Proverbs

Popular Quotes and Sayings about Proverbs

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

If you really do put a small value upon yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price. ~Anonymous

Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs. ~Henry Ford

Never rely on the glory of the morning nor the smiles of your mother-in-law. ~Japanese Proverb

Fall seven times, stand up eight. ~Japanese Proverb

If you believe everything you read, better not read. ~Japanese Proverb

The reverse side also has a reverse side. ~Japanese Proverb

Ask about your neighbors, then buy the house. ~Jewish Proverb

Worries go down better with soup than without. ~Jewish Proverb

Choose the life that is most useful, and habit will make it the most agreeable. ~Sir Francis Bacon

The big thieves hang the little ones. ~Czech Proverb

When you go to buy, use your eyes, not your ears. ~Czech Proverb

Better be ill spoken of by one before all than by all before one. ~Scottish Proverb

First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. ~Epictetus

It is better to die on your feet than live on your knees. ~Emiliano Zapata

Examine what is said, not him who speaks. ~Arab Proverb

Dwell not upon thy weariness, thy strength shall be according to the measure of thy desire. ~Arab Proverb

Make your bargain before beginning to plow. ~Arab Proverb

He who postpones the hour of living rightly is like the rustic who waits for the river to run out before he crosses. ~Horace

Hold a true friend with both hands. ~Nigerian Proverb

If you refuse to be made straight when you are green, you will not be made straight when you are dry. ~African Proverb

He who would leap high must take a long run. ~Danish Proverb

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. ~Bible

Praise youth and it will prosper. ~Irish Proverb

Do not throw the arrow which will return against you. ~Kurdish Proverb

Enjoy your own life without comparing it with that of another. ~Marquis de Condorcet

The time to stop talking is when the other person nods his head affirmatively but says nothing. ~Henry S. Haskins

A handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains. ~Dutch Proverb

If indeed you must be candid, be candid beautifully. ~Kahlil Gibran

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

To sway an audience, you must watch them as you speak. ~C. Kent Wright

Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. ~Ralph Charell

If you can react the same way to winning and losing, that is a big accomplishment. That quality is important because it stays with you the rest of your life. ~Chris Evert

Keep five yards from a carriage, ten yards from a horse, and a hundred yards from an elephant; but the distance one should keep from a wicked man cannot be measured. ~Indian Proverb

So act that your principle of action might safely be made a law for the whole world. ~Immanuel Kant

To get the best out of a man go to what is best in him. ~Daniel Considine

When you have given nothing, ask for nothing. ~Albanian Proverb

Praise the bridge that carried you over. ~George Colman

Better to rely on one powerful king than on many little princes. ~Jean de La Fontaine

If you wish your merit to be known, acknowledge that of other people. ~Oriental Proverb

The best armor is to keep out of range. ~Italian Proverb

It is not enough to aim; you must hit. ~Italian Proverb

Be bold and mighty powers will come to your aid. ~Basil King

Trumpet in a herd of elephants; crow in the company of cocks; bleat in a flock of goats. ~Malayan Proverb

If you wish to know what a man is, place him in authority. ~Yugoslav Proverb

Complain to one who can help you. ~Yugoslav Proverb

Be sincere; be brief; be seated. ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something. ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

Drink nothing without seeing it; sign nothing without reading it. ~Spanish Proverb

Take hold lightly; let go lightly. This is one of the great secrets of felicity in love. ~Spanish Proverb

If you want to be respected, you must respect yourself. ~Spanish Proverb

Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you. ~Spanish Proverb

Wait until it is night before saying that it has been a fine day. ~French Proverb

Go often to the house of thy friend; for weeds soon choke up the unused path. ~Scandinavian Proverb

You must lose a fly to catch a trout. ~George Herbert

Buy on the rumor; sell on the news. ~Wall Street Proverb

God give me strength to face a fact though it slay me. ~Thomas H. Huxley

You will find that the mere resolve not to be useless, and the honest desire to help other people, will, in the quickest and delicatest ways, improve yourself. ~John Ruskin

It is the part of a good shepherd to shear his flock, not to skin it. ~Latin Proverb

Never give a child a sword. ~Latin Proverb

If the wind will not serve, take to the oars. ~Latin Proverb

Always hold your head up, but be careful to keep your nose at a friendly level. ~Max L. Forman

A full cup must be carried steadily. ~English Proverb

Speak the truth, but leave immediately after. ~Slovenian Proverb

Anything not worth doing is worth not doing well. Think about it. ~Elias Schwartz

Obtain from yourself all that makes complaining useless. No longer implore from others what you yourself can obtain. ~Andre Gide

Promises that you make to yourself are often like the Japanese plum tree - they bear no fruit. ~Francis Marion

A smiling face is half the meal. ~Latvian Proverb

Rest satisfied with doing well, and leave others to talk of you as they please. ~Pythagoras

The palest ink is better than the best memory. ~Chinese Proverb

Do not employ handsome servants. ~Chinese Proverb

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

When you drink the water, remember the spring. ~Chinese Proverb

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

Keep your broken arm inside your sleeve. ~Chinese Proverb

If you bow at all, bow low. ~Chinese Proverb

Raise your sail one foot and you get ten feet of wind. ~Chinese Proverb

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

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. ~Chinese 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

He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever. ~Chinese Proverb

Always be ready to speak your mind and a base man will avoid you. ~William Blake

Quarrel not at all. No man resolved to make the most of himself can spare time for personal contention. ~Abraham Lincoln

Never trouble another for what you can do for yourself. ~Thomas Jefferson

One man may hit the mark, another blunder; but heed not these distinctions. Only from the alliance of the one, working with and through the other, are great things born. ~Antoine de Saint-Exupery

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

Who begins too much accomplishes little. ~German Proverb

If you would convince a man that he does wrong, do right. Men will believe what they see. ~Henry David Thoreau

Is fuel efficiency really what we need most desperately? I say that what we really need is a car that can be shot when it breaks down. ~Russell Baker

First secure an independent income, then practice virtue. ~Greek Proverb

Use, do not abuse; neither abstinence nor excess ever renders man happy. ~Voltaire

I consider being ill as one of the great pleasures of life, provided one is not too ill. ~Samuel Butler

Be not afraid of greatness: some men are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them. ~William Shakespeare