AFRICAN PROVERBS

-Do not blame God for having created the tiger, but thank him for not giving it wings.

-Even the best cooking pot will not produce food.

-The viper assumes the colors of his surroundings.

ARABIAN PROVERBS

-Better a thousand enemies outside the tent than one within.

-Better to be a free dog than a caged lion.

-He who has been bitten by a snake is scared of a rope on the ground.

-If we are both masters, then who shall lead the mules?

-A mule can go to Mecca, but it will not come back as a pilgrim.

TURKISH PROVERBS

-Measure a thousand times, cut once.

-No matter how far down a wrong road you are, turn back.

-You don’t wash blood away with blood but with water.

-Two blacks don’t make a white.

-Two wrongs don’t make a right.

-Two dogs ght over a bone while a third runs away with it.

-Variety is the spice of life.

-Success has many fathers, while failure is an orphan.

-A watched pot never boils.

-The way to be safe is never to feel secure.

-He that is too secure is not safe.

-The wearer best knows where the shoe pinches.

-Well begun is half done.

-We must learn to walk before we can run.

-What can’t be cured must be endured.

-When a dog bites a man, that is not news; but when a man bites a dog, that is news.
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-When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

FRENCH PROVERBS

-Eat with pleasure, drink with measure.

-A living dog is better than a dead lion.

-A good meal ought to begin with hunger.

-Nothing dries so fast as tears.

-Where love sets the table food tastes at its best.

-Where the hostess is beautiful the wine is delicious

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CHINESE PROVERBS
-Do not remove a y from your friend’s forehead with a hatchet.

-It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.

-One bamboo does not make a forest.

INDIAN PROVERB

-The voice of the poor has no echo.

ITALIAN PROVERBS

-All are not saints who go to church.

SPANISH PROVERBS

-Three Spaniards, four opinions.

-Who gossips with you will gossip about you.

Western proverbs

-Ask advice, but use your own common sense.

-Ask a silly question and you get a silly answer.

-Ask me no questions and I’ll tell you no lies.

-As Maine goes, so goes the nation.

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 -As you sow, so shall you reap.

-All cats are gray in the dark.

-Be nice to people on your way up because you’ll meet them on your way down.

-Better be rst in a village than second at Rome.

-Better be the head of a dog than the tail of a lion.

-A bird never ew on one wing.

-Bread always falls buttered side down.

-A burnt child dreads the re.

-The buyer needs a thousand eyes, the seller wants but one.

-By learning to obey, you will know how to command.

-Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion.

-Calamity is the touchstone of a brave mind.

-Charity is not a bone you throw to a dog but a bone you share with a dog.

-Civility costs nothing.

-Courtesy costs nothing.

-Courtesy is contagious.

-The darkest hour is just before dawn.

-The dogs bark, but the caravan goes on.

-Don’t bite o more than you can chew.

-Don’t change the rules in the middle of the game.

-Don’t cross the bridge till you come to it.

-Don’t go near the water until you learn how to swim.

-Din’t set a wolf to watch the sheep.

-Don’t swap horses in midstream.

-Din’t overload gratitude; if you do, she’ll kick.

(When people are grateful to you, do not take excessive advantage of the situation, because
any sense of obligation has its limits: You seem to think that just because you once did me a
great favor, I should be forever in your debt—haven’t you heard the proverb “Don’t overload
gratitude; if you do, she’ll kick”? The proverb was rst recorded in 1741, in Benjamin Franklin’s
Poor Richard’s Almanack.)
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-Early ripe, early rotten.

-Eat to live, do not live to eat.

-An empty sack cannot stand upright.

-Every rose has a thorn.

-There’s no rose without a thorn.

-Except nothing and you won’t be dis- appointed.

-Blessed are they who expect nothing, for they shall not be disappointed.

-Fingers were made before forks.

-Fish where the sh are.

-Flattery, like perfume, should be smelled but not swallowed.

-Nothing so bad but it might have been worse.

-Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.

-Heads I win, tails you lose.

-He that is born to be hanged shall never be drowned.

-He who chases two hares catches neither.

-He who dances must pay the ddler.

-He who pays the piper calls the tune.

-If it ain’t broke, don’t x it.

-If you desire peace, prepare for war.

-If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.

-If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.

-It’s better to light one candle than curse the darkness.

-It’s not what you say but how you say it.

-It takes two to tango.

-A rose by any other name would smell as sweet (Shakespeare)

-A little pot is soon hot.

-A man is as old as he feels, and a women as old as she looks.

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 -A man is innocent until proven guilty.

-A man is known by the company he keeps.

-The man who is born in a stable is not a horse.

-Many are called, but few are chosen.

-Many a true word is spoken in jest.

-Many drops of water make an ocean.

-Many kiss the hand they wish to see cut o .

-The nearer the bone, the sweeter the esh.

-The nearer the church, the farther from God.

-Neither give nor take o ense.

-Nero ddled while Rome burned.

-Never ask pardon before you are accused.

-Never choose your women or linen by candlelight.

-Never let your education interfere with your intelligence.

-Never mention a rope in the house of a man who has been hanged.

-Never mix business with pleasure.

-Never put o until tomorrow what you can do today.

-Never send a boy to do a man’s job.

-Never show your teeth unless you can bite.

-A new broom sweeps clean.

-One swallow does not make a summer.

-Politeness costs nothing and gains every- thing.

-Civility costs nothing.

-A poor excuse is better than none.

-The pot calls the kettle black.

-Practice what you preach.

-A rich man’s joke is always funny.

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-A rising tide lifts all boats.

-A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

-Never speak ill of the dead.

-The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

-Tell not all you know, nor do all you can.

-There are none so blind as those who will not see.

-There are none so deaf as those who will not hear.

-There are other sh in the sea.

-There are tricks in every trade.

-There’s a Jack for every Jill.

-There’s no rose without a thorn.

-There’s nothing constant but inconstancy.

-Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

-You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.
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