明哲保身 Clear-sighted and wise, he keeps himself safe. From the Book of Songs, in a poem about the minister Zhongshan Fu: “Clear and wise, he protects himself.” The Handian dictionary notes that the phrase first meant that a person who understands affairs knows how to protect himself, and was praise. Today it describes protecting one’s own interests by avoiding any conflict over principle, and is criticism.
出头的椽子先烂 The rafter that sticks out rots first.