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the other one is '靠近方便, 贴近文明', both of which have different versions of English translations, most of them, though, suck. they go like:

One small step forward One giant leap toward civilization

A small step for man, A giant leap for mankind

Near the civilization Near the wall

close to civilization, Near to convenience

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Are there any ones you guys find suitable and making sense to a western people?

2 Answers 2

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The quote from your title:

'向前一小步,文明一大步。'

which literally translated to: "One small step forward, (is a) big step for civilization"

Is kind of a paraphrase of Neil Armstrong's "One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind" which translates, according to Wikiquote, to:

'这是我个人的一小步,却是全人类的一大步。'

However, as mentioned above, this is a euphemistic way of asking people to get closer to the urinals in order to keep the floor dry and clean.

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向前一小步, 文明一大步。
靠近方便, 贴近文明。

What they both want to say is: Please pee in the urinal, not on the floor.

They just say it in a very discreet Chinese way.

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