寧為雞頭，不做鳳尾 [宁为鸡头－－－凤－]

Jyutping ning4 wai4 gai1 tau4 ， bat1 zou6 fung6 mei5
Pinyin nìng wéi jī tóu ， bù zuò fèng wěi

Definitions (Wiktionary)
  1. phrase, idiomatic
    to prefer to stand out from a mediocre crowd than to be a nobody among an exceptional crowd