A horse drinking water.
you can lead a horse to water , but you can't make it drink
You can show someone how to do something , but you can't make them do it .
you can show someone how to do something, but you can't make them do it
Catalan: ja pots xiular si l'ase no vol beure
Cebuano: madala nimo ang baka sa suba apan dili nimo mainom
Chinese:
Cantonese: 牛唔飲水唔撳得牛頭低 / 牛唔饮水唔揿得牛头低 (yue) ( ngau4 m4 jam2 seoi2 m4 gam6 dak1 ngau4 tau4 dai1 , literally “ if a cow does not drink water, one cannot press its head down ” )
Mandarin: (please verify ) 牽 馬 到 河邊 容易 ,逼 馬 喝水 難 / 牵 马 到 河边 容易 ,逼 马 喝水 难 ( qiān mǎ dào hébiān róngyì, bī mǎ hēshuǐ nán ) ( literal, non-idiomatic )
Danish: man kan tvinge hesten til truget, men man kan ikke tvinge den til at drikke
Dutch: met onwillige honden is het slecht hazen vangen ( It's bad to catch hares with unwilling dogs )
Finnish: voit viedä hevosen veden ääreen , mutta et voi pakottaa sitä juomaan
French: on ne saurait faire boire un âne qui n’a pas soif (fr) ( You can't force a donkey to drink when he's not thirsty )
German: man kann den Gaul zur Tränke führen, aber saufen muss er selber
Hindi: हम किसी को कुछ करने का अवसर दे सकते पर उनपर उसे करने के लिए दबाव नहीं बना सकते ( ham kisī ko kuch karne kā avsar de sakte par unapar use karne ke lie dabāv nahī̃ banā sakte )
Italian: puoi portare un cavallo all'acqua ma non puoi farlo bere
Japanese: 馬 を 水辺 に 導く 事 は 出来る が 馬 に 水 を 飲ませる 事 は 出来ない ( うまをみずべにみちびくことはできるがうまにみずをのませることはできない, uma o mizube ni michibikukoto wa dekiru ga uma ni mizu o nomaserukoto-wa dekinai ) ( literal, non-idiomatic )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: du kan lede en hest til vannet, men du kan ikke tvinge den til å drikke
Polish: możesz konia doprowadzić do wodopoju, lecz pić za niego się nie da
Portuguese: você pode levar um cavalo até a água, mas não pode fazê-lo beber
Russian: мо́жно привести́ ло́шадь к воде́, но нельзя́ заста́вить её пить ( móžno privestí lóšadʹ k vodé, no nelʹzjá zastávitʹ jejó pitʹ )
Scottish Gaelic: ged a bheirte a' bhó dhan doras mhór rachadh i fhéin dhan bhàthaich
Telugu: గుర్రాన్ని చెరువుదాకా లాక్కెళ్ళవచ్చు గాని, దానిచేత నీళ్ళు తాగించలేము ( gurrānni ceruvudākā lākkeḷḷavaccu gāni, dānicēta nīḷḷu tāgiñcalēmu )