Proverbs in the Countries and Cultures
Afghanistan
Proverbs from Afghanistan
What you see in yourself is what you see in the world. ඔබ තුළින් ඔබ දකින දේ , ඔබට ලොව තුළින්ද දැකිය හැකිය. | |
There are twenty-five uncaught sparrows for a penny. අතට අල්ලා නොගත් කුරරුල්ලන් විසිපහක් වුවද, සතයට ගත හැකිය. | |
Don't show me the palm tree, show me the dates. මට ඉදි ගස නොපෙන්නා රටඉදි ගෙඩි පමණක් පෙන්වන්න. | |
Only stretch your foot to the length of your blanket. | |
No one says his own buttermilk is sour. තමන්ගේ මෝරු පිළුණු වෙලා යැයි කිසිවෙක් නොකියති. |
African culture
Proverbs from the African Culture
Do not look where you fell, but where you slipped. ඔබ වැටුනු තැන නොබලන්න. ලිස්සූ තැන බලන්න. | |
A wise man never knows all, only fools know everything නුවණැත්තා සියල්ල ගැන කිසිවක් නොදනී. එහෙත් මෝඩයා හැම දෙයම දනී. | |
Indecision is like a stepchild: if he does not wash his hands, he is called dirty, if he does, he is wasting water.කෙළින් තීරණයක් නොගැනීමත් හරියට මව-පියා නැති දරුවකු වාගෙයි. ඔහු අත නොසේදුවොත් කිළුට්ටෙකි. අත් සේදුවොත් වතුර නාස්ති කරන්නෙකි. | |
Only a fool tests the depth of the water with both feet. දෙපයම දමා වතුරේ ගැඹුර බැලිය හැක්කේ මෝඩයෙකුට පමණි. | |
Whatever accomplishment you boast of in the world, there is someone better than you. ඔබ හරි හැටි වැඩක් නිමා නොකොට ඒ ගැන කයිවාරු ගසයි නම්, ඔබට වඩා හොද අය ලොව කොතෙකුත් සිටිනු ඇත. |
Albania
Proverbs from Albania
The sun at home warms better than the sun elsewhere. | |
If you fear God, you won't fear humans. | |
He who hesitates, regrets. | |
Don't put gold buttons on a torn coat. | |
Patience is the key to paradise. |
Proverbs from Argentina
Children's love is like water in a basket. | |
No woman can make a wise man out of a fool, but every woman can change a wise man into a fool. | |
If you have a tail of straw, then keep away from the fire. | |
A man who develops himself is born twice. | |
A dog that barks all the time gets little attention. |
Proverbs from Armenia
The world is a pot, man but a spoon in it. | |
You are as many a person as languages you know. | |
How can one start a fast with baklava in one's hand. | |
The eagle was killed by an arrow made from its own feathers. | |
Clouds that thunder do not always rain. |
Azerbaijan |
Proverbs from Azerbaijan
One's own simple bread is much better than someone else's pilaf. | |
It's not shameful not to know, but it's shameful not to ask. | |
Cheap meat never makes a good soup. | |
Beauty is ten, nine of which is dressing. | |
Courage is ten, nine is the ability to escape. |
Proverbs from the Bantu* Culture
The earth is a beehive; we all enter by the same door but live in different cells.. | |
The eye never forgets what the heart has seen. | |
A good deed will make a good neighbor. | |
Whenever I work hard for other people, I always sleep on an empty stomach. | |
No man can paddle two canoes at the same time. |
Proverbs from Belgium
The horse must graze where it is tethered. | |
The beautiful is less what one sees than what one dreams. | |
He who does not wish for little things does not deserve big things. | |
Who sieves too much keeps the rubbish. | |
Weeds never perish. |
Proverbs from Benin
Anyone who sees beauty and does not look at it will soon be poor. | |
Before you ask a man for clothes, look at the clothes that he is wearing. | |
Words are like spears: Once they leave your lips they can never come back. | |
There is no god like one's stomach; we must sacrifice to it every day. | |
A great affair covers up a small matter. |
Proverbs from Bosnia & Herzegovina
A brave man seldom is hurt in the back. | |
The eyes of all cheats are full of tears. | |
When an ant gets wings, it loses its head | |
Two things rule the world -- reward and punishment. | |
Why would you use poison if you can kill with honey. |
Proverbs from Brazil
A wise man learns at the fool's expense. | |
He who knows nothing, doubts nothing. | |
The trees with most leaves will not necessarily produce juicy fruit. | |
Between the beginning and the end there is always a middle. | |
You can only take out of a bag what was already in it. |
Proverbs from Bulgaria
If you let everyone walk over you, you become a carpet. | |
If you wish to drown, do not torture yourself with shallow water. | |
Seize opportunity by the beard, for it is bald behind. | |
God promises a safe landing but not a calm passage. | |
Nature, time, and patience are the three great physicians. |
Proverbs from Burma
Beware of a man's shadow and a bee's sting. | |
The blind person never fears ghosts. | |
One sesame seed won't make oil. | |
A stupid act entails doing the work twice over. | |
A hero only appears once the tiger is dead. |
Proverbs from Cameroon
He who asks questions cannot avoid the answers. | |
A chattering bird builds no nest. | |
You come with a cat and call it a rabbit. | |
Rain does not fall on one roof alone. | |
By trying often, the monkey learns to jump from the tree. |
Proverbs from China
A man should choose a friend who is better than himself. There are plenty of acquaintances in the world; but very few real friends. | |
A maker of idols is never an idolater. | |
A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song. | |
A clever person turns great troubles into little ones and little ones into none at all. | |
A thorn defends the rose, harming only those who would steal the blossom. |
Proverbs from Congo (Kinshasa)
When the bee comes to your house, let her have beer; you may want to visit the bee's house some day. | |
A pretty basket does not prevent worries. | |
A cat goes to a monastery, but she still remains a cat. | |
Little by little grow the bananas. | |
No matter how full the river, it still wants to grow. |
Proverbs from Cuba
When the sun rises, it rises for everyone. | |
Believe only half of what you see and nothing of what you hear. | |
What is new is pleasing and what is old is satisfying. | |
Life is short but a smile takes barely a second. | |
Listen to what they say of the others and you will know what they say about you. |
Proverbs from Czech Republic
Do not choose your wife at a dance, but in the field among the harvesters. | |
Wisdom is easy to carry but difficult to gather. | |
Better a lie which heals than a truth which wounds. | |
Nothing seems expensive on credit. | |
Do not protect yourself with a fence, but rather by your friends. |
Proverbs from Denmark
Better to ask twice than to lose your way once. | |
A lazy boy and a warm bed are difficult to part. | |
He who builds according to every man's advice will have a crooked house. | |
Give to a pig when it grunts and a child when it cries, and you will have a fine pig and a bad child. | |
A single bag of money is stronger than two bags of truth. |
Proverbs from Egypt
Learn politeness from the impolite. | |
When the angels present themselves, the devils abscond. | |
False ambition serves the neck. | |
A beautiful thing is never perfect. | |
The barking of a dog does not disturb the man on a camel |
Proverbs from the English* Culture
Some men go through a forest and see no firewood. | |
A fool may ask more questions in an hour than a wise man can answer in seven years. | |
It is better to begin in the evening than not at all. | |
You never miss a slice from a cut loaf. | |
When a proud man hears another praised, he feels himself injured. |
Proverbs from Ethiopia
Advise and counsel him; if he does not listen, let adversity teach him. | |
What one hopes for is always better than what one has. | |
A single stick may smoke, but it will not burn. | |
The frog wanted to be as big as the elephant, and burst. | |
The witness of a rat is another rat. |
Proverbs from France
Wait until it is night before saying it has been a fine day. | |
There is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience. | |
With enough "ifs" we could put Paris into a bottle. | |
Write injuries in sand, kindnesses in marble. | |
People count up the faults of those who keep them waiting. |
Proverbs from the Gaelic* Culture
He that will not look forward must look behind. | |
A dimple on the chin, the devil within. | |
He who would enjoy the fruit must not spoil the blossoms. | |
Even God cannot make two mountains without a valley in between. | |
Assurance is two-thirds of success. |
Proverbs from Georgia
The rooster said, "I shall cry but whether the sun rises God knows." | |
The eyeless ant asked God: Give me eye-lashes. | |
God laughs at man's proposal. | |
You cackle in our place but you lay your eggs at someone else's place. | |
The cat which did not reach the sausage said: Anyhow it is Friday. |
Proverbs from Germany
Too clever is stupid. | |
God gives the nuts, but he does not crack them. | |
Begin to weave and God will give the thread. | |
A lean agreement is better than a fat lawsuit. | |
Flatters, like cats, lick and then scratch. |
Proverbs from Ghana
No one tests the depth of the river with both feet. | |
Hunger is felt by a slave and hunger is felt by a king. | |
If there were no elephant in the jungle, the buffalo would be a great animal. | |
If things are getting easier, maybe you're headed downhill. | |
Only when you have crossed the river can you say the crocodile has a lump on his snout. |
Proverbs from Greece
Great abilities produce great vices as well as virtues. | |
Men who have lost heart never yet won a trophy. | |
Men never moan over the opportunities lost to do good, only the opportunities to be bad. | |
Milk the cow, but do not pull off the udder. | |
First secure an independent income, then practice virtue. |
Proverbs from Guinea, Republic of
The man on his feet carries off the share of the man sitting down. | |
When a needle falls into a deep well, many people will look into the well, but few will be ready to go down after it. | |
When you wait for tomorrow it never comes. When you don't wait for it tomorrow still comes. | |
Save your fowl before it stops flapping. | |
He who has done evil, expects evil. |
Proverbs from Haiti
Beyond the mountain is another mountain. | |
Ignorance doesn't kill you, but it does make you sweat a lot. | |
The pencil of God has no eraser. | |
If someone sweats for you, you change his shirt. | |
Don't insult the alligator until you've crossed the river. |
Proverbs from the Hebrew* Culture
Teach thy tongue to say, "I do not know.". | |
If a word be worth one shekel, silence is worth two. | |
A little fire burns up a great deal of corn. | |
He that eats till he is sick must fast till he is well. | |
Poverty is a wonderful thing. It sticks to a man after all his friends have forsaken him. |
Proverbs from the Hindu* Culture
A man in this world without learning is as a beast of the field. | |
When a camel is at the foot of a mountain then judge of his height. | |
Among the blind, the squint rules. | |
When an elephant is in trouble even a frog will kick him. | |
Never strike your wife, even with a flower. |
Proverbs from Hungary
A prudent man does not make the goat his gardener. | |
The believer is happy; the doubter is wise. | |
When ambition ends, happiness begins. | |
Bargain like a gypsy, but pay like a gentleman. | |
A flatterer is a secret enemy. |
Proverbs from Iceland
Mediocrity is climbing molehills without sweating. | |
Useless wisdom is doulbe foolishness. | |
All old sayings have something in them. | |
He who lives without discipline dies without honor. | |
Everyone wants to live long, but no one wants to be called old. |
Proverbs from India
Life is a bridge. Cross over it, but build no house on it. | |
A person consists of his faith. Whatever is his faith, even so is he. | |
Don't bargain for fish which are still in the water. | |
Call on God, but row away from the rocks. | |
The cobra will bite you whether you call it cobra or Mr. Cobra. |