小事聰明，大事糊塗。

Penny wise, pound foolish.

Source: Tatoeba

Sentence Composition

1 小事 xiǎoshì
  1. trifle
  2. trivial matter

classifier: 點
=2 聰明 cōngming
  1. intelligent; clever; bright
  2. acute (of sight and hearing)
=2 聰明 cōngmíng
  1. (archaic, of hearing and vision) sharp; keen; perceptive
  2. clever; intelligent; smart; bright
  3. sharp; keen; perceptive
3 大事 dàshì
  1. major event
  2. major political event (war or change of regime)
  3. major social event (wedding or funeral)
  4. (do sth) in a big way

classifiers: 件, 樁
4 糊塗 hútu
  1. muddled
  2. silly
  3. confused