人无横财不富,马无夜草不肥

rén wú hèng cái bù fù , mǎ wú yè cǎo bù féi

(saying) a person cannot become wealthy without windfall profits (or ill-gotten gains etc), just as a horse cannot get fat without night feed

rén

person; people

not to have

hèng

harsh and unreasonable

cái

money

no; not so

rich

,

abbr. for Malaysia 馬來西亞|马来西亚[Ma3 lai2 xi1 ya4]

not to have

night

cǎo

grass

no; not so

féi

fat