User:Spannerjam

Welcome to my den. Please help me spread wisdom by adding international equivalents to the proverbs below.

Temporary template for Google Books

• Qui parle trop, personne ne l'écoute.
  • Translation: Who talks too much, nobody listens to.
  • Ward, Caroline (1842). National proverbs in the principal languages of Europe. J.W. Parker. p. 33. 

Proverbs with an unknown meaning (Feel free to post your more or less qualified guesses in here)

• A friend at court is worth a penny in a mans purse.
• Better one word in time than two afterwards.
• (Don't) build castles in the air.
• Don't fish for starwberries in the bottom of the sea.
• Do not think that one enemy is insignificant, or that a thousand friends are too many.
• Do not speak Arabic in the Moor’s house.
  • Guessed meaning: Do not attempt to speak a language with which you are not familiar in the presence of one who uses it constantly.
• Don't aspire above your station.
  • Guessed meaning: We should not be too ambitious and set limits.
• Het that hath a fellow ruler has an overruler.
• There is no building a bridge across the ocean.
  • Guessed meaning: We should not be too ambitious and set limits.

Under consideration

• Avoid the pleasure which will bite tomorrow
• A promise is a debt.
• An eagle catches no flies.
• Bad is the best.
• Desperate ills must have desperate remedies.
• Don't put your horse before the cart.
• Each year one vicious habit rooted out,
  In time might make the worst Man good throughout.
• When the pear is ripe, it falls.

List of proverbs or pieces of wisdom not yet found a source for

There is nothing new under the sun need to be checked up by the Paczolay book.

• An ounce of practice is worth a pound of theory.
• Don't declare your intentions.
• Go big or go home.
• It is an ill cook that cannot lick his own fingers.
• Stew it AND IT WILL STINK MORE.
• He governs the best who governs the least.
• I don't think you necessary should be better than anyone else: just way much better than you ever thought you could be.
• If you can't beat them, join them.
• Look further and longer, because then you might find something clearer.
• Man måste prata med bönder på bönders sätt.
• Nothing succeeds like success.
• Many have themselves to blame for their misfortunes, at least in a sense.
• No man is so handicapped that he cannot be of use to society (at large).
• One might as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb.
• Rules were made to be broken.
• Take heed of the devil, because he discerns your limits and weaknesses.
• The best reply to a fool is no answer.
• The devil is in the details.
• Think of your friend as an enemy.
• Thou canst not joke an Enemy into a Friend; but thou may'st a Friend into an Enemy.
• Time you enjoyed wasting was not relly a waste of time.
• Whoever reigns I shall remain vicar of bray.
• Winning is not the only thing, it is everything.

Under progress (loners)

• A watched pot never boils. (English)
• Avoid evil and it will avoid thee. (English)
• Don't complain about lack of wind – learn to sail (Swedish)
• Don't make clothes for a not yet born baby. (English)
• Example is better than correction. (English)
• He is a fool that thinks not another thinks. (Spanish)
• In doubt, in favour of the accused. (Latin)
• Never trouble trouble till trouble troubles you. (English)
• Seldom lies the dell dead by the dyke side. (Scots)
• Shit or get off the pot. (English
• Who talks too much, nobody listens to. (French)
• Writing is reading twice. (Latin)

Under progress

• A tongue of a fool carves a piece of his heart to all that sit near him. (Polish, Latin, German, English, French)
• All is not lost that is in danger. (French, Italian, Spanish, German, English)
• Accusing is proving, when malice and force sit judges; The wolf finds a reason for taking the lamb. (Italian, Spanish, French, German, English)
• Avoid the pleasure which will bite tomorrow. (French, Italian, English)
• Better go about than fall into the ditch. (German, French, Italian, Spanish, English)
• Better underdone than overdone. (Polish, English)
• Beware of Greeks bearing gifts. (Italian, French, Latin, German, English)
• Bloom where you are planted. (English, Swedish)
• Catch not a shadow and lose the substance. (German, Italian, French, English)
• Children are uncertain comforts but certain cares. (Polish, Spanish, Latin, Danish, English)
• Choose a wife rather by your ear than your eye; A man's best fortune or his worst is a wife. (Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, German, English)
• Discretion is the better part of valor. (English, Spanish, German, Polish, French, Italian)
• Don't burn the candle at both ends. (Italian, English, Spanish, French, Dutch)
• Don't paint the devil on the wall. (Czech, Swedish)
• Eavesdroppers hear no good of themselves. (Italian, Spanish, French, German, English, Romanian, Scots)
• Example is better than precept. (Latin, Romanian, English)
• Experience keeps a dear school (Yiddish equivalent was removed, as well as the German)
• Fear the man of one book (Italian, Spanish, French, Latin, German, English)
• Follow glory and it will flee, flee glory and it will follow thee (English, French, Latin)
• Fortune disdains the lazy. (Latin) (Latin, Basque)
• If life gives you lemons, make lemonade. (Welsh, English, German, French, Spanish)
• The first chapter of fools is to think themselves wise. (French, English)
• Good blood always shows itself. (Latin, Danish, Italian, French, English)
• Good laws have sprung from bad customs (Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Latin, German, English)
• Goose, gander and gosling are three sounds but one thing. (English, Spanish)
• Hasty judgment leads to repentance. (Italian, Spanish, French, Latin, German, English)
• He complains wrongfully at the sea that suffer shipwreck twice. (Italian, Spanish, French, Latin, German, English)
• He that hath a head of wax must not walk in the sun. (French, Italian, Spanish, German, English)
• He who is not with me is against me. (Italian, Spanish, French, Dutch, German, English)
• He which no one envies, has no fortune. (Spanish)
• If a job is worth doing, it is worth doing well. (Frernch, Italian, Dutch, English)
• Joy shared, joy doubled: sorrow shared, sorrow halved. (French, German, Swedish, English)
• Least said, soonest mended. (Italian, French, English)
• Little pitchers have big ears. (French, Swedish, German, English)
• Men leap over where the hedge is lower. (Italian, Spanish, French, Latin, German, English)
• Men talk only to conceal their mind. (Latin, English, Polish, French)
• Much is expected where much is given. (Spanish, Italian, French, German, English)
• Never ask pardon before you are accused. (English, Spanish)
• No book was so bad, but some good might be got out of it. (Italian, Spanish, Latin, German, English)
• No need of words, trust deeds. (Latin, Spanish, Polish, Czech, English)
• One fool makes many. (Italian, English, Spanish, French, Dutch)
• Paper is forbearing. (Spanish not found, Italian not found)
• Plough deep while sluggards sleep, and you will have corn to sell and keep. (Czech, Polish, Spanish, English)
• Poverty is the reward of idleness.(Italian, Spanish, French, German, English)
• Proffer'd service stinks. (Danish, Frisian, English)
• Punishment is lame but it comes. (Latin, Czech, Italian, French, English, Spanish)
• Quick at meat, quick at work. (Czech, Polish, French, German, English)
• Only the dead fish follow the stream. (German, Swedish)
• Reason does not come before years. (English, French, German)
• Reckless youth makes rueful age. (Latin, French, Italian, German, English, Latin)
• Seldom lies the dell dead by the dyke side. (Scottish)
• Slow and steady wins the race. (English, Swedish)
• Sow thin, shear thin. (Spanish, French, German, English,)
• Take things as you find them. (English, Spanish)
• The eye looks but it is the mind that sees. (Latin, Spanish, Czech, German, English)
• The first step to health is to know that we are sick. (Latin, English)
• The more you stroke the cat's tail, the more he raises his back. (Lithuanian, Czech, Polish, Danish, German, English)
• The pitcher goes so often to the well that it is broken at last. (Czech)
• The proof of the pudding is in the eating. (Dutch, Spanish, German, English, French)
• There is no greater torment than to be alone in paradise. (Italian, German, English)
• Though thou hast ever so many counsellors, yet do not forsake the counsel of thy own soul. (Polish, Latin, English)
• Time is precious. (Maltese, Hungarian, Greek, German, English)
• When all men say you are an ass it is time to bray. (Italian, Spanish, French, German, English)
• When thy friend asks, let there be no to-morrow. (Spanish, German, Italian, English)
• Without temptation there is no victory. (German, Spanish, Italian, French, English)
• We should not expect to find old heads on young shoulders. (English)
• Yielding a single results in yielding in many. (Latin proverb) (Latin)

Finished (At least seven international equivalents of a proverb.)

• A bad bush is better than no shelter; Every hair casts its shadow; There is no little enemy. (Czech, Corsican, Catalan, Portuguese, Provençal, Danish, Dutch)
• A bad compromise is better than a good lawsuit. (Slovak, Croatian, Czech, Piedmontese, Catalan, Faraoese, Danish)
• A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
• A blind may sometimes hit the mark. (Danish, Estonian, Hungarian, Latvian, Slovak, Catalan, Swedish, Norweigan, Flemish, Frisian, Scots)
• A chain is no stronger than its weakest link.
• A closed mouth catches no flies. (Catalan, Czech, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, German, Scots)
• A crafty fox never preys near his den.
• A drowning man plucks at a straw.
• A fair face and a foul heart.
• A fool may give wise man counsel.
• A friend is known in adversity, like gold is known in fire. (Japanese, Persian, Esperanto, Welsh, Turkissh, Slovenian, Norweigan, Bulgarian, Vietnamese)
• A golden bit does not make the horse any better.
• A good beginning makes for a good ending.
• A good marksman may miss.
• A good mind possess a kingdom.
• A good name is the best of all treasures.
• A honey tongue and a heart of gall.
• A king's favour is no inheritance.
• A lie has short legs
• A problem shared is a problem halved. (Italian, Polish, Spanish, French, Latin, Dutch, German, English)
• A mans worst enemies are often those of his own house.
• (Don't) add fuel to the fire. (English, Romanian, German, Italian, Spanish, Latin, French, Swedish)
• Advice most needed are the least heeded. (In at one ear and out at the other.) (English, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Latin, African, German, Albanian, Catalan, Frisian, Scottish Gaellic, Irish, Karelian, Livonian, Maltese, Romanian, Scots, Veps, Votian, Welsh, Esperanto, Persian)
• Age and poverty are ill to bear. (Croatian, Polish, Piedmontese, Lombard, Milanese, Norwegian, Danish)
• All is fish that comes to the net. (Latin, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, English)
• All that glisters is not gold.
• All truths are not to be told. (Croatian, Czech, Polish, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch)
• A new broom sweeps clean.
• A watched pot never boils.
• An apple does not fall from the tree.
• An old dog barks not in vain.
• An ounce of patience is worth a pound of brains. (Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Catalan, Spanish, French, Dutch)
• An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.
• All are not friends that speak us fair.
• All good things are three. (Swedish, Polish, Spanish, German, Italian, Latvin, Czech, Russian)
• All that glimmers is not gold.
• The apple does not fall far from the tree.(Japanese, Armenian, Esperanto, Yiddish, Votian, Ukranian, Swedish, Spanish, Slovenian, Croatian, Russian, Romanian, Romansch, Romani, Polish, Norweigan, Latvian, Livonian, Icelandic, Irish, Italian, Karelian, Lappish, Lithuanian,‎ German, Frisian, French, Finnish, Estonian, Danish, Dutch, Czech, Albanian, Latin, German, Dutch, Flemish, Walloon, Catalan, Portuguese, Italian, Venetian, Romanian, French, Polish, Serbian, Croatin, Hungarian, Estonian)
• Barking dogs seldom bite.
• Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow. (Italian, German, Poliah, Danish, English, Czech, Portuguese, French)
• Better be alone than in bad company. (Czech, Sicilian, Sardinian, Corsican, Venetian, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, Spanish, Walloon, Povençal, French, Latin, Icelandic, Swedish, Danih, Frisian, Dutch, German, English)
• Better is the enemy of good.
• Better safe than sorry.
• Beware of false prophets in sheeps clothing for they may underneath be wolves. (German, Italian, Swedish, French, English, Danish, Romanian)
• Birds fly not into our mouth ready roasted.
• The boughs that bear most hang lowest. (Implemented as the french equivalent, It is not the cow that shouts the loudest that gives the most milk)
• By perseverance the snail reached the arc. (Sicilian, Neapolitan, Piedmontese, Lombard, Catalan, Provençal, Icelandic, Flemish)
• Cast no dirt into the well that gives you water. (Estonian,Slovak, Sicilian, Corsican, Venetian, Milanese, Catalan,Flemish)
• Cats eat what hussies spare. (Scots, Estonian, Croatian, Slovak, Czech, Portuguese, Polish)
• Children, fools and drunken men tell the truth. (Swedish, Slovak, Croatian, Romanian, Polish, Icelandic, Hungarian, Czech)
• Cobblers children are worst shod.
• Common fame is often to blame. (Polish, Latin, Dutch, German, English)
• Conceal not the truth from thy physcian and (Italian, Portuguese, French, Spanish, Latin, German, English)
• Constant dropping wears the stone.
• Crooked logs make straight fires. (Czech, Italian, Spanish, French, Latin, Dutch, German)
• Crows do not pick out eyes out of other crows.
• Curiosity killed the cat. (English, Czech, French, Portuguese, Polish, German, Italian, Dutch)
• Deal gently with the bird you mean to catch.
• Deep calls to deep.
• Diffidence is the right eye of prudence.
• Distrust is the mother of safety.
• Do as you may if you can't do as you would. (Polish, Scots, Pôrtuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, German)
• Do not play with edged tools.
• Do not think that one enemy is insignificant, or that a thousand friends are too many. (Portuguese, German, Latin, French, Italian, Czech, English)
• Don't add fuel to the fire. (Slovenian, Croatian, Romanian, Romansch, Polish, Hungarian, German, Czech, Albanian)
• Don't buy the pig in the poke.
• Don't blow your own horn. (Maori, Swedish, Hebraic, Dutch, German, Italian, Romanian)
• Don’t carry coals to Newcastle. (Danish, Finnish, Russian, German, Swedish, Polish, Hungarian)
• Don’t go between the tree and the bark.
• Don't have too many irons in the fire. (Italian, Persian, Spanish, French, Latin, English, Dutch)
• Don't make a mountain out of a molehill. (Swedish, Romanian, German, Italian, French, Spanish, Dutch, Latin, English, Finnish, Hungarian)
• Don't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. (Swedish, German, Polish, English, Romanian, Italian, Spanish)
• Don't postone till tomorow what you can do today.
• Don’t put all the eggs in the same basket.
• Don't sell the skin till you have caught the bear. (Estonian, Lithuaian, Romanian, Venetian, Provencal, Flemish, Frisian)
• Don’t throw out the child along with the bathwater.
• Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
• Don't wash your dirty linen in public. (Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, French, Czech, German, English, Greek, Catalan, Icelandic, Frisian, Latvian, Norweigan, Romani, Slovak, Esperanto, Japanese)
• Drumming is not the way to catch a hare. (German, English, Portuguese, Italian, French, Spanish, Latin)
• Dry bread at home is better than roast meat abroad.
• Each day brings it own bread. (Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Lithuaian, Italian, Danish, Dutch)
• Early ripe, early rotten.
• Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
• Easy come easy go.
• Envy always shooteth at a high mark. (Czech, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, Spanish, French, German)
• Envy takes no holiday. (Czech, Polish, Piedmontese, Italian, Spanish, French, German)
• Eggs and oaths are soon broken.
• Every bird must hatch its own eggs.
• Every man is the smith of his own fortune. (Persian. Albanian, Icelandic, Provencal, Rromansch, Slovak, Slovenian, Turkish, Votian, Esperanto)
• Every why has a wherefore. (Polish, Italian, Spanish, Frech, Latin, Dutch, German)
• Eavesdroppers hear no good of themselves. (Italian, Spanish, French, German, English, Romanian, Scots)
• Experience keeps a dear school. (Vietnamese, Portuguese, Czech, Polish, Spanish, Italian, German, Swedish)
• Fight fire with fire. (Italian, Spanish, French, Latin, Dutch, German, English)
• Fine words butter no parsnips. (English, Russian, Hungarian, Vietnamese, Romanian, Danish, Portuguese)
• For what thou canst do thyself, rely not on another. (Polish, Italian, Spanish, Danish, German, Latin, Swedish)
• Forget other faults remembering your own; Forgive and forget. (Polish, Piedmontese, Piedmontese, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, German)
• Fortune favours the bold. (Swedish, Polish, Latin, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish)
• Fretting cares make grey hairs. (Czech, Polish, Italian, French, Latin, German, English)
• From nothing nothing can come.
• Give neither salt nor counsel till you are asked for it. (Latin, Italian, German, French, Romanian, Spanish, English)
• Give the devil his due. (German, French, Italian, Spanish, English, Portuguese, Russian)
• Gnaw the bone which is fallen to thy lot.
• God who gives the wound gives the salve. (Croatian, Czech, Spanish, French, Latin, Danish, German)
• Good health is above wealth.
• Good swimmers are often drowned.
• Good riding at two anchors, men have told, for if the one fails, the other may hold.
• Good wine needs no bush. (Vietnamese, Hungarian, English, Dutch, Romanian, Portuguese, Italian)
• Great minds agree.
• Grey hairs are honorable. (Danish, Latin, Scottish, Dutch, Spanish, Latin, German)
• Handsome is that handsome does. (Spanish, Scots, German, English, German, Romanian, Dutch, Latin)
• Hard words break no bones.
• Hawks will not pick out Hawk's eyes.
• He gives twice, who gives in a trice. (Latin, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, German, French, Romanian)
• He that can have patience can have what he will.
• He that promises too much means nothing.
• He that steals an egg will steal an ox.
• He that will not be counseled cannot be helped. (German, Latin, French, Italian, Polish, Czech, Croatian)
• He that will not when he may, when he will shall then have nay! (Romanian, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Latin, English)
• He that will not work, shall not eat. (Esperanto, Welsh, Votian, Veps, Slovenian, Slovak, Romansch, Romani, Maltese, Latvian, Livonian, Lithuanian, Karelian)
• He who does not advance goes backwards. (English, German, Latin, Dutch, French, Spanish, Polish)
• He who fights and runs away may live to fight another day. (Italian, French, Spanish, Czech, Swedish, Latin, German)
• He who serves God has a good master. (Czech, Polish, Italian, Portugese, Spanish, French, German)
• He who sups with the devil must use a long spoon.
• His own desire leads every man. (Polish, Italian, French, Latin, Danish, Dutch, German)
• History repeats itself. (All myths are per definition in a sense true; Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results)
• Honesty is the best policy. (Swedish, Danish, Czech, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Latin, Romanian)
• Honey is sweet, but the bees sting. (Scots, German, Dutch, Danish, French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese)
• If fortune favours, beware of being exalted; if fortune thunders, beware of being overwhelmed. (Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Latin, German, English)
• If the beard were all, the goat might preach.
• If the mountain will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet must go to the mountain. (Polish, Portuguese, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, French, German)
• If the shoe fits, wear it. (English, German, Lithuanian, Latvian, Czech, Polish, Icelandic)
• If you buy cheaply, you pay dearly.
• If you do good, good will be done to you.
• If you have no enemies it is a sign that fortune has forgotten you; People only throw stones at trees with fruit on them. (Latin, English, French, Portuguese, German, Spanish, Turkish)
• If you turn yourself into a doormat others will walk over you. (Written down as "He that makes himself an ass must not take it ill if men ride him.")
• If you want a thing done right, do it yourself (Bulgarian, Catalan, English, Polish, German, Swedish, French, Bulgarian)
• Ingratitude is the world's reward.
• It's by the head that the cow gives the milk. (Slovene,Croatian,Polish,Frisian,Danish, Italian, Dutch)
• It is good fishing in troubled waters. (Bulgarian, Belorussian, Cheremis, Danish, Estonian, Frisian, Lithuanian, Livonian, Provencal, Romansch, Ukranian)
• It is not the hen that cackles the most that lays the most eggs. (French, Swedish, Korean, Latin, Slovak, Indonesian, Czech)
• It is not wise to open old wounds. (Danish, Spanish, Italian, German, French, Romanian, English)
• It is a poor mouse that has only one hole. (Hungarian, Croatian, Czech, Catalan, Provençal, Frisian, Scots)
• It will all be the same a hundred years hence. (Dutch, Romanian, Italian, Spanish, German, Danish, Portuguese)
• Just as one calls into the forest, so it echoes back.
• Lead by example. (Latin, English, German, Dutch, Spanish, French, Portuguese)
• Learning is the eye of the mind.
• Leave a jest when it pleases you best. (Bolognese, Piedmontese, Venetian, Milanese, Catalan, Provencal, Norweigan)
• Least said, soonest mended. (Italian, French, English, Italian, Danish, Spanish, German, Romanian, Latin)
• Like father, like son. (Basque, Frisian, Irish, Karelian, Gaellic, Livonian, Provencal, Slovak, Slovenian, Veps, Votian, Welsh, Persian, Albanian, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Lithuanian, Latvian, Norweigan, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Chinese, Japanese)
• Like mother, like daughter. (Slovak, Slovenian, Veps, Votian, Spanish, Swedish, Welsh, Esperanto, Croatian, Romanian, Romani, Portuguese, Polish, Norweigan, Latvian, Lappish, Karelian, Italian, Hungarian, German, Scottish Gaellic, Frisian, French, Finnish, Estonian, Dutch, Danish, Czech, Breton, Albanian, Latin)
• Little strokes fell great oaks. (Japanese, Swedish, Spanish, Norweigan, English, Dutch, Danish)
• Look before you leap. (Dutch, Italian, French, Spanish, Swedish, Indonesian, Bosnian, German, Russian, Czech, English)
• Look before you leap, for snakes among sweet flowers do creep. (Tuscan, Italian, Spanish, French, Latin, Dutch, German)
• Love me, love my dog. (Czech, Polish, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, Spanish, French, Latin, Dutch, German, English)
• Love, smoke and cough are hard to hide. (French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, Portuguese)
• Make a virtue out of necessity. (Danish, Provençal, Portuguese, Lombard, Venetian, Corsican, Polish)
• Man proposes but god disposes.
• Many a true word is spoken in jest. (Spanish, Italian, German, French, Romanian, English)
• Many kiss the hand they wish to cut off. (Swedish, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Latin, German )
• Men are like fish; the great ones devour the small. (Spanish, Latin, German, Italian, Polish, French, Dutch, Albanian, Basque, Catalan, Estonian, Scottish Gaellic, Hungarian, Irish, Lithuanian, Latvian, Maltese, Norweigan, Provencal, Romania, Romansch, Croatian, Croatian, Slovenian, Slovakian, Esperanto)
• Measure thrice, cut once. (Dutch, Chinese, Votian, Provencal, Romansch, Lithuanian, Albanian, Frisian)
• Mild physician putrid wounds.
• Misfortune comes on horseback and departs on foot.
• Missing out the forest because of all the trees.
• Money is there to be spent. (Dutch, German, Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, Polish)
• More speed, less haste.
• Misery loves company.
• A mountain never meets a mountain, but a man meets a man. (Persian, Esperanto, Welsh, Veps, Romansch, Romani, Frisian, Mordvin, Maltese, Karelian, Irish, Scottish Gaellic, Catalan, Basque, Albanian)
• Much bran and little meal.
• Needs must when the devil drives. (Swedish, Romanian, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, Portuguese)
• Never judge by appearances; Judge not a man and things at first sight. (Czech, Polish, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, German)
• Nobody can serve two masters (Albanian, Catalan, Frisian, Scottish Gaellic, Livonian, Provencal, Romani, Slovenian, Welsh, Esperanto, Mordvin, Norweigan)
• No man is indispensable.
• No one can be the judge in his own case. (Spanish, Czech, Polish, French, Latin, Dutch, German)
• No one knows where the shoe pinches, but he who wears it. (Portuguese, Romanian, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, Latin, English)
• No one gets rich quickly if he is honest. (Polish, Italian, Spanish, French, Latin, Swedish, Dutch)
• No pain, no gain. (Croatian, Slovak, Romanian, Provencal, Flemish, Frisian, Scots)
• Nothing for nothing. (Polish, Italian, Spanish, French, Latin, Dutch, English)
• Nothing is new under the sun.
• Nothing ventured, nothing gained. (eight equivalents)
• It takes two to tango. (English, Dutch, French, Polish and Turkish, German, Spanish)
• Gluttony kills more than the sword; Wine has drowned more than the sea. (Polish, Spanish, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Latin, German)
• God helps those who help themselves. (Italian, Croatian, Spanish, Finnish, Icelandic, Polish, Latvian, Czech, Hungarian, Russian, Bulgarian, Portuguese, Greek, French)
• Of soup and love the first is the best. (Estonian, Lithuanian, Latvian, Venetian, Milanese, Proovencal, Norweigan)
• Of two evils choose the least. (Romanian, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish)
• Old is the oldest (Scandinavian)
• Once a drunkard always a drunkard; Once a thief always a thief. (Italian, Spanish, French, German, Dutch, English, Mambwe-Lungu)
• Once bitten, twice shy.
• One swallow does not make a summer
• One today is worth two tomorrows. (Polish, Czech, Italian, Spanish, French, Latin, German)
• Opportunity knocks only once. (German, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, Spanish, Dutch, Latin)
• Out of sight, out of mind.
• Out of the frying pan into the fire. (Romanian, Finnish, Polish, Russian, Indian, Hungarian, German)
• Patience is a remedy for every sorrow.
• Pigs grunt about everything and nothing.
• Physician, heal yourself! Czech, Polish, Italian, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, German)
• Poets are born, but orators are trained.
• Preachers say: do as I say, not as i do.
• Rats desert a sinking ship.
• Reckless youth makes rueful age. (Latvian, Italian, French, Latin, German, English, English [Sic!])
• Repetition is the mother of knowledge. (Latin, Swedish, Hungarian, Russian, Czech, German, French)
• Second thoughts are best. (Latin, Spanish, Italian, German, French, Romanian, English, Swedish)
• Set a thief to catch a thief. (Romanian, Danish, Portuguese, Dutch, Spanish, German, Italian)
• Shame take him that shame thinketh. (Italian, Spanish, French, Latin, Dutch, German, English)
• Shoemaker not above the sandal.
• Short prayers reach heaven. (Latin, Danish, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, French)
• Still Water runs deep (Bulgarian, Croatian, Indonesian, English, Czech, Danish, Spanish)
• Strike while the iron is hot.
• Take counsel of one's pillow. (Spanish, Swedish, Italian, French, Latin, German, Portuguese)
• Take heed of enemies reconciled and of meat twice boiled.
• Take the will for the deed. (Scots, Czech, Polish, French, German, English, Italian)
• Take things as you find them. (Latin, Spanish, English, German. French, Latin, Czech)
• The best defence is a good offence. (Italian, Swedish, Spanish, French, Dutch, German, English)
• The bird loves her own nest.
• The covetous man is good to none and worst to himself. (Hungarian, Polish, Italian, Latin, Danish, Dutch, German)
• The last will be first, and the first last. (Italian, Spanish, French, Dutch, German, English, Hawaiian)
• The more the merrier. (Polish, Italian, Spanish, French, Dutch, German, English, Slovak)
• The sweetest flesh is near the bones. (Polish, Italian, Spanish, French, Latin, German, Scots)
• The voice of the people is the voice of God.
• There is danger in delay. (Italian, Spanish, French, Latin, German, English, Scots, Romanian)
• There is no accounting for taste. (Latin, Thai, Swedish, French, Portuguese, English, Russian, Romanian)
• There is no little enemy. (Spanish, Latin, German, English, Swedish)
• There is no rule without an exception. (Czech, Swedish, Polish, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch)
• There is no smoke without fire.
• There is none as deaf as he who not wants to hear.
• Time and tide waits for no man.
• Today me, tomorrow thee. (Italian, Polish, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, German)
• Too many cooks ruin the broth.
• Too much of a thing is good for nothing. (One is missing)
• True love never grows old.
• Truth gives a short answer, lies go round about. (Obscurity envelops truth.) (English, Latin, German, Polish, French, Spanish, Portuguese)
• United we stand, divided we fall; Union is strength. (Croatian, Czech, Vietnamese, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Flemish)
• You can catch more flies with a drop of honey than with a barrel of vinegar. (Danish, Dutch, Italian, German, French, Romanian, English)
• You can't milk a bull. (Czech, Polish, Italian, Spanish, French, German, English)
• You get what you pay for. (Polish, Italian, Catalan, Spanish, French, Latin, German)
• You see the splinter in another's eye but fail to see the beam in your own. (Votic, Veps, Romani, Mordvin, Maltese, Lappish, Karelian)
• You might as well try to hold an eel by the tail. (Slovak, Sardinian, Corsican, Portuguese, Catalan, Norweigan, Danish)
• You must meet roughness with roughness.
• You must not run after two hares at the same time. (Afghan, Danish, Dutch, Italian, German, French, Romanian, English, Russian)
• Wealth rarely brings happiness. (Latin, French, Italian, German, English)
• We are to learn as long as we live. (Albanian, Scottish- Gaellic, Karelian, Livonian, Esperanto, Frisian)
• Well begun, is half done. (Albanian, Basque, Catalan, Turkish, Scottish Gaelic, Irish, Karelian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Romani, Romansch, Slovak, Slovenian, Esperanto, Polish)
• Who digs a trap for others ends up in it himself.
• What is bred in the bone will not go out of the flesh.
• What everyone says must be true. (Italian, Spanish, French, Dutch , English, Czech)
• What goes around comes around.
• What you reap is what you sow. (Turkish, Hungarian, Vietnamese, Polish, Finnish, Latin, Estonian, Croatian, Portuguese, French, Slovak, Italian, Swedish)
• Whatever measure you deal out to others will be dealt back to you.
• When in doubt, don't. (Italian, Spanish, French, Latin, Dutch, German, English)
• When one door closes another opens. (Chinese, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, German, Scots)
• When the head is sick, the whole body is sick. (Italian, German, Latin, Spanish, French, Hungarian, English)
• When the pig is proffered, hold up the poke. (Czech, Polish, Corsican, Spanish, Latin, German, English)
• Where god has a church the devil will have his chapel. (Italian, French, Latin, German, English)
• Where there is a will, there is a way. (Afghan, Korean, Italian, Indian, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Polish, Romanian)
• While the grass grows the steed starves. (Swedish, Polish, Italian, Spanish, French, Latin, Danish, German, English, Romanian)
• Who has not served cannot command. (Polish, French, Latin, German, English, Italian, Portuguese)
• Who lives by hope will die of hunger.
• Whom fortune wishes to destroy, she first makes mad.
• Wise men learn by other men's mistakes, fools by their own. (Hungarian, Swedish, Sardinian, Venetian, Milanese, Provençal, Norweigan)
• Wisdom goes not always by years.

Proverb resources

• Kannada proverbs (deleted because of lack of sources)
• Talk:Mexican proverbs
• Vietnamese proverbs

Templates

** {{cite book | last1 = | first = | edition = | year = | title = | publisher = | page = X | pages = Y | isbn = }}

** {{cite book | last1 = Ward | first = Caroline | year = 1842 | title = National proverbs in the principal languages of Europe | publisher = J.W. Parker | page = X | pages = 176 }}

** {{cite book | last1 = Strauss | first = Emanuel | edition = Volume 2 | year = 1994 | title = Dictionary of European proverbs | publisher = Routledge | page = X | pages = 2200 | isbn =0415096243}}

** {{cite book | last1 = Kelly | first = Walter Keating | edition = W. Kent & co. (late D. Bogue) | year = | title = Proverbs of all nations | publisher = | year = 1859 | page = X | pages = 238}}

** {{cite book | last1 = Kelly | first = Walter Keating | edition = | year = 1859 | title = Proverbs of all nations | publisher = W. Kent & co. (late D. Bogue) | page = X | pages = 238}}

** {{cite book | last1 = Mawr | first = E.B. | year = 1885 | title = Analogous Proverbs in Ten Languages | page = X | pages = 107 }}

** {{cite book | last1 = Paczolay | first = Gyula | year = 1997 | title = European Proverbs in 55 languages | publisher = DeProverbio.com | page = X | pages = 527 | isbn = 1-875943-44-7}}

• • Flonta, Teodor (2002). God and the Devil: Proverbs in 9 Euorpean Languages. Teodor Flonta. p. BLANK. ISBN 1875943412. 

It is not necessary to succeed in order to persevere. As long as there is a margin of hope, however narrow, we have no choice but to base all our action on that margin.