to put love before loyalty or to forget loyalty when in love.

This would be roughly equivalent to the English, “Hoes before bros.”

黎明前的黑暗 is the most natural way to write “The night is darkest before the dawn,” in Chinese.

The words break down this way by meaning this way:
1.黎明 dawn or daybreak
2.前 before, in front, ago, former, previous, and/or earlier
3.的 (possessive particle) of
4.黑暗 dark, darkly, or darkness

If you try to understand the Chinese word order and grammar, it's like, “Before dawn is the darkest [time].”

可殺不可辱 almost directly matches the idea of “Death Before Dishonor” while also being an ancient Chinese proverb.

The direct meaning is, “[you] can die/kill [but you] cannot [allow] dishonor/disgrace [upon yourself].” Chinese grammar, and especially ancient grammar, is a little different than English. Not nearly as many articles are needed, and a lot is implied.

There are many ways to express ideas similar to “Death Before Dishonor” in Chinese, and I would rate this one in the top two.

This literally means an arrogant army is bound to lose.

The meaning is similar to “pride goes before a fall.”

Others may translate this as “defeat is inevitable for an overconfident army,” “being arrogant and overconfident inevitably leads to defeat,” or “pride comes before a fall.”

士可殺不可辱 almost directly matches the military idea of “Death Before Dishonor,” while also being an ancient Chinese proverb.

The direct meaning is, “[A] soldier/warrior can die/kill [but he/she] cannot [allow] dishonor/disgrace [upon himself/herself].” Chinese grammar, and especially ancient grammar, is a little different than English. Not nearly as many articles are needed, and a lot is implied.

There are a lot of ways to express ideas similar to “Death Before Dishonor” in Chinese, and I would rate this one in the top two.

This is the original form of this proverb with the character for “soldier/warrior” at the beginning. Most of the time, this character is dropped, becoming a five-character proverb (the soldier/warrior part is implied, even without the character being present in the proverb). We also offer a shorter version.

不名誉より死 is the Japanese version of “Death Before Dishonor.”

Japanese grammar is a bit different than English, so this really means something like “Rather die than to be dishonored.” However, “dishonor” is the first three Kanji, and death is the last Kanji. There are two Hiragana (より) which indicate the preference is death when comparing dishonor to death.

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

寧死不屈 is often translated as “Death Before Dishonor.”

The literal translation is more like, “Better die than compromise.” The last two characters mean “not to bend” or “not to bow down.” Some might even say that it means “not to surrender.” Thus, you could say this proverb means “Better to die than live on my knees” or simply “no surrender” (with the real idea being that you would rather die than surrender).

寧為玉碎不為瓦全 is the long version of a Chinese proverb that means “rather be shattered piece of jade than an unbroken piece of pottery.”

A little more explanation:
Death is implied with the “broken” meaning. Jade is one of the most precious materials in Chinese history, and in this case, is compared with one's honor and self-worth. Pottery is just something you eat off of, it has no deep value, just as a person who has lost their honor, or had none to begin with.
Thus, this means “better to die with honor than to live in shame” or words to that effect.

寧為玉碎不為瓦全 is often translated in English as “Death Before Dishonor,” the famous military slogan.

I would also compare this to the English proverb, “Better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.”

This is an idiom. It therefore doesn’t directly say exactly what it means. If you think about the English idiom, "The grass is always greener," it does not directly say "jealousy" or "envy" but everyone knows that it is implied.

寧為玉碎 is the short version of a longer Chinese proverb which means “rather be shattered piece of jade than an unbroken piece of pottery.”

寧為玉碎 says the “rather be a broken piece of jade” part (the second half is implied - everyone in China knows this idiom).

A little more explanation:
Death is implied with the “broken” meaning. Jade is one of the most precious materials in Chinese history, and in this case, is compared with one's honor and self-worth. Pottery is just something you eat off of; it has no deep value, just as a person who has lost their honor or had none to begin with.
Thus, this means “better to die with honor than to live in shame” or words to that effect.

This is often translated in English as “Death Before Dishonor,” the famous military slogan.

I would also compare this to the English proverb, “Better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.”

寧死不降 is an ancient Chinese proverb that can be translated as “Rather die than surrender,” “Prefer death over surrender,” “To prefer death to surrender,” or simply “No surrender.”

This is probably the closest proverb to the English proverb “Better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.”