'a badly chosen name or vision will hinder all subsequent efforts to success'

[nazia]

- does anyone recognize this proverb? If so could you tell me what it is in Chinese please?

Or alternatively, does anyone know of a searchable Chinese proverb database on the web?

Thanks!

[skylee]

There is a Cantonese saying like this ->

唔怕生壞命，最怕改壞(or 錯)名

Not sure if this is what you want, though.

[nnt]

It's a loose translation of Confucius, from LunYu:

名不正,則言不順.

言不順,則事不成.

"If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things. If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success."

See here :

http://www.afpc.asso.fr/wengu/wg/wengu.php?l=Lunyu&no=320