Joy of Proverbs

I LOVE Proverbs. And with the risk of overwhelming with this common and beautiful wisdom, I want to share… part of my collection (alphabetically arranged). Enjoy & share yours as well.



Great Proverbs

Nature, time, and patience are the three great physicians.
Bulgarian proverb

Eat well, drink in moderation, and sleep sound, in these three good health abound.
Latin Proverb

God heals, and the physician takes the fee.
French Proverb

Hygiene is two thirds of health.
Lebanese  Proverb

A stumble may prevent a fall.
English proverb

Do not look where you fell, but where you slipped.
African proverb

It's not what you call me, but what I answer to.
African proverb

A friend is a good mirror.
Irish proverb

Every cloud has a silver lining.
English Proverb

Everyone loves justice in the affairs of another.
Italian Proverb

Friends are lost by calling often and calling seldom.
French Proverb

Evil is sooner believed than good.
Proverb of Unknown Origin

If you wish to die young, make your physician your heir.
Romanian  Proverb

He who has health, has hope; and he who has hope, has everything.
Arabian Proverb

Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he'll eat forever. Chinese Proverb

There are more old drunkards than old doctors.
 French Proverb

Let your heart guide your head in evil matters.
Spanish Proverb

Life without a friend is death without a witness.
Spanish Proverb

Look before you leap.
John Heywood “The Proverbs of John Heywood” (1546)

Look down if you would know how high you stand.
Yiddish Proverb

Love enters a man through his eyes, woman through her ears.
Polish Proverb

Love makes the time pass. Time makes love pass.
French Proverb

Laws control the lesser man. Right conduct controls the greater one.
Chinese Proverb

Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come.
Chinese Proverb

Keep a thing for seven years and you'll find a use for it.
Irish Proverb

If a man deceives me once, shame on him; if he deceives me twice, shame on me.
Italian Proverb

It is hard to pay for bread that has been eaten.
Danish Proverb

It is not a secret if it is known by three people.
Irish Proverb

It is not enough to run, one must start in time.
French Proverb

God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers.
Jewish Proverb

Haste makes waste.
John Heywood “The Proverbs of John Heywood” (1546)

It is an equal failing to trust everybody, and to trust nobody.
English Proverb (18th century)

Have a horse of your own and then you may borrow another's.
Welsh Proverb

He is not wise that is not wise for himself.
English Proverb

If you wish to know the mind of a man, listen to his words.
Chinese Proverb

In a calm sea every man is a pilot.
Spanish Proverb

He that marries for money will earn it.
American  Proverb

He who serves two masters has to lie to one.
Portuguese  Proverb

He who would climb the ladder must begin at the bottom.
English Proverb

He that seeks trouble never misses.
English Proverb (17th century)

In  the  country  of  the  blind  the  one-eyed man  is  king.
Romanian  proverb

Do  not  stand  in  a  place  of  danger  trusting  in miracles.
Arabic  proverb

Of  all  the  strategems,  to  know  when  to  quit is  the  best.
Chinese  proverb

Vision  without  action  is  a  daydream,
action  without  vision  is  nightmare.
Japanese  proverb
 
If  speaking  is  silver,  than  listening  is  gold.
Turkish proverb

A  patient,  a  saved.
Croatian  proverb

Ask  the  experienced  rather  than  learned.
Arabic  proverb

Character  is  habit  long  continued.
Greek  proverb

Never  give  advice  in  a  crowd.
Arabic  proverb
Pray to God, but continue to row toward shore.
Russian Proverb

Call on God, but row away from the rocks.
Indian proverb

Learning is like rowing upstream: not to advance is to drop back.
Chinese proverb

Your true friend is the one who tells you the truth, not the one who believes you.
Arabian proverb

Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself
Chinese Proverb

To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.
Chinese Proverb

Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.
Chinese proverb

The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.
Chinese Proverb

We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.
English proverb

The beginning is the half of every action.
Greek proverb

A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book.
Irish proverb

May Trouble follow you all the days of your life … And never catch up!
Irish Blessing

The bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists.
Japanese proverb

The reverse side also has a reverse side.
Japanese Proverb

If you believe everything you read, you better not read.
Japanese proverb

One kind word can warm three winter months.
Japanese proverb

Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher.
Japanese proverb

Knowledge without wisdom is a load of books on the back of an ass.
Japanese proverb

What soap is for the body, tears are for the soul.
Jewish proverb


One can pay back the loan of gold, but one dies forever in debt to those who are kind.
Malayan Proverb

If you think little things don't matter, try to sleep with a mosquito in the hut.
Maori saying

Trust in Allah – but tie your camel tight!
Persian Proverb

Never advise anyone to go to war or to marry.
Spanish Proverb

Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you.
Spanish Proverb

Intense desire removes intelligence.
Swahili Proverb

Those who wish to sing always find a song.
Swedish proverb

A gentle word opens an iron gate
Bulgarian proverb

There would be miracles if youth could know and age could do
Bulgarian proverb

Years and sins are always more than owned.
Italian Proverb

Nodding the head does not row the boat.
Irish Prover

If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.
Chinese Proverb

To ask is no sin and to be refused is no calamity.
Russian Proverb

Many complain of their looks, but none of their brains.
Yiddish Proverb

“But” is a fence over which few leap.
German Proverb

To change and to improve are two different things.
German Prover

The discontented child cries for toasted snow.
Arab Proverb

After three days without reading, talk becomes flavorless.
Chinese Proverb

Great things are done more through courage than through wisdom.
German Proverb

Three helping one another will do as much as six men singly.
Spanish Proverb

A man should live if only to satisfy his curiosity.
Yiddish Proverb

He who cannot dance puts the blame on the floor.
Hindu Proverb

One sprinkles the most sugar where the tart is burnt.
Dutch Proverb

The shortest answer is doing.
English Prove

A dream grants what one covets when awake.
German Proverb

The work will teach you how to do it.
Bulgarian/Estonian Proverb

Other people's eggs have two yolks.
Bulgarian Proverb

Too far east is west.
English Proverb

It is by believing in roses that one brings them to bloom.
French Proverb

Wink at small faults, for you have great ones yourself.
Scottish Proverb

The way one eats is the way one works.
Czech Proverb

Do not protect yourself by a fence, but rather by your friends.
Czech Proverb

Who seeks a faultless friend remains friendless.
Turkish Proverb

He who gives to me teaches me to give.
Danish Proverb

Better one good thing that is than two good things that were.
Irish Proverb

Who does not thank for little will not thank for much.
Estonian Proverb

Nowhere are there more hiding places than in the heart.
German Proverb

One joy scatters a hundred griefs.
Chinese Proverb

A kind word is like a Spring day.
Russian Proverb

Charity looks at the need and not at the cause.
German Proverb

Life is an onion which one peels crying.
French proverb

If you would understand men, study women.
French proverb

What was hard to bear is sweet to remember.
Portuguese Proverb

A good rest is half the work.
Yugoslav Proverb

Bygone troubles are good to tell.
Yiddish Proverb

To be loved is the best way of being useful.
French Proverb

Sour, sweet, bitter, pungent, all must be tasted.
Chinese Proverb

Who is narrow of vision cannot be big of heart.
Chinese Proverb

If you want to drown yourself, don't torture yourself with shallow water.
Bulgarian Proverb

Seize opportunity by the beard, for it is bald behind.
Bulgarian proverb

A tree falls the way it leans.
Bulgarian  Proverb

A bird in the hand is worth two in a bush.
English Proverb

A country can be judged by the quality of its proverbs.
German Proverb

A clear conscience is a soft pillow.
German Proverb

A friend in need is a friend indeed
English Proverb

A good husband is healthy and absent.
Japanese  Proverb

A healthy man is a successful man.
French Proverb

A little too late, is much too late.
German Proverb

A man is not honest simply because he never had a chance to steal.
Yiddish Proverb

A prudent man does not make the goat his gardener.
Hungarian  Proverb

After shaking hands with a Greek, count your fingers.
Albanian Saying

A woman has the form of an angel, the heart of a serpent, and the mind of an ass.
German Proverb

A worthy woman is far more precious than jewels, strength and dignity are her clothing.
Bible - Proverbs 31

A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows the public opinion. Chinese Proverb

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
Proverb of Unknown Origin

All is well that ends well.
John Heywood “The Proverbs of John Heywood” (1546)

Better late than never.
John Heywood “The Proverbs of John Heywood” (1546)

Appetite comes with eating.
French Proverb

Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.
Chinese Proverb

Better no doctor at all than three.
Polish Proverb

As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.
Bible - Proverbs 23:7

Climb mountains to see lowlands.
Chinese Proverb

Curiosity killed the cat.
Proverb of Unknown Origin

Clouds gather before a storm.
Proverb of Unknown Origin

Deal with the faults of others as gently as with your own.
Chinese Proverb

Death always comes too early or too late
English Proverb

Don't imitate the fly before you have wings.
French Proverb

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
Proverb of Unknown Origin

Necessity is the mother of invention.
 Irish Proverb

Need teaches a plan.
 Irish Proverb

Never cut what can be untied.
 Portuguese Proverb

Never put off till tomorrow what may be done today.
 English Proverb

Night is the mother of council.
 Latin Proverb

No time like the present.
 English Proverb

Nothing is as burdensome as a secret.
 French Proverb

One of these day is none of these days.
 English Proverb

One should go invited to a friend in good fortune, and uninvited in misfortune.
 Swedish Proverb

Patience is poultice for all wounds.
 Irish Proverb

Patience is the best medicine.
 Proverb of Unknown Origin

Practice makes perfect.
 English Proverb

Riches run after the rich, and poverty runs after the poor.
 French Proverb

Set a thief to catch a thief.
 English Proverb

Silence was never written down.
 Italian Proverb

Small children give you headache; big children heartache.
 Russian Proverb

Some people are masters of money, and some its slaves.
 Russian Proverb

Take thy thoughts to bed with thee, for the morning is wiser than the evening.
 Russian Proverb

Speak the truth, but leave immediately after.
 Slovenian Proverb

Tell me who you live with and I will tell you who you are.
 Spanish Proverb

The best advice is found on the pillow.
 Danish Proverb

The best thing about a man is his dog.
 French Proverb

The darkest hour is that before the dawn.
 English Proverb

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
 Proverb of Unknown Origin

The light heart lives long.
 Irish Proverb

The man who strikes first admits that his ideas have given out.
 Chinese Proverb

The more the merrier.
 John Heywood “The Proverbs of John Heywood” (1546)

The morning is wiser than the evening.
 Russian Proverb

The palest ink is better than the best memory.
 Chinese proverb

The right man comes at the right time.
 Italian Proverb

The Russian knows the way, yet he asks for directions.
 Traditional German Saying

The silent dog is the first to bite.
 German Proverb

The smallest thing outlives the human being.
 Irish Proverb

The truth is not always what we want to hear.
 Yiddish Proverb

The tongue is more to be feared than the sword.
 Japanese Proverb

The well fed does not understand the lean.
 Irish Proverb

The whisper of a pretty girl can be heard further than the roar of a lion.
 Arabian Proverb

The wise man sits on the hole in his carpet.
 Persian Proverb

The wolf loses his teeth, but not his inclinations.
 Spanish Proverb

There are many paths to the top of the mountain, but the view is always the same.
 Chinese Proverb

There are only two types of Chinese – those who give bribes and those who take them.  Russian Proverb

There is but one good mother-in-law and she is dead.
 English Proverb

They who love most are least valued.
 English Proverb

Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night.
 William Blake “Proverbs of Hell” (1790)

Three diseases without shame: Love, itch and thirst.
 Irish Proverb

Three Spaniards, four opinions.
 Spanish Proverb

To be rich is not everything, but it certainly helps.
 Yiddish Proverb

To deny all, is to confess all.
 Spanish Proverb

To leave is to die a little.
 French Proverb

To lend is to buy a quarrel.
 Indian Proverb

To talk without thinking is to shoot without aiming.
 English Proverb (18th century)

To teach is to learn.
 Japanese Proverb

To whom you tell your secrets, to him you resign your liberty.
 Spanish Proverb

Today is the first day of the rest of your life.
 North American Saying

Tomorrow is a new day.
 English Proverb

Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week.
 Spanish Proverb

Tomorrow never comes.
 Proverb of Unknown Origin

True nobility is in being superior to your previous self.
  Hindustani Proverb

Trust in Allah, but tie your camel.
 Old Muslim Proverb

Truth and oil always come to the surface.
 Spanish Proverb

Truth is the safest lie.
 Jewish Proverb

Truth stands the test of time; lies are soon exposed.
 Bible - Proverbs 12:19

Truth will be out.
 Latin Proverb

Two heads are better than one.
 John Heywood “The Proverbs of John Heywood” (1546)

Two shorten the road.
 Irish Proverb

Want a thing long enough and you don't
 Chinese Proverb
Went in one ear and out the other.
 John Heywood “The Proverbs of John Heywood” (1546)

What belongs to everybody belongs to nobody.
 Spanish Proverb

What breaks in a moment may take years to mend.
 Swedish proverb

What one knows it is sometimes useful to forget.
 Latin Proverb

What you can not avoid, welcome.
 Chinese Proverb

When a father helps a son, both smile; but when a son must help his father, both cry.
 Jewish Proverb

When the apple is ripe it will fall.
 Irish Proverb

When the mouse laughs at the cat, there is a hole nearby.
 Nigerian Proverb

When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.
  Indian proverb

When we sing everybody hears us, when we sigh nobody hears us.
 Russian Proverb

Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth.
 Irish Proverb

Where there is love there is pain.
 Spanish Proverb

Who begins too much accomplishes little.
 German proverb

Who knows most speaks least.
 Spanish Proverb

Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.
 Greek proverb

Yesterday is but a dream, tomorrow is but a vision. But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to This Day. Sanskrit Proverb

You cannot reason with a hungry belly; it has no ears.
 Greek Proverb

You cannot unscramble eggs.
 North American Proverb

You have to kiss a lot of toads before you find a handsome prince.
 North American Proverb

Your health comes first; you can always hang yourself later.
 Yiddish Proverb

You must live with a person to know a person. If you want to know me come and live with me. Irish Proverb



Thanks to Herbie for triggering this thread and idea with his posting. :)

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