Quotes to inspire you, educate you, and entertain you. Inspirational quotes often spark people to action, please feel free to use these inspirational quotes - they are "public domain".
""The ultimate test of a man's conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard." " -- Gaylord Nelson
"If you want a change in your life - make a change in your life." -- unknown
"If you do the same thing over and over again you cannot ever expect a different outcome." -- Albert Einstein
"Human needs before corporate greeds." -- Dawn Teo
"A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose your job." -- Ronald Reagan
"A man's country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle; and patriotism is loyalty to that principle." -- George Curtis
"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall -- think of it, ALWAYS." -- Mahatma Gandhi
"The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems." -- Mahatma Gandhi
"If you don't know where you are going, you might end up someplace else." -- Yogi Bear
"Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt." -- William Shakespeare
"The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get less than you settled for." -- Maureen David
"Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there." -- Will Rogers
"Do not confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress." -- Alfred Montapert
"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do." -- John Wooden
"Somewhere someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a seed long ago." -- Warren Buffett
"I am more afraid of an army of 100 sheep led by a lion than an army of 100 lions led by a sheep." -- anonymous
"Leadership is getting people to work for you when they are not obligated." -- anonymous
"Leadership is action, not position." -- anonymous
"A leader is best when people barely know he exists, not so good when people obey and acclaim him, worse when they despise him....But of a good leader who talks little when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say, 'We did it ourselves.'" -- Lao Tzu
"The only test of leadership is that somebody follows." -- anonymous
"If you give a person a fish, they'll fish for a day. But if you train a person to fish, they'll fish for a lifetime." -- Dan Quayle, former U.S. Vice-President
"The internet is a great way to get on the net." -- Bob Dole, former Senator and candidate for U.S. President
"I invented the Internet." -- Al Gore, former U.S. Vice-President
"Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little." -- Edmund Burke
"You can't build your reputation on what you're going to do." -- Henry Ford
"Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success." -- Henry Ford
"The man who will use his skill and constructive imagination to see how much he can give for a dollar, instead of how little he can give for a dollar, is bound to succeed." -- Henry Ford
"There is one rule for the industrialist and that is: Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible." -- Henry Ford
"A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business." -- Henry Ford
"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal." -- Henry Ford
"If foreign countries specialize in high-skilled areas where we have an advantage, we could be worse off. I still have faith that globalization will make us better off, but it's no more than faith." -- Robert Z. Lawrence, Harvard University Economist
"It does [H-2B] allow employers to evade the basic rules of the capitalist market Typically, if you have a hard time finding workers, you have to offer better wages and working conditions to attract them. Employers in the H-2B program don't do that." -- Mary Bauer, legal director of the Virginia Justice Center for Farm and Immigrant Workers in Charlottesville
"Unlike the permanent and temporary labor certification programs, Congress did not include a requirement for a labor market test, or a no-layoff provision, under the H-1B program. Therefore, the Department does not have any information concerning employers' efforts to recruit U.S. workers for the position, nor are employers required to provide such information." -- Dale Ziegler, Division Chief of Foreign Labor Certifications, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -- Edmund Burke
"And let me offer lesson number one about America. All great change in America begins at the dinner table. So, tomorrow night in the kitchen, I hope the talking begins. And children, if your parents haven't been teaching you what it means to be an American,let 'em know and nail 'em on it. That would be a very American thing to do." -- Ronald Reagan's farewell speech when he left the office of the presidency
"What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?" -- Thomas Jefferson
"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." -- Samuel Adams
"I think there is one higher office than president and I would call that patriot." -- Gary Hart
"A real patriot is the fellow who gets a parking ticket and rejoices that the system works." -- Bill Vaughan
"This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in." -- Theodore Roosevelt
"This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave." -- Elmer Davis
"A man's country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle; and patriotism is loyalty to that principle." -- George William Curtis
"What is the essence of America? Finding and maintaining that perfect, delicate balance between freedom "to" and freedom "from."" -- Marilyn vos Savant, Parade Magazine
"In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility -- I welcome it." -- former President John F Kennedy
"Sure I wave the American flag. Do you know a better flag to wave? Sure I love my country with all her faults. I'm not ashamed of that, never have been, never will be." -- John Wayne
"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." -- Abraham Lincoln
"(W)e here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom; and that this government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." -- Abraham Lincoln
"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty." -- former President John F Kennedy
"When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, you do not wait until he has struck before you crush him. " -- former President Franklin D Roosevelt
"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman." -- Thomas Paine
"If there must be trouble let it be in my day, that my child may have peace." -- Thomas Paine
"I must follow the people because I am their leader." -- unknown
"A leader is a dealer in hope." -- Napoleon Bonaparte
"We must become the change we want to see." -- Gandhi
"Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime." -- Adlai Stevenson
"A politician will do anything to keep his job -- even become a patriot." -- William Hearst
"Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance." -- Samuel Johnson
"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." -- Mark Twain
"Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve." -- Dr Napoleon Hill
"An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind." -- Gandhi
"Democracy is not a spectator sport." -- unknown
"He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich-both come to poverty." -- Proverbs 22:16
"We're not creating jobs in the private sector in this country. That has never before happened in our history. Our economists and our politicians, our leaders, need to come up with answers, not dogma." -- Lou Dobbs
"The perfect slave is the slave who believes he is free." -- unknown
"A lie repeated a thousand times becomes the truth." -- anonymous
"When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time, a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it." -- unknown
"It is the duty of the patriot to protect his country from its government." -- Thomas Paine
"It is not the function of the government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error." -- Justice Robert H. Jackson, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
"When the government fears the people, you have liberty; when the people fear the government, you have tyranny." -- Thomas Jefferson
"The high office of President has been used to foment a plot to destroy the American's freedom, and before I leave office I must inform the citizen of his plight." -- President John F Kennedy, 10 days before his assassination
"It is not a matter of what is true that counts, but a matter of what is perceived to be true." -- Henry Kissenger
"The Federal Reserve banks are one of the most corrupt institutions the world has ever seen. There is not a man within the sound of my voice who does not know that this nation is run by the International Bankers." -- Congressman Louis T. McFadden, 1934
"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, (i.e., the "business cycle") the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." -- Thomas Jefferson
"If ever again our nation stumbles upon unfunded paper, it shall surely be like death to our body politic. This country will crash." -- George Washington, the first American President
"When a government is dependent upon bankers for money, they and not the leaders of the government control the situation, since the hand that gives is above the hand that takes...Money has no motherland; financiers are without patriotism and without decency; their sole object is gain." -- Napoleon
"I have never seen more Senators express discontent with their jobs...I think the major cause is that, deep down in our hearts, we have been accomplices in doing something terrible and unforgiveable to our wonderful country. Deep down in our heart, we know that we have given our children a legacy of bankruptcy. We have defrauded our country to get ourselves elected." -- Senator John Danforth
"If monopoly persists, monopoly will always sit at the helm of government. I do not expect monopoly to restrain itself. If there are men in this country big enough to own the government of the United States, they are going to own it." -- former President Woodrow Wilson
"I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the civilized world, no longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men." -- former President Woodrow Wilson
"Left and Right are monolithic ideas - colossal, abstract, and, as their religious origins suggest, cosmic. They are part of the darker side of humanity that replaces the specific with the general, the personal with the impersonal. If you wanted to find a way of making certain that people would have as little as possible in common, there would be no better way than to divide them, not into ten or three or four, but into two. Dual division turns the largest possible sections of humanity against one another, often causing neighbors and compatriots to have nothing to say to one another. No regeneration of community can begin without a careful demolition of Left and Right; nor can this tearing down be relinquished to academic abstraction, technical philosophy, government, corporations, or ideology. Nothing can be built without a new politics - least of all with a politics that refers outward to ideas of Heaven and Hell rather than inward to the experience of daily life." -- unknown
"If I told you I thought the world was controlled by a handful of capitalists and corporate bosses, you would say I was a left-winger, but if I told you who I thought the capitalists and corporate bosses were, you would say I was far right." -- anonymous
"Whomsoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolute master of all industry and commerce and when you realize that the entire system is very easily controlled, one way or another, by a few powerful men at the top, you will not have to be told how periods of inflation and depression originate."" -- former President James Garfield
"Permit me to issue and control the money of a nation and I care not who makes the laws" -- Mayer Amschel Rothschild, founder of the Rothschild international banking dynasty, 1790
"Unless you become more watchful in your states and check this spirit of monopoly and thirst for exclusive privileges, you will in the end find that the most important powers of government have been given or bartered away, and the control of your dearest interests have been passed into the hands of these corporations." -- Andrew Jackson
"We, the People, are the rightful masters of both the Congress and the Courts. Not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who have perverted it." -- Abraham Lincoln
"All the perplexities, confusions, and distresses in America arise, not from defects in the Constitution or confederation, not from want of honor or virtue, as much as from downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit, and circulation." -- John Adams
"We are undone, my dear sir, if legislation is still permitted which makes our money, much or little, real or imaginary, as the moneyed interests shall choose to make it." -- Thomas Jefferson
"I wish it were possible to obtain a single amendment to our Constitution - taking from the Federal government their power of borrowing." -- Thomas Jefferson
"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Already they have raised up a moneyed aristocracy that has set the government at defiance. The issuing power (of money) should be taken away from the banks and restored to the people to whom it properly belongs." -- Thomas Jefferson, 1787
"The only difference between the Republican and Democratic parties is the velocities with which their knees hit the floor when corporations knock on their door." -- Ralph Nader
"Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." -- George Washington, the first American President
"It is a travesty, in my mind, for the state and local governments on the one hand to expect the Federal government to reimburse them for costs attributable to illegal immigrants, when on the other hand the State and local governments prohibit their own law enforcement and other officials from cooperating with the Immigration and Naturalization Service to locate or apprehend or expel illegal aliens." -- former U.S. Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY)
"It is a travesty, in my mind, for the state and local governments on the one hand to expect the Federal government to reimburse them for costs attributable to illegal immigrants, when on the other hand the State and local governments prohibit their own law enforcement and other officials from cooperating with the Immigration and Naturalization Service to locate or apprehend or expel illegal aliens." -- former U.S. Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY)
"We will never regain control of our borders until we have an effective employer sanctions program." -- Rep. Romano L Mazzoli (D-KY)
"Labor dynamics are changing. Major companies can now hire people with top skills for $60,000 a year. We don't need people on H-1Bs anymore. We can replenish staff from our own population." -- 2002, Howard Rubin, former technology advisor to the President
"There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. ...The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities" -- former President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt
"In 1992, the federal Government actually issued more work authorizations to immigrants and temporary foreign workers than the net number of new jobs created by our economy. Something is fundamentally wrong when we have millions of American citizens and legal residents begging for jobs, and yet we are admitting thousands and thousands of immigrants a year with virtually no consideration to our employment needs or their employment skills." -- Senator Harry Reid (D-NV)
"The biggest challenge of public policy is to know when and how the world has changed. We are no longer an empty continent with endless absorptive capacity. We have a cash-wage economy that is having terrible problems finding jobs for its own people. The concern about immigration is not nativism but common sense." -- Richard Lamm, former Governor of Colorado
"There's no shortage of IT workers, there's a shortage of IT leadership." -- Field, CEO of the Feld Group, former CIO of Delta Airlines, former CIO of Frito Lay
"I don't look at this from an economic point of view but the political and social points of view. The question really is whether America can remain a great power or a dominant power if it becomes a primarily service economy, and I doubt that. A country has to have an industrial base in order to play a significant role in the world. And I am concerned from that point of view." -- Henry Kissenger 16-July-2003
"If we can't control our own borders, how on earth can we call ourselves a sovereign nation?" -- Pete Wilson, former California Governor
"I estimate that the trade deficit is five times the 500 billion that we declare. There is no way of knowing how much of an exported item was made from imports." -- Rep. Donald Manzulo (R-IL), U.S. Congressman
"The artificial inflation of the low-skilled agricultural labor market has encouraged farmers to plant more labor-intensive crops and has retarded the technological progress of American agriculture." -- CIS
""It has become increasingly evident that the H-1B program is being utilized by some as the basis for building businesses which are dependent on the labors of foreign workers, in some cases in unfair competition with U.S. workers and those U.S. businesses that employ mostly domestic workers." -- Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor
"We teach our children to respect the law, but nearly 4 million illegal immigrants in our country break it every day. And Washington actually rewards these law-breakers by forcing states to give them benefits paid for by the taxpayers." -- Pete Wilson, former California Governor
"When my colleagues get a letter from a constituent who has been displaced by temporary foreign guest workers, they should write back to them and say, 'It is the policy of this government to displace you, to move you into a lower economic income category, because we believe in cheap labor and we believe the politics of open borders helps our party." -- Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO), U.S. Congressman
"We have seen numerous instances in which American businesses have brought in foreign skilled workers after having laid off skilled American workers, simply because they can get the foreign workers more cheaply. It has become a major means of circumventing the costs of paying skilled American workers or the costs of training them." -- Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor
"It is obviously easier, for the short run, to draw cheap labor from adjacent pools of poverty...than to find it among one's own people. And to the millions of such prospective immigrants from poverty to prosperity, there is, rightly or wrongly, no place that looks more attractive than the United States. Given its head, and subject to no restrictions, this pressure will find its termination only when the levels of overpopulation and poverty in the United States are equal to those of the countries from which these people are now so anxious to escape." -- George F Kenan, U.S. Ambassador
"The tragic flaw in free trade is that only the U.S. practices it." -- Wilbur Ross, American economist
"When I learned of Tata Consultancy Services' intentions to expand its company, I thought immediately of Buffalo and dedicated myself to showing the company all that the region had to offer. TCS could have located anywhere in the country. I am proud but not surprised that they chose Buffalo." -- U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton (2003)
"We need an immigration policy that matches any willing employer with any willing employee." -- President George Bush Jr (March 2004), President of the United States
"Americans get upset at our exporting jobs, but what is the difference between exporting a job and importing a new worker. Cheap labor is like heroin, addictive!" -- former Colorado Governor Richard Lamm
"The issue is not who you go to bed with at night. The issue is whether either of you will have a job to go to in the morning." -- Reverend Al Sharpton, former U.S. presidential nominee (D)
"The people who consume the bulk of goods are the (same) people who make them. That is a fact we must never forget - that is the secret of our prosperity." -- Henry Ford
"And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor." -- The U.S. Declaration of Independence
"If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed, if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a small chance of survival. There may even be a worse case: you may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves." -- Woodrow Wilson, former American President
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident." -- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 - 1860)
"Todays impossibilities are tomorrows miracles." -- Dr. Robert H Schuller
"All that it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing." -- Sir Edmund Burke
"True compassion is more than flinging a coin at a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring." -- Reverend Dr. Matin Luther King Jr.
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." -- Theodore Roosevelt, former American President
"All The News Thats Fit to Print." -- New York Times Slogan
"I challenge anybody to show me an example of bias in Fox News Channel" -- Rupert Murdoch
"Rules are written for those who lack the ability to truly reason. But for those who can, rules become nothing more than guidelines, and live their lives governed not by rules but by reason." -- James McGuigan
"What journalism is really about - it's to monitor power and the centres of power." -- Amira Hass
"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
"If you come only to help me, you can go back home. But if you consider my struggle as part of your struggle for survival, then maybe we can work together." -- An Aboriginal Wise Woman
"Every corner of the public psyche is canvassed by some of the most talented citizens to see if the desire for some merchandisable product can be cultivated." -- John Kenneth Galbraith
"Most of the things worth doing in the world have been declared impossible before they were done." -- L Brandeis
"Is there any man, is there any woman, let me say any child here that does not know that the seed of war in the modern world is industrial and commercial rivalry?" -- President Woodrow Wilson
"I destroy my enemy by making him my friend." -- Abraham Lincoln, former American President
"There's enough on this planet for everyone's needs but not for everyone's greed." -- Mahatma Gandhi
"Freedom is not merely the opportunity to do as one pleases; neither is it merely the opportunity to choose between set alternatives. Freedom is, first of all, the chance to formulate the available choices, to argue over them -- and then, the opportunity to choose." -- C. Wright Mills
"An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind." -- Mahatma Gandhi
"No! Try Not -- Do, or Do Not; There is no Try." -- Yoda
"Corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed." -- Abraham Lincoln, former American President
"Bad ideas flourish because they are in the interest of powerful groups." -- Paul Krugman
"Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime." -- Chinese proverb
"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist." -- Dom Helda Camara
"If I had 6 hours to cut down a tree, I would spend 4 hours sharpening my axe!" -- Old Chinese Martial Arts Master
Patriotic Quotes and Sayings
Men in authority will always think that criticism of their policies is dangerous. They will always equate their policies with patriotism, and find criticism subversive.
Author: Henry Steele
Most people, sometime in their lives, stumble across truth. Most jump up, brush themselves off, and hurry on about their business as if nothing had happened.
Author: Sir Winston Churchill
You can't get rid of poverty by giving people money.
Author: P.J O'Rourke
If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquillity of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.
Author: Samuel Adams
In the beginning of a change, the Patriot is a scarce man, Brave, Hated, and Scorned. When his cause succeeds however,the timid join him, For then it costs nothing to be a Patriot.
Author: Mark Twain
It is not the function of the government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Author: Robert H. Parker
To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.
Author: Thomas Jefferson
To disarm the people (is) the best and most effectual way to enslave them...
Author: George Mason
True patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else.
Author: Clarence Seward Darrow
We are not weak, if we make proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power... The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.
Author: Patrick Henry
It is our duty still to endeavor to avoid war; but if it shall actually take place, no matter by whom brought on, we must defend ourselves. If our house be on fire, without inquiring whether it was fired from within or without, we must try to extinguish it.
Author: Thomas Jefferson
Laws that forbid the carrying of arms...disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes...Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.
Author: Thomas Jefferson
One of the great attractions of patriotism -- it fulfills our worst wishes. In the person of our nation we are able, vicariously, to bully and cheat. Bully and cheat, what's more, with a feeling that we are profoundly virtuous.
Author: Aldous Leonard Huxley
Arabian Proverbs
A book is a garden carried in the pocket.
A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.
A book that remains shut, is but a block.
A kind word can attract even the snake from his nest.
A little and a little, collected together, becomes a great deal; the heap in the barn consists of single grains, and drop and drop makes an inundation.
A little bird wants but a little nest.
A little body doth often harbour a great soul.
A little debt makes a debtor, a great one an enemy.
A man profits more by the sight of an idiot than by the orations of the learned.
All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are moveable, and those that move.
Beware of one who flatters unduly; he will also censure unjustly.
Compete, don't envy.
Death is a black camel that lies down at every door. Sooner or later you must ride the camel.
Death is a black camel which kneels at every man's gate.
Diligence is a great teacher.
Diligence is the mother of good luck.
Do not cut down the tree that gives you shade.
Fear not the man who fears God.
I am a prince and you are a prince; who will lead the donkeys?.
If begging should unfortunately be thy lot, knock at the large gates only.
If you have much, give of your wealth; if you have little, give of your heart.
If you stop every time a dog barks, your road will never end.
Judge a man by the reputation of his enemies.
Judge not of a ship as she lies on the stocks.
Know each other as if your were brothers; negotiate deals as if you were strangers to each other.
Knowledge acquired as a child is more lasting than an engraving on stone.
Knowledge is a treasure, but practice is the key to it.
No man is a good physician who has never been sick.
One coin in the money-box makes more noise than when it is full.
Salt will never be worm-eaten.
Search knowledge though it be in China.
Silence is the best answer to the stupid. The fool has his answer on the tip of his tongue.
Sinning is the best part of repentance.
Sins of omission are seldom fun.
The different sorts of madness are innumerable.
The difficult is done at once, the impossible takes a little longer.
The hasty and the tardy meet at the ferry.
The hasty angler loses the fish.
The hasty hand catches frogs for fish.
Throw a lucky man in the sea, and he will come up with a fish in his mouth.
Throw dirt enough, and some will stick.
Trust in God, but tie your camel.
Trust makes way for treachery
A chameleon does not leave one tree until he is sure of another.
A change is as good as a rest.
A foolish man may be known by six things: Anger without cause, speech without profit, change without progress, inquiry without object, putting trust in a stranger, and mistaking foes for friends.
A friend advises in his interest, not yours.
A horse of good breed is not dishonored by his saddle.
A horse that will not carry a saddle must have no oats.
A house divided cannot stand.
A known mistake is better than an unknown truth.
A mouth that praises and a hand that kills.
A secret is like a dove: when it leaves my hand it takes wing.
A sense of humor is the pole that adds balance to our steps as we walk the tightrope of life.
A wise man associating with the vicious becomes an idiot; a dog traveling with good men becomes a rational being.
Arrogance diminishes wisdom.
Arrogance is a weed that grows mostly on a dunghill.
Ask the experienced rather than the learned.
Ask thy purse what thou should'st buy.
At the narrow passage there is no brother and no friend.
Believe what you see and lay aside what you hear.
Call someone your lord and he'll sell you in the slave market.
Do not buy either the moon or the news, for in the end they will both come out.
Eat whatever thou likest, but dress as others do.
Eat whatever you like, but dress as others do.
Every ambitious man is a captive and every covetous one a pauper.
Every day of your life is a page of your history.
Every sun has to set.
Give a man some cloth and he'll ask for some lining.
He fasted for a whole year and then broke his fast with an onion.
He who peeps at the neighbor's window may chance to lose his eyes.
He who plants thorns must never expect to gather roses.
He who sees the calamity of other people finds his own calamity light.
If a poor man ate it, they would say it was because of his stupidity.
Many are the roads that do not lead to the heart.
Meaningless laughter is a sign of ill-breeding.
Measure your guilt, then stretch your legs.
Meat and mass never hindered man.
No crowd ever waited at the gates of patience.
No cure, no pay.
Older than you by a day, wiser than you by a year.
One hand cannot applaud.
One hand for oneself and one for the ship.
Only the tent pitched by your own hands will stand.
Only three things in life are certain birth, death and change.
Patience is beautiful.
Proverbs are the lamp of speech.
Seek counsel of him who makes you weep, and not of him who makes you laugh.
Seven trades but no luck.
Shall the gosling teach the goose to swim?
Shallow waters mak' maist din.
The ass went seeking for horns and lost his ears.
The dogs may bark but the caravan moves on.
The fool has his answer on the tip of his tongue.
The fruit of silence is tranquility.
The fruit of timidity is neither gain nor loss.
The frying-pan says to the kettle, "Avaunt, black brows!"
The hand of God is with the group.
The knife of the family does not cut.
The mind is for seeing, the heart is for hearing.
The one-eyed person is a beauty in the country of the blind.
The sinning is the best part of repentance.
The wound of words is worse than the wound of swords.
The wound that bleedeth inwardly is the most dangerous.
The wrath of brothers is fierce and devilish.
The young goose is a good swimmer.
Think of the going out before you enter.
Visit rarely, and you will be more loved.
What is learned in youth is carved in stone.
What is learnt in the cradle lasts to the grave.
When a door opens not to your knock, consider your reputation.
When what you want doesn't happen, learn to want what does.
Who does not go with you, go with him.
Wishing does not make a poor man rich.
Wit is folly unless a wise man hath the keeping of it.
Write the bad things that are done to you in sand, but write the good things that happen to you on a piece of marble.
You are like a tree, giving your shade to the outside.
Your tongue is like a horse--if you take care of it, it takes care of you; if you treat it badly, it treats you badly.
American Proverbs
A dog is a man's best friend.
A dose of adversity is often as needful as a dose of medicine.
A girl with cotton stockings never sees a mouse.
A malignant sore throat is a danger; a malignant throat not sore is worse.
A man can die just once.
A man can't do more than he can do. What says Don Ferdinando?
A man is as big as the things that made him mad.
A man never becomes an orator if he has something to say.
A miss is as good as a mile.
A poor man is always behind.
A tree never hits an automobile except in self defense.
All men are fools, but all fools are not men.
All men are not cast in the same mold.
An American will go to hell for a bag of coffee.
Bad news travels fast.
Bad planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.
Bad the crow, bad the egg.
Boys will be boys.
By the yard, life is hard. By the inch, it's a cinch.
Christmas comes, but once a year is enough.
Close, but no cigar.
Crap or get off the pot.
Don't close the barn door after the horse runs away.
Don't cry over spilt milk.
Don't cry till you are out of the wood.
Don't cut off your nose to spite your face.
Don't hide your light under a bushel.
Don't judge a book by its cover.
Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
Don't throw out the baby with the bath water.
Don't throw out your dirty water until you get in fresh.
Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Don't upset the apple cart.
Don't use a lot where a little will do.
Easy come, easy go.
Easy does it.
Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we shall die.
Even a dog knows the difference between being stumbled over and being kicked.
Every man has a fool up his sleeve.
Every man has one black patch, and some have two.
Every man hath a fool in his sleeve.
Every man hath his hobby-horse.
Feed a cold, starve a fever.
Feed sparingly and defy the physician.
Fish or cut bait.
For age and want save while you may, no morning sun lasts a whole day.
Free ships, free goods.
From little acorns mighty oaks do grow.
Gold is where you find it.
Good fences make good neighbors.
Here today, gone tomorrow.
Honesty is like an icicle; if once it melts that is the end of it.
I am just as good as you are, and a damned sight better.
I'd rather be red than dead.
I'd rather have them say "There he goes" than "Here he lies.".
If you can't lick 'em, join 'em.
If you can't ride two horses at once, you shouldn't be in the circus.
If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
Ignorance is a form of environmental pollution.
Ignorance is bliss.
In God we trust; all others pay cash.
In politics, a man must learn to rise above principle.
It takes a thief to catch a thief.
It takes nine months to have a baby, no matter how many people you put on the job.
It takes one to know one.
It takes three generation to make a gentleman.
It takes two to make a bargain.
Leave well enough alone.
Leaves enough, but few grapes.
Let the big dog eat.
Loose lips sink ships.
Love many, trust few and always paddle your own canoe.
Make love, not war.
Man can't live in this world alone.
Man cannot live by bread alone.
Man is greater than the tools he invents.
Man is like a banana: when he leaves the bunch, he gets skinned.
Man is the only animal who can be skinned twice.
Many speak much who cannot speak well.
Men apt to promise are apt to forget.
Men are blind in their own cause.
Men seek less to be instructed than applauded.
Men that have much business must have much pardon.
Never be content with your lot. Try for a lot more.
Never miss a good chance to shut up.
Never say die.
Never swap horses crossing a stream.
Never trouble trouble till trouble troubles you.
Of two evils, it is always best to vote for the less hypocritical.
Old age is ripeness.
Once bitten, twice shy.
Opportunities, like eggs, come one at a time.
Paddle your own canoe.
Pain is forgotten where gain comes.
Poets are born, not made.
Practice what you preach.
Praise makes a bad man worse.
Put up or shut up.
Put your money where your mouth is.
Put your trust in God, and keep your powder dry.
Putting the cart before the horse.
Quarreling dogs come halting home.
Republicans will do anything for the poor except get off their backs.
Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.
Silence is golden, speech is silver.
Silence is golden.
Stand up, cent, let the dollar sit down.
Step on a crack break your mother's back.
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.
Stopping at third base adds no more to the score than striking out.
Take care of your pennies and your dollars will take care of your widow's next husband.
Take the bitter with the sweet.
Talk is cheap but it takes money to buy whiskey.
Talk is cheap.
The bad gardener quarrels with his rake.
The bad workman blames his tools.
The cemeteries are filled with people who thought the world couldn't get along without them.
The chickens have come home to roost.
The child is the father of the man.
The most dangerous food is a wedding cake.
The mountains are never so far apart but the animals find one another.
The reason some people are stingy is also the reason they are rich.
The receiver is as bad as the thief.
The show must go on.
The wish is the father of the deed.
The worm turns.
Time heals all wounds.
Turnabout is fair play.
Two's company, three's a crowd.
Variety is the spice of life.
We may give advice, but we cannot give conduct.
What a story these old walls could tell.
When pleasure interferes with business, give up business.
Where there's smoke, there's fire.
Wishes won't wash dishes.
You can't fit a round peg in a square hole.
You can't unscramble an egg.
You don't put robbers to work in a bank.
You made your bed, now lie in it.
You make a mountain of a mole-hill.
If the mountain doesn't move, move the route around the mountain.
The blacker the berry the sweeter the juice.
Indonesian Proverbs
[A]
"Ada asap ada api."
Where there is smoke, there is fire
Meaning: There's a cause of everything.
"Ada gula ada semut."
Where there is sugar, there are ants
Meaning: People tend to be attracted to what most benefits them
"Ada tahi ada lalat."
Where there is shit, there are flies
Meaning: People tend to be attracted to what most benefits them
"Ada udang di balik batu."
There is a shrimp behind the stone
Meaning: There are hidden purposes behind an act
"Air beriak tanda tak dalam."
Water with ripple is shallow
Meaning: People with much ado usually don't know much/shallow
"Air cucuran jatuhnya ke pelimbahan juga."
Water drips from the roof will eventually go to the reservoir
Meaning similar to "Like father like son" or "An apple never falls far from the tree"
"Air dicincang tak putus."
Water minced will not get separated.
Meaning: Like the seaweed that clings to each other after each passing boat separates them, so too a family will come together with the passing of each crisis.
See also: "Biduk lalu kiambang bertaut."
"Air susu dibalas dengan air tuba."
Milk is repaid with poison
Meaning: A good deed that is repaid by a bad deed
"Air tenang menghanyutkan."
Still water runs deep.
Meaning: Never underestimate a quiet person, for he may have qualities that belie his quiet nature.
"Air tenang jangan disangka tiada buaya"
Never think that still water doesn't have crocodiles.
Meaning: Never take for granted a quiet person, for he may have qualities that belie his quiet nature.
"Anak dipangku dilepaskan, beruk di rimba disusukan."
A child in the lap is let go, a monkey from the forest is nursed instead.
Meaning: Changing priorities.
"Alah bisa karena biasa."
Practice makes perfect.
Meaning: If we do a lot of practice we can do a good job.
"Anjing menggonggong, kafilah tetap berlalu."
The dogs are barking, the caravan moves on
Meaning: Useless protest, critic, or sarcasm.
"Asam di gunung, garam di laut bertemu dalam satu belanga."
Tamarind in the mountain, salt in the sea meet in a cauldron.
Tamarind and salt are two of the most important and frequently used spices in Indonesia.
Meaning: Even things that are far apart can meet as one. Usually used to settle differences between two rivalries or to express a relationship from two very different entities. Or, in the context of match-making, even two persons of different backgrounds / from
distant places can meet and eventually get married.
[B]
"Bagai air di daun talas."
As if water on talas leaf.
Daun talas has a thin waxy layer and therefore is waterproof.
Meaning: Two things that never get along.
Sometimes used for a person who does not have a firm conviction.
"Bagai aur dengan tebing"
Like the bamboo and the river bank
Meaning: Each is dependent on the other for their mutual survival.
See also: "Bagai kuku dengan isi".
"Bagai kerakap di atas batu, hidup segan mati tak mau."
As if kerakap leaf on a rock, unwilling to live, unwilling to die.
Kerakap is a wide leaf of sirih tree and is extraordinarily resilient and long lasting. However, as with other leafs, once it's plucked off from the tree, it's bound to die.
Meaning: Fighting a losing battle.
"Bagai kuku dengan isi."
Like the fingernail and the flesh beneath.
Meaning: Each is dependent on the other for their mutual survival.
See also: "Bagai aur dengan tebing".
"Bagai makan buah simalakama."
As if eating Simalakama fruit.
The story says that if one is presented with the fruit of Simalakama: If he eats it, his father would die, otherwise his mother would die instead.
Meaning: In a no-win situation where all the possible solutions present has terrible consequence(s).
"Bagai mendapat durian runtuh."
As if receiving falling durian fruits.
Meaning: When a durian tree is already ripe and sweet, many of the durians will fall to the ground. This proverb refers to someone who has suddenly gained much wealth.
"Bagai menatang minyak yang penuh."
Like carrying a cupful of oil.
Meaning: A person who is extremely cautious in doing something. Often used to describe one's love for a child.
"Bagai pungguk merindukan bulan."
Like an owl craving for the moon.
Meaning: A person who wish for something impossible.
"Bagai telur diujung tanduk."
As an egg on the tip of a horn.
Meaning: In a very critical situation as the egg will soon tip-over and fall.
"Bagaikan air dengan minyak."
Like water and oil.
Meaning: Does not mix well together.
"Berakit-rakit ke hulu, berenang-renang ke tepian. Bersakit-sakit dahulu, bersenang-senang kemudian."
Rafting up the stream, swimming to its edge. Getting pains first, having fun next."
Often, both couplet are cited. Sometimes just the first couplet. Rafting up the stream signifies arduous effort, swimming (downhill) is the fun and easy part.
Meaning: No pain no gain.
"Berat sama dipikul, ringan sama dijinjing."
Heavy we shoulder together, light we hand-carry together.
Meaning: Collaboration, sharing of burden irrespective of the weight.
"Bermain air basah, bermain api hangus."
Playing with water, wet. Playing with fire, burned.
Meaning: Every action has its consequences.
"Bersakit-sakit dahulu bersenang-senang kemudian."
The second couplet of "Berakit-rakit ke hulu, berenang-renang ke tepian."
Meaning: No pain no gain.
"Bersatu kita teguh, bercerai kita runtuh."
United we stand, divided we fall
"Besar pasak dari pada tiang."
The peg is greater than the stake
In camping, pegs for the camp should be smaller than the stakes. It would be a waste if we make the pegs greater than the stakes.
Meaning: Expense is bigger than income.
"Biduk lalu kiambang bertaut."
Hull gets past seaweed gets together again.
Meaning: Like the seaweed that clings to each other after each passing boat separates them, so too a family will come together with the passing of each crisis.
See also: "Air dicincang tak putus"
"Buruk muka cermin dibelah."
Ugly face, the mirror is split.
Meaning: Blaming the wrong reason/cause or creating a scapegoat.
[D]
"Dimana ada kemauan, di situ ada jalan."
Where there is a will, there is a way
"Dimana bumi dipijak, disitu langit dijunjung."
Wherever we stand, we have to hold the sky
Meaning: Wherever we live, we must observe the local custom.
"Dimana tak da lang, aku lah lang, kata belalang."
Where there are no eagles, I am the one, said the grasshopper.
Here's a rhyming play in the proverb. The first and second "lang" are Eagle = Elang, which rhymes with Grasshopper = Belalang.
Meaning: Where's no top dogs, underdogs will be seen as one.
"Duduk sama rendah, tegak sama tinggi."
Sitting the same low, standing the same height
Meaning: Equality, emancipation.
"Dunia tak selebar daun kelor."
The world isn't as wide as kelor leaves.
Meaning: The opposite of It's A Small World.
Usually to comfort a broken heart, suggesting "Hey, there are still plenty of girls/guys out there."
[G]
"Gajah bertarung lawan gajah, pelanduk mati di tengah-tengah."
Elephants wage war against elephants, deers die in the midst
Meaning: When prominent persons fights, commoners would suffer.
"Gajah di pelupuk mata tak tampak, semut diseberang lautan tampak."
An elephant on the eyelid can't be seen, but an ant on the other side of the sea can.
Meaning: An egoistic person can't realize his/her own mistakes, but can always find mistakes of others
"Gajah mati meninggalkan gadingnya, macan mati meninggalkan belangnya, manusia mati meninggalkan namanya."
An elephant dies leaves its tusk, a tiger dies leaves its stripes, a person dies leaves his/her name.
Meaning: Someone will be remembered by his/her accolades.
"Guru kencing berdiri, murid kencing berlari."
The teacher urinates while standing, the pupil urinates while running."
Meaning: A junior will always mimic/do what the senior does.
[H]
"Habis manis sepah dibuang."
Literally: Habis = Finished, Manis = Sweet, Sepah = Tasteless, Dibuang = Thrown away.
Illustrated when someone is enjoying sugar canes: After the sweet part is finished and becomes tasteless, the cane is thrown away.
Meaning: We only call our friends if we need help, and we don't help our friends in need (egoistic act)
"Hati gajah sama dilapah, hati tungau sama dicecah"
Translation: An elephant is still an elephant when flayed; a flea is still a flea if you proke at it.
Meaning: You get what you get - if you get a lot of something, then you have a lot, if you get a small amount of something, you only have a small amount.
[I]
"Ingin hati memeluk gunung, apa daya tangan tak sampai."
Translation: The will of the heart is to hug the mountain, but the arm is not long enough.
Meaning: This proverb is often used to illustrate a person who does not have enough resources to do/accomplish his goal/wish.
[J]
"Jadilah kumbang, hidup sekali di taman bunga, jangan jadi lalat, hidup sekali di bukit sampah."
Be a bee, lived once in a flowery garden, not a fly, lived once in heaps of garbage.
Meaning: Live a good and useful life.
"Jadilah orang pandai bagai padi yang merunduk."
Be a smart man, like drooping paddy.
Paddy droops more as it matures since its kernel is getting heavier.
Meaning: To be a smart man you need to be humble. Or: A smart man is usually humble. See Tong kosong nyaring bunyinya.
[K]
"Kacang lupa kulitnya."
Translation: A nut forgets its shell
This proverb is often used to illustrate a person who forgets where he/she come from (e.g. hometown, family, heritage, etc.)
"Kalah jadi abu, menang jadi arang."
Translation: Loser becomes ashes, winner becomes (burnt) coal.
This proverb is often used to illustrate a lose/lose situation, where both winner and loser gain nothing from the conflict.
"Kalau tak ingin terlimbur pasang, jangan berumah di tepi laut."
If you don't want to get flooded, don't build a house next to the sea.
"Kalo di hutan tak ada singa, beruk rabun bisa menjadi raja."
If there were no lion in the jungle, a blind monkey can be king.
"Karena mulut badan binasa."
Because of the mouth the body is destroyed.
"Karena nila setitik, rusak susu sebelanga."
One drop of indigo stains the whole cauldron of milk.
The word "indigo" here means something like ink.
Meaning: one ill behaviour may cause others to forget the kindness we've done.
"Kasih anak sepanjang galah, kasih ibu sepanjang jalan."
The love from a child is as long as a stick, the love from a mother is as long as a road
Meaning: A mother's love is neverending
"Ke gunung sama mendaki, ke lurah sama menurun."
Together we climb the mountain, together we climb down the hill
Meaning: Together in good and bad times
"Keluar mulut harimau, masuk mulut buaya."
Out from the tiger's mouth, into the crocodile's mouth.
Meaning: To describe a person who has just gotten out from a precarious situation just to get into another precarious situation.
"Kemarau setahun dihapuskan hujan sehari."
A year of dry season (summer) is erased by a day of rain
Meaning: A long dispute has been forgoten by love, or sometimes a long time of goodness has been forgotten by one badness.
"Kepala boleh panas, tetapi hati harus tetap dingin."
Head can be heated but heart must stay cool.
Meaning: No matter how stressed or angry we are, we have to solve a problem with rationale.
Meaning: A dispute can only be resolved by discussing the problem openly and coolly.
"Kepala sama hitam, isi hati siapa tahu."
The hair is all colored the same (black in this case), but no one will know the inside of one's heart
Meaning: A different way of thingking in every person
[L]
"Lain ladang lain belalang, lain lubuk lain ikannya."
Different fields have different insect, different ponds have different fish.
Meaning: Different people have different personality.
Meaning: Different background means different thinking.
Meaning: Different culture means different custom.
"Lancar kaji karena diulang, lancar jalan karena ditempuh."
We spell fluently because we keep repeating it. We know the route because we pass it often.
Meaning: Be dilligent in learning.
"Lebih baik satu burung ditangan dari pada sepuluh burung dipohon."
Better one bird in the hand than 10 birds on the tree.
Meaning: Better something than nothing.
"Lempar batu sembunyi tangan."
Throw a stone but hide the hand.
Meaning: Someone who doesn't want to be responsible for his/her doing.
"Luka di kaki, sakit seluruh badan."
A pain in the feet, the whole body feels it.
Meaning: To describe a unity of a society.
[M]
"Malu bertanya, sesat di jalan."
Embarrassed to ask will result in getting lost.
Meaning: Asking question is the only way to learn
"Mati satu tumbuh seribu."
One dead replaced by one thousand.
Used to describe the undying spirit of a movement (for instance during the struggle for independence)
Also: "Gugur satu tumbuh seribu." The word 'gugur' means similar as 'mati' (die), but it usually relates only with dead leaves (when a leaf dries it will fall from its tree) or somebody who dies in honour, like the heroes. Thus, "Gugur satu tumbuh seribu" sounds more patriotic than "Mati satu tumbuh seribu."
"Memancing di air keruh."
Fishing in a murky water.
Meaning: Taking advantage of a murky/confusing situation.
"Memang lidah tidak bertulang."
The tongue indeed has no bone.
Meaning: To describe, with disgust, a person who has no principle, who kept changing what he/she says, who is a big time liar.
"Menang jadi arang, kalah jadi abu."
Meaning: To describe a no win situation
Same as: Bagai makan buah simalakama.
See: Kalah jadi abu, menang jadi arang
"Mengharap burung terbang tinggi, punai di tangan dilepaskan."
Meaning: Expecting something bigger, and we let go what we already have.
Example: A gamble who gamble away his paycheck expecting to win big but ends up with nothing.
"Mengharapkan hujan turun, air di tempayan ditumpahkan."
Eager for the rain to fall, water already stored is thrown away.
Same as: Mengharap burung terbang tinggi, punai di tangan dilepaskan
"Menuhuk kawan seiring menggunting dalam lipatan."
To punch a comrade, to cut inside a fold.
Meaning: To describe a traitor (or traitorous acts)
"Merdeka atau mati."
Freedom or death.
Meaning: We have to fight for our freedom as long as it takes, and we shall not mind the death following our struggle for independence.
That is a very common motto in Indonesian wars against the Dutch colonialisation, usually written "Merdeka ataoe mati", because at that time, 'u' was still written as 'oe', just like the current 'y' was 'j', the 'j' was 'dj', and the 'c' was 'tj'.
[N]
"Nasi telah menjadi bubur."
The rice has become porridge
Meaning: Describe, usually with regret, something that has already happenned and is irreversible.
[P]
"Panas mentari di kepala orang banyak, panas hati dirasa sendiri."
The heat of the sun is felt by everybody, the heat in the heart can only be felt by oneself.
Meaning: There is no point of nurturing a contempt/hate/anger inside us. Just let it go!
"Patah tumbuh hilang berganti."
Whatever broken will grow back, whatever lost will be replaced.
Meaning: There will be a replacement for everything.
Usually is used to describe the undying spirit of a movement (for instance, during the struggle for independence.)
Similar to: Mati satu tumbuh seribu.
"Pikir dahulu pendapatan, sesal kemudian tidak berguna."
Thinking first is an asset, regret later is useless.
Meaning: Think everything carefully before committing yourself because there is no point for regretting it later.
"Pikir itu pelita hati."
Thought is the light of the heart
Meaning: Think!
"Pucuk dicinta ulam tiba."
Meaning: To get something one silently expects/wishes for.
[R]
"Rajin pangkal pandai."
Meaning: diligence is the beginning of brilliance
"Rumput tetangga selalu lebih hijau."
The neighbour's lawn/grass is always greener.
Meaning: we are never satisfied with our posessions.
[S]
"Sambil menyelam minum air."
Drink water while diving
Meaning: Do two things at one go
"Sejelek-jelek pemimpin pasti punya anak buah, sebaik-baik pemimpin pasti punya musuh."
No matter how bad a leader is he/she will have followers, no matter how good a leader is he/she will have enemies.
Meaning: There is always someone who loves you, and someone who hates you.
"Sekali lancung ke ujian, seumur hidup orang tak percaya."
Once a person cheats in an exam, forever people will distrust him.
Meaning: Once you lost the trust of someone, it is almost impossible to gain it back.
"Sekali merengkuh dayung, dua tiga pulau terlampaui."
One stroke at the paddle, two and three islands have passed.
Meaning: Do multiple tasks at one go.
"Sekali bah, sekali pantai berubah"
Once there is a flood, the beach will change
Meaning: A change of event such as the death of a leader, will lead to other changes.
Same as: Sambil menyelam minum air.
"Sepandai-pandai tupai meloncat, akhirnya jatuh juga."
No matter how smart a squirrel can jump, it will fall eventually.
Meaning: No matter how smart a person is, eventually he/she will make a mistake.
"Seperti katak dalam tempurung."
Like a frog trapped under a coconut shell
Meaning: No experience, narrow minded (but acts as if he knows everything)
"Seperti katak hendak jadi lembu."
The story says of a frog that wants to be as big as a cow by inflating itself. In the end, its body bursts open and the frog dies.
Meaning: Someone who expect to become someone that beyond him.
Meaning: Someone who wish/expect something impossible.
Similar with: Bagai pungguk merindukan bulan
"Seperti pinang dibelah dua."
Like a halved pinang.
Pinang is a tree with very straight up trunk, similar to the banana tree.
Meaning: Like a twin, very similar (in appearance)
Humorous: "Seperti pinang dibelah dua dengan kapak". The literal meaning is like pinang halved with an axe. Idiomatically, it means two things that are quite different (because you can never halve a pinang with an axe neatly).
"Setajam-tajam pisau, masih lebih tajam lidah."
No matter how sharp a knife gets, a tongue is even sharper.
Meaning: Be careful of what you say as it can hurt more (feelings) than a knife
"Setinggi-tingginya bangau terbang, akhirnya ke pelimbahan juga."
No matter how high a crane flies, it will fall into the pit eventually.
Meaning: No matter how successful a person is, he/she will experience some bad things too.
"Sudah jatuh, tertimpa tangga pula."
A person slips, and a ladder falls on him.
Meaning: All the bad things seems to happen at the same time.
To describe a very unlucky person who has been having an unlucky streak.
"Surga di telapak kaki ibu."
Heaven is on the bottom of mother's foot.
Meaning: A person who loves/cares about their mother is doing the best deed.
This is also a reference to the saying of Prophet Mohammad of the same meaning, explaining the position of Mother in Islamic belief.
[T]
"Tak ada gading yang tak retak."
There are no ivory that is not cracked.
Meaning: Nothing is perfect in this world.
"Tak ada rotan, akar pun jadi."
No rattans, roots will do.
Meaning: If you are desperate, you must not be choosy.
"Tak bisa menari dikatakan lantai yang berjungkit."
Cannot dance but blame the floor as uneven.
Meaning: Blaming the wrong reason. Looking for a scapegoat.
Same as: Buruk rupa cermin dibelah.
"Tong kosong nyaring bunyinya."
An empty drum gives good sound.
Meaning: A person who talks a lot usually is empty inside (of knowledge).
"Tua-tua keladi, makin tua makin menjadi nakal."
Older, worser
Meaning: Older but instead of getting wiser, one gets naughtier.
National and Cultural Proverbs
- A -
- Abundance, like want, ruins many.
Romanian Proverb - Adversity makes a man wise, not rich.
Romanian Proverb - Advice is least heeded when most needed.
English Proverb - After dark all cats are leopards.
Native American Proverb (Zuni) - After lunch; rest; after dinner walk a mile.
Arab Proverb - After the game, the king and the pawn go into the same box.
Italian Proverb - The afternoon knows what the morning never suspected.
Swedish Proverb - After three days without reading, talk becomes flavorless.
Chinese proverb - After victory, tighten your helmet chord.
Japanese Proverb - All roads lead to Rome.
Roman Proverb - All roads do not lead to Rome.
Slovenian Proverb - All sins cast long shadows.
Irish Proverb - All things good to know are difficult to learn.
Greek Proverb - All sunshine makes the desert.
Arab Proverb - An army of sheep led by a lion would defeat an army of lions led by a sheep.
Arab Proverb - An ass is but an ass, though laden with gold.
Romanian Proverb - An iron rod bends while it is hot.
Greek Proverb - The anvil fears no blows.
Romanian Proverb - Ask a lot, but take what is offered.
Russian Proverb - Ask about your neighbors, then buy the house.
Jewish Proverb - Ask the experienced rather than the learned.
Arabic proverb - Avoid the evil, and it will avoid thee.
Gaelic Proverb
- B -
- Bad is never good until worse happens.
Danish Proverb - Bed is the poor man's opera.
Italain Proverb - The beginning is the half of every action.
Greek Proverb - Be happy while you're living, For you're a long time dead.
Scottish Proverb - Behind an able man there are always other able men.
Chinese Proverb - Below the navel there is neither religion nor truth.
Italian Proverb - Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.
Chinese Proverb - Be on your guard against a silent dog and still water.
Latin Proverb - Be Prepared
Boy Scout Motto - Be slow in choosing a friend, but slower in changing him.
Scottish Proverb - The best armor is to keep out of range.
Italian Proverb - Be thine enemy an ant, see in him an elephant..
Turkish Proverb - Better a mouse in the pot than no meat at all.
Romanian Proverb - Better be ill spoken of by one before all than by all before one.
Scottish Proverb - Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness
Chinese Proverb - Better be quarreling than lonesome.
Irish Proverb - Between saying and doing, many a pair of shoes is worn out.
Italian Proverb - Beware of a man of one book.
English Proverb - Beware of a man's shadow and a bee's sting.
Burmese Proverb - Beware of the young doctor and the old barber.
Benjamin Franklin - The big thieves hang the little ones.
Czech Proverb - The blind man is laughing at the bald head.
Persian Proverb - A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.
Chinese Proverb - By asking for the impossible, obtain the best possible.
Italian Proverb - By learning you will teach; by teaching you will learn.
Latin Proverb
- C -
- Call on God, but row away from the rocks.
Indian Proverb - Children are a poor man's wealth.
Danish Proverb - The church is near, but the way is icy, The tavern is far, but I will walk carefully.
Ukranian Proverb - A closed mind is like a closed book; just a block of wood
Chinese Proverb - Complain to one who can help you.
Yugoslav Proverb - Confessed faults are half mended.
Scottish Proverb - The country rooster dows not crow in the town.
African(Swahili) Proverb - The crow that mimics a cormorant is drowned.
Japanese Proverb - Cuando amor no es locura, no es amor.
(When love is not madness, it is not love.)
Spanish Proverb
- D -
- Danger and delight grow on one stalk.
English Proverb - Deceive the rich and powerful if you will, but don't insult them.
Japanese Proverb - The deeper the sorrow the less tongue it hath.
The Talmud - Deliberate often--decide once.
Latin Proverb - A dimple in the chin; a devil within.
Irish Proverb - The doctor is to be feared more than the disease.
Latin Proverb - The dog's kennel is not the place to keep a sausage.
Danish Proverb - The dog wags his tail, not for you, but for your bread.
Portuguese Proverb - Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself.
Miscellaneous Proverb - Do not bathe if there is no water.
Shan Proverb - Do not be in a hurry to tie what you cannot untie.
English Proverb - Do not employ handsome servants.
Chinese Proverb - Do not lengthen the quarrel while there is an opportunity of escaping.
Latin Proverb - Do not protect yourself by a fence, but rather by your friends.
Czech Proverb - Do not push the river, it will flow by itself.
Polish Proverb - Do not put your spoon into the pot which does not boil for you.
Romanian Proverb - Do not speak of a rhinoceros if there is no tree nearby.
African(Zulu) Proverb - Do not stand in a place of danger trusting in miracles.
Arab Proverb - Do not throw the arrow which will return against you.
Kurdish Proverb - Do not wrong or hate your neighbor for it is not he that you wrong but yourself.
Native American Proverb (Pima) - Don't be too sweet lest you be eaten up; don't be too bitter lest you be spewed out.
Jewish Proverb - Don't dig your grave with your own knife and fork.
English Proverb - Don't empty the water jar until the rain falls.
Philippine Proverb - Don't fall before you're pushed.
English Proverb - Don't let your sorrow come higher than your knees.
Sweedish Proverb - Don't live in a town where there are no doctors.
Jewish Proverb - Don't make use of another's mouth unless it has been leant to you.
Belgian Proverb - Don't offer me advice; give me money
Spanish Proverb - Don't open a shop unless you know how to smile.
Jewish Proverb - Don't run too far, you will have to return the same distance.
Biblical Proverb - Don't shake the tree when the pears fall off themselves.
Slovakian Proverb - Don't speak unless you can improve on the silence.
Spanish Proverb - Don't stay long when the husband is not at home.
Japanese Proverb - Don't think there are no crocodiles because the water is calm.
Malayan Proverb - Don't throw away the old bucket until you know whether the new one holds water.
Sweedish Proverb - Drink nothing without seeing it; Sign nothing without reading it.
Spanish Proverb - Dwell not upon thy weariness, thy strength shall be according to the measure of thy desire.
Arab proverb
- E -
- Eat and drink with your relatives; do business with strangers.
Greek Proverb - Eating and scratching want but a beginning.
Romanian Proverb - Eating while seated makes one of large size; eating while standing makes one strong.
Hindu Proverb - Employ thy time well if thou meanest to get leisure.
Benjamin Franklin - The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Arab Proverb - Enjoy yourself. It's later than you think.
Chinese Proverb - Even a clock that does not work is right twice a day.
Polish Proverb - Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue.
Miscellaneous Prover - Every animal knows more than you do.
Native American Proverb (Nez Perce) - Every beetle is a gazelle in the eyes of its mother.
Moorish Proverb - Every invalid is a doctor.
Irish Proverb - Everyone thinks his own burden heavy.
French Proverb - Every path has its puddle.
English Proverb - Every peasant is proud of the pond in his village because from it he measures the sea.
Russian Proverb - Every road has two directions.
Russian Proverb - Everything passes, everything wears out, everything breaks.
(tout passe, tout lasse, tout casse)
French Proverb - Examine what is said, not him who speaks.
Arab Proverb - Experience is the comb that nature gives us when we are bald.
Belgian proverb - The eyes are the window of the soul.
English Proverb - The eyes believe themselves; the ears believe other people.
German Proverb
- F -
- Fall seven times, stand up eight.
Japanese Proverb - Fast Ripe, Fast Rotten.
Japanese Proverb - A father is a banker provided by nature.
French Proverb - Fear less, hope more,
eat less, chew more,
whine less, breathe more,
talk less, say more,
hate less, love more,
and all good things will be yours.
Swedish proverb - Fear not a jest. If one throws salt at you, you will not be harmed unless you have sore places.
Latin Proverb - First deserve, and then desire.
English Proverb - The first drink with water, the second without water, the third like water.
Spanish Proverb - First secure an independent income, then practice virtue.
Greek Proverb - Fish or cut bait.
American Proverb - Fish, to taste good, must swim three times: in water, in butter, and in wine.
Polish Proverb - A fool finds pleasure in evil conduct, but a man of understanding delights in wisdom.
Miscellaneous Proverb - A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions.
Miscellaneous Proverb - A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control
Miscellaneous Proverb - A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult.
Miscellaneous Proverb - Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.
Chinese Proverb - From a fallen tree, all make kindling.
Spanish Proverb - From a thorn comes a rose, and from a rose comes a thorn.
Greek Proverb - A full cup must be carried steadily.
English Proverb
- G -
- Get what you can and keep what you have; that's the way to get rich.
Scottish Proverb - Give to a pig when it grunts and a child when it cries , and you will have a fine pig and a bad child.
Danish Proverb - Go and wake up your cook.
Arab Proverb - The go-between wears out a thousand sandals.
Japanese Proverb - God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers.
Jewish Proverb - God gives the nuts but he does not crack them.
German Proverb - God sells knowledge for labour -- honour for risk.
Arabic Proverb - God will be present, whether asked or not.
Latin Proverb - God gave teeth; He will give bread.
Lithuanian Proverb - God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers.
Jewish Proverb - Good fences make good neighbors.
American Proverb - Good men must die, but death cannot kill their names.
Spanish Proverb - Goodness shouts. Evil whispers.
Balinese Proverb - Goodness speaks in a whisper, evil shouts.
Tibetan proverb - Go often to the house of a friend; for weeds soon choke up the unused path.
A paraphrase of a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, the American Transcendentalist
Another opinion on this quote: Alan Walker states "this particular proverb is part of the 'Lay Of Loddfafnir' in the Viking Edda, and is spoken by the god Odin to one of his initiates". Thanks Alan! - A good painter need not give a name to his picture, a bad one must.
Polish Proverb - Gossip needs no carriage.
Russian Proverb - Gratitude is the heart's memory.
French Proverb - The greater love is a mother's; then comes a dog's; then a sweetheart's.
Polish Proverb - Great men are not always wise.
Biblical Proverb - A guest sees more in an hour than the host in a year.
Polish Proverb
- H -
- A half-truth is a whole lie.
Jewish Proverb - The hammer shatters glass but forges steel.
Russian Proverb - A handfull of patience is worth a bushel of brains.
Dutch Proverb - Happiness is like a sunbeam, which the least shadow intercepts, while adversity is often as the rain of spring.
Chinese Proverb - A heart in love with beauty never grows old.
Turkish Proverb - The heart that loves is always young.
Greek Proverb - He fishes well who uses a golden hook.
Latin Proverb - He is rich who owes nothing.
French Proverb - He that does not ask will never get a bargain.
French Proverb - He that is of a merry heart hasth a continual feast.
Biblical Proverb - He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.
Biblical Proverb - He who is outside his door already has a hard part of his journey behind him.
Dutch Proverb - He who must die, must die in the dark, even though he sells candles.
Colombian Proverb - He who says what he likes will hear what he does not like.
English Proverb - He who searches for pearls should not sleep.
Lybian Proverb - He who wants a rose must respect the thorn.
Persian Proverb - He who would rule must hear and be deaf, see and be blind.
German Proverb - He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
Chinese Proverb - He who builds by the roadside has many surveyors.
Italian Proverb - He who doesn't risk never gets to drink champagne.
Russian Proverb - He who has health has hope; and he who has hope, has everything.
Arab Proverb - He who hurries can not walk with dignity.
Chinese Proverb - He who is not impatient is not in love.
Italian Proverb - He who knows little quickly tells it.
Italian Proverb - He who knows nothing doubts nothing.
Italian Proverb - He who puts up with insult invites injury.
Jewish Proverb - He who respects his parents never dies.
Greek Proverb - He who sows peas on the highway does not get all the pods into his barn.
Danish Proverb - He who undertakes too much seldom succeeds.
Dutch Proverb - He who would leap far must first take a long run.
Danish Proverb - Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What's a sundial in the shade?
Benjamin Franklin - Hours are Time's shafts,
and one comes winged with death.
Scottish Clock Motto
-I-
- If a man is destined to drown, he will drown even in a spoonful of water.
Yiddish Proverb - If Jack's in love, he's no judge of Jill's beauty.
Benjamin Franklin - If there is no wind, row.
Latin Proverb - If three people say you are an ass, put on a bridle.
Spanish Proverb - If work were good for you, the rich would leave none for the poor.
Haitian proverb - If you are a host to your guest, be a host to his dog also.
Russian Proverb - If you are patient in a moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.
Chinese Proverb - If you bow at all, bow low.
Chinese Proverb - Za dvumya zaitsami pogonish'sya, ne odnogo ne poimaesh'.
(If you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one.) Russian Proverb - If you can't go over, you must go under.
Jewish Proverb - If you can't lick 'em, join 'em.
American Proverb - If you must play, decide on three things at the start: the rules of he game, the stakes, and the quitting time.
Chinese proverb - If you reveal your secrets to the wind you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees.
Khalil Gibran - If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies in yourself.
Native American Proverb (Minquass) - If you scatter thorns, don't go barefoot.
Italian Proverb - If you see in your wine the reflection of a person not in your range of vision, don't drink it.
Chinese Proverb - If you want to be respected, you must respect yourself.
Spanish Proverb - If you want your dreams to come true, don't sleep.
Yiddish Proverb - If you want your eggs hatched, sit on them yourself.
Haitian proverb - If you wish good advice, consult an old man.
Romanian Proverb - If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as getting.
Benjamin Franklin - If you would live healthy, be old early.
Spanish Proverb - If you would be pope, you must think of nothing else.
Spanish Proverb - If you suspect a man, don't employ him, and if ypu employ him, don't suspect him.
Chinese Proverb - If your head is wax, don't walk in the sun.
Benjamin Franklin - If youth but had the knowledge and old age the strength.
French Proverb - Ignorance is bliss.
American Proverb - In case of doubt it is best to lean to the side of mercy.
Legal Proverb - In reviling, it is not necessary to prepare a preliminary draft.
Chinese Proverb - In times of prosperity friends will be plenty, in times of adversity not one in twenty.
English Proverb - In the kingdom of the blind the one-eyed are kings
Macedonian Proverb
Thanks Margarita for submitting this one! -ed - In the morning be first up, and in the evening last to go to bed, for they that sleep catch no fish.
English Proverb - It is easier to pull down than to build up.
Latin Proverb - It is not a fish until it is on the bank.
Irish Proverb - It is not enough to aim.; you must hit.
Italian Proverb - It is the great north wind that made the Vikings.
Scandanavian Proverb - It is the part of a good shepherd to shear his flock, not to skin it.
Latin Proverb
-J-
- A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Chinese Proverb - Judge not the horse by his saddle.
Chinese Proverb
-K-
- Keep your broken arm inside your sleeve.
Chinese Proverb
-L-
- L'amour fait passer les temps. Les temps faite passer l'amour. (Love makes time pass. Time makes love pass.)
French Sundial Motto - A lean agreement is better than a fat lawsuit.
German Proverb - Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.
Chinese Proverb. - Let every fox take care of his own tail.
Italian Proverb - Let him make use of instinct who cannot make use of reason.
English Proverb - Let no man deceive you with vain words.
Biblical Proverb - Life is not separate from death. It only looks that way.
Native American Proverb (Blackfoot) - Listen or your tongue will keep you deaf.
Native American Proverb - Listen to all, plucking a feather from every passing goose, but, follow no one absolutely.
Chinese Proverb - A little pot boils easily.
Dutch Proverb - Live together like brothers and do business like strangers.
Arab Proverb - Live with wolves, and you learn to howl.
Spanish Proverb - Live your own life, for you will die your own death.
Latin Proverb - Lomhlaba Unzima, Lohmhlaba. [This world is a harsh place, this world.]
Zulu Proverb - Long absent, soon forgotten.
Romanian Proverb - Look for the good, not the evil, in the conduct of members of the family.
Jewish Proverb - Love and eggs are best when they are fresh.
Russian Proverb - Love is like dew that falls on both nettles and lilies.
Swedish Proverb - Love rules without rules.
Italian Proverb - Love tells us many things that are not so.
Ukranian Proverb - Love your neighbor, but don't tear down your fence.
German Proverb - The loveliest of faces are to be seen by moonlight, when one sees half with the eye and half with the fancy.
Persian Proverb
-M-
- Make happy those who are near, and those who are far will come.
Chinese Proverb - Make sure to be in with your equals if you're going to fall out with your superiors.
Jewish Proverb - Man has responsiblity, not power.
Native American Proverb (Tuscarora) - A man is not where he lives, but where he loves.
Latin Proverb - A man's first care should be to avoid the reproaches of his own heart, his next to escape the censures of the world.
English Proverb - The man who does not learn is dark, like one walking in the night.
Chinese Proverb - Many men know how to flatter, few men know how to praise.
- Greek Proverb
- Measure a thousand times and cut once.
Turkish Proverb
-N-
- Never advise anyone to go to war or to marry.
Spanish Proverb - Never do anything standing that you can do sitting, or anything sitting that you can do lying down.
Chinese Proverb - Never draw your dirk when a blow will do it.
Scottish Proverb - Never fall out with your bread and butter.
English Proverb - Never give advice in a crowd.
Arab Proverb - Never give advice unless asked.
German Proverb - Never rely on the glory of the morning or the smiles of your mother-in-law.
Japanese Proverb - Never squat with your spurs on.
Texan Proverb - Never trust the man who tells you all his troubles but keeps from you all his joys.
Jewish Proverb - Never write a letter while you are angry.
Chinese Proverb - Never trouble trouble till trouble troubles you.
American Proverb - No call alligator long mouth till you pass him.
Jamaican Proverb - No need to teach an eagle to fly.
Greek Proverb
No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.
Taoist Proverb
- No one is rich enough to do without a neighbor.
Danish Proverb
-O-
- Observe your enemies, for they first find your faults.
Greek Proverb - One does evil enough when one does nothing good.
German Proverb - One drink is just right; two is too many; three are too few.
Spanish Proverb - One meets his destiny often in the road he takes to avoid it.
French Proverb - One should be just as careful in choosing one's pleasures as in avoiding calamities.
Chinese Proverb - Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday sun.
Indian Proverb
-P-
- Pray, pray very much; but beware of telling God what you want.
French Proverb
-R-
- Ready money works great cures.
French Proverb - The reverse side also has a reverse side.
Japanese Proverb - A rich man has no need of character.
Hebrew Proverb
-S-
- Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.
American Proverb - Set a thief to catch a thief.
French Proverb - Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half a sorrow.
Sweedish Proverb - Since the house is on fire let us warm ourselves.
Italian Proverb - Since we cannot get what we like, let us like what we can get.
Spanish Proverb - A single conversation with a wise man is better than ten years of study.
Chinese Proverb - The sinning is the best part of repentance.
Arabic Proverb - Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.
African Proverb - A snake deserves no pity.
Yiddish Proverb - Speak of the devil and he appears.
Italian Proverb - Spread the table and contention will cease.
English Proverb
-T-
- Tell me and I'll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me, and I'll understand.
Native American Proverb - A true friend, is one that will take a bullet for you in the war.
Italian Proverb
Kindly submitted to quotesandsayings.com by Massimo Raimondi, from a book on Mussolini - Tell me who's your friend and I'll tell you who you are.
Russian proverb - There is a pinch of the madman in every great man.
French Proverb - There is no flying without wings.
French Proverb - There is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience.
French Proverb - There is nothing hidden between Heaven and Earth
Venezuelan Proverb - There wouldn't be such a thing as counterfeit gold if there were no real gold somewhere.
Sufi Proverb - Those who have free seats at a play hiss first.
Chinese Proverb - Those who sleep with dogs will rise with fleas.
Italian Proverb - Though a tree grow ever so high, the falling leaves return to the ground.
Malayan Proverb - Three things it is best to avoid: a strange dog, a flood, and a man who thinks he is wise.
Welsh Proverb - To attract good fortune, spend a new coin on an old friend, share an old pleasure with a new friend, and lift up the heart of a true friend by writing his name on the wings of a dragon.
Chinese Proverb - To change and change for the better are two different things.
German Proverb - To deceive a diplomat speak the truth, he has no experience with it.
Greek Proverb - To know and to act are one and the same.
Samurai Proverb - To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.
Chinese Proverb - A tree never hits an automobile except in self defense.
American Proverb - Trumpet in a herd of elephants; crow in the company of cocks; bleat in a flock of goats.
Malayan Proverb - Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.
Maori proverb
-U-
- Under a ragged coat lies wisdom.
Romanian Proverb - Under a tattered cloak you will generally find a good drinker.
Spanish Proverb - Use power to curb power.
Chinese Proverb - Use soft words and hard arguments.
English Proverb - Use your enemy's hand to catch a snake.
Persian Proverb
-V-
- Vision without action is a daydream. Action with without vision is a nightmare.
Japanese Proverb - Vulnerant omnia, ultima necat. (All the [hours] wound you, the last one kills)
Latin Proverb
-W-
- Wait until it is night before saying that it has been a fine day.
French Proverb - Walk till the blood appears on the cheek, but not the sweat on the brow.
Spanish Proverb - We know the worth of a thing when we have lost it.
French Proverb - What may be done at any time will be done at no time.
Scottish Proverb - We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.
French Proverb - What the heart thinks, the tongue speaks.
Romanian Proverb - What the people believe is true.
Native American Proverb (Anishinabe)
What was hard to endure is sweet to recall.
- French Proverb
- What you don't see with your eyes, don't invent with your mouth.
Jewish Proverb - What you give you get, ten times over.
Yoruba Proverb - When a blind man carries a lame man, both go forward.
Swedish proverb - When an elephant is in trouble even a frog will kick him.
Hindu Proverb - When anger rises, think of the consequences.
Confucius - When a thing is done, advice comes too late.
Romanian Proverb - When eating bamboo sprouts, remember the man who planted them.
Chinese Proverb - When friends ask, there is no tomorrow.
Miscellaneous Proverb - When in doubt, Gallop!
Proverb of the French Foreign Legion - When one shuts one eye, one does not hear everything.
Swiss Proverb - When spiders unite they can tie down a lion.
Ethiopian Proverb - When the fox preaches, look to the geese.
German Proverb - When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.
African Proverb - When two quarrel, both are to blame.
Dutch Proverb - When we cannot get what we love, we must love what is within our reach.
French Proverb - When you go to buy, use your eyes, not your ears.
Czech Proverb - When you have no choice, mobilize the spirit of courage.
Jewish Proverb - When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.
Chinese Proverb - When you throw dirt, you lose ground.
Texan Proverb - When you want to test the depths of a stream, don't use both feet.
Chinese Proverb - Where God has his church the Devil will have his chapel.
Spanish Proverb - Where there is a sea there are pirates.
Greek Proverb - Where there is love, there is pain.
Spanish Proverb - Where there are no swamps there are no frogs.
German Proverb - Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.
Confucius - Who depends on another man's table often dines late.
Italian Proverb - Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you.
Spanish Proverb - The whisper of a pretty girl can be heard further than the roar of a lion.
Arab Proberb - Who travels for love finds a thousand miles not longer than one.
Japaneses Proverb - The wise man has long ears and a short tongue.
German Proverb - The woman cries before the wedding and the man after.
Polish Proverb - Words must be weighed, not counted.
Polish Proverb
-Y-
- You may laugh at a friend's roof; don't laugh at his sleeping accomodation.
Kenyan Proverb - Young pigs grunt as as old pigs grunted before them.
Danish Proverb - Your friend has a friend; don't tell him.
Jewish Proverb - You can't wake a person who is pretending to be asleep.
Navajo Proverb - You've got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.
Irish Proverb
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