Wise Old Sayings

57
qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwerty uiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasd fghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzx cvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmq wertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyui opasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfg hjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxc vbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmq wertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyui opasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfg hjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxc vbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmq wertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyui opasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfg hjklzxcvbnmrtyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbn mqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwert yuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopas dfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklz xcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnm qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwerty WISE OLD SAYINGS

Transcript of Wise Old Sayings

Page 1: Wise Old Sayings

qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmrtyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwerty

WISE OLD

SAYINGS

Page 2: Wise Old Sayings

A

Saying - Author

A big tree attracts the gale. - Chinese (on pride)

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. - Latin Proverb

A beautiful thing is never perfect. - Egyptian (on beauty)

A blind person who sees is better than a seeing person who is blind. - Iranian (on

wisdom)

A body makes his own luck, be it good or bad. - unknown

A brother may not be a friend, but a friend will always be a brother. - Ben Franklin

(1706-1790)

A burden that one chooses is not felt. - Italian (on self-reliance)

A carpenter is known by his chips. - Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

A cat in gloves catches no mice. - 14th Century French Proverb

A chain is no stronger than its weakest link. - Sir Leslie Stephen (1832-1904)

A change is as good as a rest. - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930)

A clear conscience is more valuable than wealth. - Tagalog (Filipino) (on conscience)

A clever person turns great problems into little ones and little ones into none at all. -

Chinese (on attitude)

A closed mouth catches no flies. - Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)

A crab walks, so walks his children. - African proverb Kpelle Tribe

A crown's no cure for a headache. - English (on basic truths)

A crust in comfort is better than a feast in fear. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

A day is lost if one has not laughed. - French (on the conduct of life)

A day of travelling will bring a basketful of learning.- Vietnamese (on journeys)

A decision made at night may be changed in the morning.- Samoan (on permanence

and change)

A dog that will fetch a bone, will carry a bone. - R. Forby (1830) on gossip

A dog's life is a miserable life. - Desiderius Erasmus (1465-1536)

A dripping June sets all in tune. - unknown

A drowning man will clutch at a straw. - Sir Thomas More (1478-1535)

A fair exchange is no robbery. - Scottish Proverb

A false friend and a shadow attend only while the sun shines. - Ben Franklin (1706-

1790)

Page 3: Wise Old Sayings

A father's a treasure; a brother's a comfort; a friend is both. - Ben Franklin (1706-

1790)

A fault confessed is half redressed. - English Proverb

A few germs never hurt anyone. - unknown

A firm tree does not fear the storm. - Dayak (Indonesian) (on strength and weakness)

A fool and his money are quickly parted. - J. Bridges (1587)

A friend in need is a friend indeed. - James Ray (1678)

A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

(1803-1882)

A friend- one soul, two bodies. - Chinese (on friendship)

A friend's eye is a good mirror. - Gaelic (on friendship)

A full person does not understand the needs of the hungry. - Irish (on food and

hunger)

A gentle hand may lead even an elephant by a hair.- Iranian (on leadership)

A gentle word opens the iron gate. - Bulgarian (on eloquence)

A great one must have a long heart.- Ethiopian (on leadership)

A grudge is a heavy thing to carry. - unknown

A guilty conscience needs no accuser. - English Proverb<>

A good book praises itself. - German (on books and writers)

A good example is the best sermon. - English (on advice)

A good lather is half the shave. - William Hone (1780-1842)

A good spectator also creates. - Swiss (on art and creativity)

A good spouse and health is a person's best wealth. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

A good tree can lodge ten thousand birds. - Burmese (on good and evil)

A goose quill is more dangerous than a lion's claw. - English (on books and writers)

A hand ready to hit, may cause you great trouble. - Maori (on anger)

A hard beginning maketh a good ending. - John Heywood (c. 1497-1580)

A horse may run quickly but it cannot escape its tail. - Russian proverb (on

conscience)

A house divided cannot stand. - Bible (Matthew 12:25)

A library is a repository of medicine for the mind. - Greek (on books and writers)

A little axe can cut down a big tree. - Jamaican (on permanence and change)

A little learning is a dangerous thing. - Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

A loan though old is not a gift.- Hungarian (on indebtedness)

A loving heart is the truest wisdom. - Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still. - Laurence J. Peter

Page 4: Wise Old Sayings

A man in a passion, rides a mad horse. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

A man is known by the company he keeps. - M. Coverdale (1541)

A man who asks is a fool for five minutes. A man who never asks is a fool for life. -

Chinese Proverb - (thanks to Alice Fonda-Marsland)

A man who desires revenge should dig two graves. - unknown

A man who never made a mistake, never made anything. - unknown

A man with a cough cannot conceal himself. - African proverb Yoruba Tribe

A man's got to do what a man's got to do. - unknown

A man's house is his castle. - Sir Edward Coke (1552-1634)

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit drieth the bones. -

Proverbs 17:22

A miser is like a person with bread who is starving. - Middle Eastern (on greed)

A miss is as good as a mile. - unknown

A moment's insight is sometimes worth a life's experience. - Oliver Wendell Holmes

(1809-1894)

A new broom sweeps clean but an old broom knows the corners. - Virgin Islander (on

friendship)

A penny for your thoughts. - Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

A penny saved is a penny earned. - Scottish Proverb

A person has learned much who has learned how to die. - German (on death and

dying)

A picture's worth a thousand words. - unknown

A picture is a poem without words. - Latin (on art and creativity)

A place for everything and everything in its place. - Samuel Smiles (1812-1904)

A proverb is a short sentence based on long experience. - American (on proverbs)

A proverb is one man's wit and all men's wisdom. - Lord John Russell (1792-1878)

Acontinued

Saying - Author

A quarrelsome man has no good neighbours. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out. - unknown

A rolling stone gathers no moss. - John Heywood (c. 1497-1580)

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

A rule isn't unfair if it applies to everyone. - unknown

A ruler must sometimes humor as well as command. - unknown

A short horse is soon curried. - John Heywood (c. 1497-1580)

Page 5: Wise Old Sayings

A single arrow is easily broken; a bundle of ten is not. - Japanese (on strength and

weakness)

A smile is a window in your face to show your heart is at home. - unknown

(submitted by [email protected])

A soft answer turneth away wrath. - Bible (Proverbs 15:1)

A stitch in time saves nine. - unknown

A stumble is not a fall. - Haitian (on adversity)

A stumble may prevent a fall. - English (on experience)

A thing is bigger for being shared. - Gaelic (on generosity)

A thousand artisans, a thousand plans. - Chinese (on art and creativity)

A tree falls the way it leans. - Walloon (on rewards and consequences)

A trouble shared is a trouble halved. - unknown

A true champion believes in themselves when no one else does. - nosagirl05

A true friend is the best Possession. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

A true soldier does not admit defeat before the battle. - unknown

A turtle travels only when it sticks its neck out.- Korean (on journeys)

A watched pot never boils. - unknown

A weed is a plant we've found no use for yet. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

"And what is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."

A weed is but an unloved flower. - Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1855-1919)

A weed is no more than a flower in disguise. - James Russell Lowell (1819-1891)

A wild goose never laid a tame egg. - Gaelic (on authenticity)

A word once let out of the cage cannot be whistled back again. - Horace (65-8 BC)

A word to the wise may be suffient. - Latin

A work ill done must be twice done. - Welsh (on business)

A year's care; a minute's ruin. - Tagalog (Filipino) (on perversity)

Ability may get you to the top but it's character that will keep you there. - Abraham

Lincoln (1809-1865)

Absence is to love as wind is to fire; it extinguishes the small and enkindles the great.

- Comte de Bussy-Rabutin (1618-1693)

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.- Thomas Haynes Bayly (1797-1839)

Accidents will happen - George Colman (1732-1794)

Actions speak louder than words. - Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

Adapt the remedy to the disease. - Chinese Proverb

Adversity is a gift. - unknown

Adversity makes strange bedfellows. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Page 6: Wise Old Sayings

Advice after mischief is like medicine after death. - Danish (on advice)

Advise no one to go to war or marry. - Spanish (on advice)

After crosses and losses, men grow humbler and wiser. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

After dinner rest a while; after supper walk a mile. - T. Cogan (1584)

After the war, aid. - Greek Proverb

Aim for the stars. - unknown

Aim high in your career but stay humble in your heart. - Korean (on ambition)

Ain't no pot so crooked, you can't find a lid to fit. - unknown

All are not saints, who go to church.- Italian (on hypocrisy)

All cats are grey in the dark. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

All experience is education for the soul. - unknown

All food is fit to eat but not all words are fit to speak. - Haitian (on discretion)

All good things must come to an end. - H.H. Riley (1857)

All happiness is in the mind. - English (on attitude)

All in good time. - Horace (65-8 BC)

All of us, the great and the little have need of each other. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

All roads lead to Rome. - unknown but thanks to Mamtasaransh

All that glitters is not gold. - Latin Proverb

All the world's a stage. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

All truth passes through three stages: First it is ridiculed, second it is violently

opposed and third it is accepted as being self-evident. - unknown

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All play and no work makes Jack a mere

toy - unknown, courtesy of Leah Cummings

All's well that ends well. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

Almost only counts in horseshoes. - unknown

Always be prepared. - unknown

Always keep an open mind. - unknown

Ambition begets vexations. - Singhalese (on ambition)

Ambition destroys its possessor. - Hebrew (on ambition)

Ambition is a good servant but a bad master. - unknown

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

An army of a thousand is easy to find but ah how difficult to find a general. - Chinese

Proverb<>

An empty barrel makes the most noise. - Russian Proverb

An hour may destroy what an age was building.- English (on permanence and change)

An ill weed grows apace. - George Chapman (c.1559-1634)

Page 7: Wise Old Sayings

An old error has more friends than a new truth.- Danish (on habit)

An old ox makes a straight furrow. - Spanish (on experience)

An open foe may prove a curse but a pretended friend is worse. - Ben Franklin (1706-

1790)

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. - unknown

Anger is a short madness. - Horace (65-8 BC)

Anger is often more hurtful than the injury that caused it. - English (on anger)

Anger is one letter short of danger. - Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)

Another day, another dollar. - unknown

Any plan is bad that cannot be changed. - Italian (on planning)

Any port in a storm. - unknown

Any water in the desert will do. - Arabic (on practicality)

Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm. - Publilius Syrus (c.42 B.C.)

Anyone can stand adversity but to test a person's character, give them power. -

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

Anyone who will gossip to you, will gossip about you. - unknown

Anything with scales counts as a fish. - Malay (on appearance and reality)

Appearances are deceptive. - Italian Proverb

As long as you live, keep learning how to live. - Latin proverb (on the conduct of life)

As the day lengthens, the cold strengthens. - E. Pellham (1631)

As the spokes of a wheel are attached to the hub, so all things are attached to life.-

Sanskrit (on life and living)

As the sun's shadow shifts, so there is no permanence on earth.- Afghan (on

permanence and change)

As you shall sow, so shall you reap. - Bible

At high tide, fish eat ants; at low tide, ants eat fish.- Thai (on permanence and change)

At the bottom of patience one finds heaven.- Kanuri (West African) (on patience)

At the gate of patience there is no crowding.- Moroccan (on patience)

Avoid a cure that is worse than the disease. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Avoid dishonest gain: no price can recompence the pangs of vice. - Ben Franklin

(1706-1790)

B

Saying - Author

Page 8: Wise Old Sayings

Bad gains are true losses. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Bad is called good when worse happens. Norwegian (on relative worth)

Be careful what you ask for; you may get it. - unknown (Thanks to J. Martin)

Be careful what you wish for. - unknown

Be ever vigilant but never suspicious. - English (on vigilance)

Be gracious in defeat. - unknown

Be it ever so humble there's no place like home. - unknown

Be just before you are generous. - E. Haywood (1745)

Be nice to people on your way up because you might meet 'em on your way down. -

Jimmy Durante

Be not niggardly of what costs thee nothing, as courtesy, counsel and countenance. -

Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Be not overcome by evil but repay evil with good. - Bible

Be not water, taking the tint of all colors. - Syrian (on authenticity)

Be slow in choosing a friend, slower still in changing. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Be sure you are right, then go ahead. - Davy Crockett (1786-1836)

Be the change you wish to see in the world. - Ghandi

Be the first in the field and the last to the couch. - Chinese (on work)

Be true to yourself. - unknown

Bear and forbear. - unknown

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. - Greek Proverb

Beauty is only skin deep. - Sir Thomas Overbury (1581-1613)

Beauty without virtue is a flower without perfume. - French (on beauty)

Because we focused on the snake, we missed the scorpion. - Egyptian (on caution and

care)

Before healing others, heal yourself.- Gambian (on health and wellness)

Before you marry keep both eyes open; after marriage keep one eye shut.- Jamaican

(on marriage)

Beggars can't be choosers. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

Beginning is easy; continuing, hard. - Japanese (on permanence and change)

Behind every argument lies someone's ignorance. - Louis D. Brandeis (1856-1941)

Being happy is better than being king. - Hausa (West African) (on comparable worth)

Believe in yourself. - unknown

Believe nothing of what you hear and only half of what you see. - unknown

Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without one. - Chinese (on comparable

worth)

Page 9: Wise Old Sayings

Better a thousand enemies outside the tent than one within it. - Arabic (on friends and

foes)

Better late than never. - Roman Proverb

Better one true friend than a hundred relatives. - Italian (on friendship)

Better slip with foot than tongue. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Better ten times ill than one time dead.- Yiddish (on health and wellness)

Better the devil you know than the one you don't - R. Taverner (1539)

Better to ask the way than go astray. - unknown

Better to ask twice than to lose your way. - Danish (on practicality)

Better to be safe than sorry. - Samuel Lover (1797-1868)

Better to give than to receive. - Bible (Acts 20:35)

Better three hours too soon than a minute too late. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Better yourself before others. - Darren Bateman

Beware a rickety wall, a savage dog and a quarrelsome person. - Iranian (on caution

and care)

Beware of little expenses: a small leak will sink a great ship. - Ben Franklin (1706-

1790)

Beware of the person with two faces.- Dutch (on hypocrisy)

Beware the door with too many keys. - Portuguese (on vigilance)

Beware the fury of a patient man. - John Dryden (1631-1700)

Beware the Greeks bearing gifts. - Virgil (70-19 BC) "I fear the Greeks even when

bearing gifts."

Beware the person with nothing to lose. - Italian (on prudence)

Birds of a feather, flock together. - Robert Burton (1577-1640)

Blood is thicker than water. - German Proverb

Bloom where you're planted. - unknown

Boys, be ambitious. - William Smith Clark (1826-1886)

Brains are better than brawn. - unknown

Bread, oil, Salt and Heart - Albanian ( on honoring the guest) thanks to

kravetsmaksim

Bury the hatchet beneath the root of the tree. - Native American Saying (on war and

peace)

But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads.

- Albert Camus

Butterflies come to pretty flowers. - Korean (on beauty)

Buyer beware. - Latin Proverb "Caveat emptor"

Buying on credit is robbing next year's crop. - African American (on buying and

Page 10: Wise Old Sayings

selling)

By diligence and patience, the mouse bit in two the cable. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

By crawling, a child learns to stand. - Hausa (West African) (on experience)

By going and coming, a bird weaves its nest. - Ashanti (West African) (on persistence)

C

Saying - Author

Caesar did not merit the triumphal car more than he that conquers himself. - Ben

Franklin (1706-1790)

Caesar's wife must be above suspicion. - Julius Caesar (c.102-44 BC)

Can't get blood from a stone. - unknown

Can't see the forest for the trees. - unknown

Carve the peg by looking at the hole. - Korean (on appropriateness)

Change is inevitable - Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)

Change yourself and fortune will change. - Portuguese (on fortune)

Character building begins in infancy and continues until death. - Eleanor Roosevelt

(1884-1962)

Character is easier kept than recovered. - English (on character and virtue)

Character is habit long continued. - Greek

Charity begins at home. - Tobias George Smollett (1721-1771)

Charity covers a multitude of sins. - Bible (Peter 4:8)

Chickens don't praise their own soup. - Martinican (on flattery and praise)

Children are a poor man's riches. - English Proverb

Children have more need of models than critics.- French (on parents and children)

Choose the hills wisely on which you must do battle. - unknown

Choose to be forgiven. - unknown

Choose your neighbors before you buy your house. - Hausa (West African) (on

planning)

Chop your own wood; it will warm you twice. - Mack King

Circumstances alter cases. - T. Rymer (1678)

Civility costs nothing and buys everything. - Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-

1762)

Clean your finger before you point at my spots. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Close only counts in horseshoes and grenades. - John Harvey MacDonald Jr. combat

Page 11: Wise Old Sayings

wounded, Vietnam 1969

Clothes don't make the man. - unknown

Clothes may disguise a fool, but his voice will give him away. - unknown

Clouds gather before a storm. - unknown

Clouds that thunder, do not always rain. - Armenian (on vanity and arrogance)

Cold hands, warm heart. - V.S. Lean (1903)

Come what may, time and hour runs through the roughest day. - William Shakespeare

(1564-1616)

Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

(1803-1882)

Common sense is not so common. - French (on common sense)

Compete-- don't envy.- Yemeni (on jealousy and envy)

Confession is good for the soul. - Scottish Proverb

Conscience makes cowards of us all. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Constant dripping will wear away a stone. - Greek Proverb

Content makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor. - Ben Franklin (1706-

1790)

Control your emotions or they will control you. - Chinese Proverb

Count your blessings. - unknown

Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the conquest of it. - William Danforth (1870-

1955)

Courage is the complement of fear. - Lazarus Long, thanks to D. Housel

Cowards die many times before their death. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Creditors have better memories than debtors. - English (on business)

Curses like chickens, come home to roost. - Chaucer (c.1343-1400)

Curiosity killed the cat. - E. O'Neill (1888-1953)

Cut your coat according to your cloth. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

Cutting off a mule's ears doesn't make it a horse. - Creole (on authenticity)

D

Saying - Author

Dally not with other folk's spouses or money. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Dead men don't bite. - Plutarch (46-120)

Dead men tell no tales. - J. Wilson (1664)

Page 12: Wise Old Sayings

Deal with the faults of others as gently as your own. - Chinese Proverb

Death is the great leveller. - Claudian

Death keeps no calendar. - English (on death and dying)

Death never takes a wise man by surprise; he is always ready to go. - Jean de la

Fontaine (1621-1695)

Death pays all debts. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Death takes no bribes. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Deeds are fruits; words are leaves. - English (on words and deeds)

Depend on others and you will go hungry. - Nepalese (on self-reliance)

Depend on your walking stick; not on other people. - Japanese (on self-reliance)

Destroy your enemy by making him your friend. - Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

Diamond cuts diamond. - Marstow (1604)

Different strokes for different folks. - Clarence Darrow (1857-1938)

Difficulties make you a jewel. - Japanese (on adversity)

Diligence is the mother of good luck. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Discretion is the better part of valor. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Distance lends enchantment to the view. - Thomas Campbell (1777-1844)

Do good and care not to whom. - Portuguese (on good and evil)

Do good to thy friend to keep him, to thy enemy to gain him. - Ben Franklin (1706-

1790)

Do not allow sins to get beyond creeping. - Hawaiian (on the conduct of life)

Do not attempt too much at once. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Do not be like the cat who wanted a fish but was afraid to get his paws wet. - William

Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Do not dissect a rainbow. In other words, do not destroy a beautiful phenomenon by

overanalyzing it. - Denise LaFrance, artist, 1964 - now.

Do not hold everything as gold which shines like gold. - unknown

Do not leave for tomorrow what you can do today. - unknown

Do not squander time for that is the stuff that life is made of. - Ben Franklin (1706-

1790)

Do the math; count your blessings. - unknown

Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. - Bible

Do what comes natural. - unknown

Do what is right, come what may. - unknown

Dog is a man's best friend. - unknown

Dogs bark but the caravan moves on. - Arab Proverb

Page 13: Wise Old Sayings

Don't be caught flat-footed. - unknown

Don't be led around by the nose. - unknown

Don't be too quick to judge. - unknown

Don't believe everything you hear. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Don't bite off more than you can chew. - unknown

Don't bite the hand that feeds you. - unknown

Don't boast when you set out but only when you get there.- Russian (on journeys)

Don't burn your bridges behind you. - unknown

Don't buy other people's problems. - Chinese (on buying and selling)

Don't bypass a town where there's a friend.- Malagasy (on journeys)

Don't call the alligator, big mouth until you have crossed the river. - Belizean (on

criticism)

Don't cross the bridge til you come to it. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

Don't count your chickens before they are hatched. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Don't cry before you are hurt. - Scottish Proverb

Don't cry over spilt milk. - James Howell (1549-1666)

Don't cut off your nose to spite your face. - Mid 14th century French Proverb

Don't expect things to go right the first time. - unknown

Don't find fault, find a remedy. - Henry Ford (1863-1947)

Don't get your back up. - unknown

Don't gild the lily. - unknown

Don't give up the ship. - unknown

Don't go barking up the wrong tree. - Davy Crockett (1786-1836)

Don't go looking for trouble. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Don't halloo until you're out of the wood. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Don't hang your hat higher than you can reach. - Belizean (on balance and

moderation)

Don't have too many irons in the fire. - unknown

Don't judge anyone unless you've walked in their moccasins one moon. - Native

American Proverb

Don't judge of men's wealth or piety by their Sunday appearances. - Ben Franklin

(1706-1790)

Don't kill the goose that lays the golden egg. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Don't let anyone get your goat. - unknown

Don't let the critics get you down. - unknown

Don't let the grass grow on the path of friendship. - Blackfoot (Native American) (on

Page 14: Wise Old Sayings

friendship)

Don't look where you fell but where you slipped. - Liberian (on practicality)

Don't make a mountain out of a molehill. - Henry Ellis(1859-1939)

Don't plant a seed in the sea. - Swahili (East African) (on appropriateness)

Don't put all your eggs in one basket. - Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)

Don't put the cart before the horse. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

Don't pretend to be something you aren't. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Don't reinvent the wheel. - unknown

Don't rush the river. - unknown; appeared in a horoscope on Dec 2nd, 2003. Thanks

to jenfromblock28. The river may be life or it may be financial wealth or it may be

your desires.

Don't sail out farther than you can row back. - Danish (on prudence)

Don't say amen to an unacceptable prayer. - Turkish (on prayer)

Don't shoot the messenger. - Old Latin Phrase, "Legatus non violatur." thank you to

Graeme Harrison of Sidney, Australia who researched this one and updated our site.

Don't spill the beans. - unknown

Don't sweat the small stuff. - unknown

Don't take any wooden nickels. - American (on authenticity)

Don't take no for an answer. - unknown

Don't talk unless you can improve the silence. - unknown

Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. - unknown

Don't toot your own horn. - unknown

Don't treat the symptom, instead find the cause. - unknown

Don't try to reinvent the wheel. - unknown

Don't wish your life away. - unknown

Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his brother. - Kahlil Gibran (1883-

1931)

Doubt is the key to knowledge. - Iranian (on education)

Drive gently over the stones. - Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

E

Saying - Author

Each bay, its own wind. - Fijian (on differences)

Each person has his strong point. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Page 15: Wise Old Sayings

Each year one vicious habit rooted out, in time might make the worst man good

throughout. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Eagles don't catch flies. - Desiderius Erasmus (1465-1536)

Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. - Ben Franklin

(1706-1790)

Earth is dearer than gold.- Estonian (on nature)

Easier said than done. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

East, west, home's best. - W.K.Kelly (1859)

Easy does it. - T. Taylor (1863)

Easy come, easy go. - Chaucer (c.1343-1400)

Eat coconuts while you have teeth. - Singhalese (on youth and age)

Eat to live, not live to eat. - Socrates (469-399 BC)

Economy is the wealth of the poor and the wisdom of the rich. - French (on thrift)

E'er you remark another's sin, bid your own conscience look within. - Ben Franklin

(1706-1790)

Eggs have no business dancing with stones. - Haitian (on prudence)

Empty sacks will never stand upright. - Italian Proverb

Empty vessels make the most sound. - John Lydgate (c.1370-1451)

Enough is as good as a feast. - Sir Thomas Malory (d.1471))

Envy has no rest.- Middle Eastern (on jealousy and envy)

Envy is based on an incomplete understanding of the other person's situation. -

George Chapman (c.1559-1634)

Envy of others always shows. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. - John Philpot Curran (1750-1817)

Even a fish wouldn't get into trouble if it kept its mouth shut. - Korean (on common

sense)

Even a sheet of paper has two sides. - Japanese (on differences)

Even a worm will turn. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580) "Treade a worme on the tayle

and it must turn agayne."

Even Buddist priests of the same temple quarrel occasionally.- Singhalese (on the

human comedy)

Even children of the same mother, look different. - Korean (on differences)

Even in Mecca, people make money. - Hausa (West African (on balance and

moderation)

Even monkeys fall out of trees. - Japanese Proverb

Even the best laid plans go awry. - unknown

Even the best song becomes tiresome if heard too often. - Korean (on art and

Page 16: Wise Old Sayings

creativity)

Even the best writer has to erase. - Spanish (on books and writers)

Even the largest army is nothing without a good general.- Afghan (on leadership)

Even though you have ten thousand fields, you can eat but one measure of rice a day.

- Chinese Proverb

Every adversity carries with it the seed of equal or greater benefit. - Napolean Hill ()

Every age has its book. - Arabic (on books and writers)

Every ass loves to hear himself bray. - English (on vanity and arrogance)

Every burro has his own saddle. - Equadoran (on differences)

Every cloud has a silver lining. - D.R. Locke (1863)

Every day of your life is a page of your history.- Arabic (on life and living)

Every dog has its day. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

Every dog is allowed one bite. - V.S. Lean (1902)

Every garden may have some weeds. - English Proverb

Every head is a world. - Cuban (on differences)

Every herring must hang by his own gill. - S. Harwood (1609)

Every horse thinks his own pack heaviest. - Thomas Fuller (1608-1661)

Every jack has his jill; if only they can find each other. - R. Cotgrave (1611)

Every land has its own law. - J. Carmichael (1628)

Every man for himself. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

Every man has his price. - unknown

Every man has to seek his own way to make himself more noble and to realize his

own true worth. - Albert Schweitzer

Every man is the architect of his own fortune. - Appius (c.470 BC)

Every peddlar praises his own needles. - Portuguese (on flattery and praise)

Every picture tells a story. - unknown

Every pot will find its lid.- Yiddish (on marriage)

Every tear has a smile behind it. - Iranian (on adversity)

Everybody makes mistakes. - unknown

Everyone gets their just deserts. - unknown

Everyone is ignorant only on different subjects. - Will Rogers (1879-1935)

Everyone is the age of their heart. - Guatemalan (on youth and age)

Everyone wants to live long but no one wants to be called old. - Icelandic (on youth

and age)

Everything comes to those who wait. - unknown

Everything in moderation. - unknown

Page 17: Wise Old Sayings

Everything is lovely when the geese honk high. - unknown

Exaggeration is truth that has lost its temper. - Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)

Example is the best precept. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Expect the worst, but hope for the best. - unknown

Experience is the best teacher. - Latin Proverb

Experience is the mother of wisdom. - unknown

Experience teaches slowly and at the cost of mistakes. - James Anthony Froude

(1818-1894)

F

Saying - Author

Fact is stranger than fiction. - Thomas Chandler Haliburton (1796-1865)

Failure is a teacher; a harsh one, but the best. - Thomas J. Watson Sr. (1874-1956)

Failure is the path of least persistence. - unknown

Faint heart never won fair lady. - W. S. Gilbert (1836-1911)

Fair words can buy a horse on credit. - Trinidadian (on flattery and praise)

Fair words never hurt the tongue. - George Chapman (c.1559-1634)

Faith is the ability to not panic. - unknown

Falling is easier than rising. - Irish (on fame)

False friends leave you in times of trouble. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Familiarity breeds contempt. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is. - German Proverb

Fear the Greeks bearing gifts. - Virgil (70-19 BC) "I fear the Greeks, even when

bringing gifts."

Fear the person who fears you. - Middle Eastern (on courage and fear)

Feed a cold and starve a fever. - C. Morley (1939)

Fine feathers don't make fine birds. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Fine words butter no parsnips. - John Clarke (1639)

Fire in the heart sends smoke into the head. - German Proverb

First come, first served. - unknown

First food, then religion. - Afghan (on practicality)

First things first. - G. Jackson (1894)

Fish don't get caught in deep water. - Malay (on caution and care)

Page 18: Wise Old Sayings

Fishing without a net is merely bathing. - Hausa (West African) (on authenticity)

Focus on what's right in your world instead of what's wrong. - unknown

Follow your dreams. - unknown

Following the path of least resistence is what makes both men and rivers crooked. -

unknown - thanks to Brian Fierling

Fools and scissors require good handling. - Japanese (on foolishness)

Fools are like other folks as long as they are silent. - Danish (on foolishness)

Fools rush in where wise men fear to tread. - Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

For every bow there is an arrow. (For everyone there is someone.) - unknown

For news of the heart, ask the face.- Guinean (on life and living)

Forgive and forget. - unknown

Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. - Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

Forethought is easy, repentance is hard. - Chinese (on discretion)

Forewarn'd, forearm'd. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Four horses cannot overtake the tongue. - Chinese (on gossip)

Friends are God's way of taking care of us. -unknown

Friendship increases by visiting friends but visiting seldom. - Ben Franklin (1706-

1790)

Friendship is one mind in two bodies. - Mencius (c.371-289)

From the fullness of the heart, the mouth speaks. - Jesus Christ

Froth is not beer. - Dutch (on appearance and reality)

G

Saying - Author

Gather the breadfruit from the farthest branches first. - Samoan (on practicality)

Genius is only a great aptitude for patience. - Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon (1707-

1788)

Genius is ninety percent perspiration and ten percent inspiration. - Thomas Edison

(1847-1931)

Get out of harms way. - Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)

Get to the root of the problem. - unknown

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and he'll eat forever.

- Chinese Proverb

Give an extra piece of cake to a stepchild.- Korean (on parenting and children)

Page 19: Wise Old Sayings

Give assistance not advice in a crisis. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Give credit where credit is due. - M. Floy (1834)

Give even an onion, graciously. - Afghan (on generosity)

Give every man thy ear but few thy voice. - unknown

Give good and get good. - Estonian (on generosity)

Give the devil his due. - Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)

Give thy thoughts no tongue. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Give up the ghost. - Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)

Given a challenge, rise to the occasion. - unknown

Glass, china and reputation are easily crack'd and never well mended. - Ben Franklin

(1706-1790)

Go for it. - American (on ambition)

God did not create hurry. - Finnish (on balance and moderation)

God gave us music that we might pray without words. - unknown

God gave us the nuts but he doesn't crack them. - German Proverb

God grant me a good sword and no use for it. - Polish (on war and peace)

God helps those who help themselves. - George Herbert (1593-1632)

God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts. - unknown

Going beyond is as bad as falling short. - Chinese (on balance and moderation)

Gold is the devil's fishhook. - Italian (on temptation)

Good counsellors lack no clients. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Good deeds are the best prayer. - Serbian (on prayer)

Good example is the best sermon. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Good memories are our second chance at happiness. - Queen Elizabeth II

Good things come in small packages. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Good things come when you least expect them. - unknown

Good to forgive, better to forget. - Robert Browning (1812-1889)

Good wine needs no bush. - R. Taverner (1545)

Good words are worth much and cost little. - George Herbert (1593-1632)

Goodness does not consist in greatness but greatness in goodness. - Athenaeus (c.200)

Grace thou thy house and let not that grace thee. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Grain by grain a loaf, stone by stone, a castle. - Yugoslavian (on patience)

Gratitude is the sign of noble souls. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Great actions are not always true sons of great and mighty resolutions. - Samuel

Butler (1612-1680)

Page 20: Wise Old Sayings

Great chiefs prove their worthiness. - Seneca Proverb

Great good nature without prudence is a great misfortune. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Great ideas are the fuel of progress. - unknown

Great minds have purposes, others have wishes. - Washington Irving (1783-1859)

Great minds think alike. - "Punch" (c.1922)

Great oaks from little acorns grow. - Chaucer (c.1343-1400)

Great spenders are bad lenders. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Greed often overreaches itself. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Grin and bear it. - unknown

H

Saying - Author

Half a loaf is better than none. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

Half the truth is often a whole lie. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Half the world knows not how the other half lives. - George Herbert (1593-1633)

Handsome is as handsome does. - Anthony Munday (1553-1633)

Happiness depends on ourselves. - Aristotle (384-322 BC)

Happiness is a state of mind. - unknown

Happiness isn't a goal, it's a by-product. - Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)

Happy is as happy does. - unknown

Happy is the bride that the sun shines on. - Robert Herrick (1591-1674)

Happy is the person who learns from the misfortunes of others. - Aesop (c.620-560

BC)

Happy nations have no history. - Belgian (on war and peace)

Hard words break no bones. - unknown

Haste has no blessing.- Swahili (East African) (on patience)

Haste makes waste. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

Hasty climbers have sudden falls. - Robert Greene (c.1560-1592)

Have confidence in yourself and you can lick anything. - unknown

Have the courage of your convictions. - unknown

Having two ears and one tongue, we should listen twice as much as we speak. -

Turkish (on discretion)

Hay is for horses. - Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

Page 21: Wise Old Sayings

He lives long who lives well. - J. Wilson (1553)

He that cannot endure the bad will not live to see the good. - Jewish Proverb

He that cannot obey, cannot command. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

He that complies against his will, is of the same opinion still. - Samuel Butler (1612-

1680)

He that first cries out "stop thief" is often he that has stolen the treasure. - William

Congreve (1670-1729)

He that goes aborrowing, goes asorrowing. - R. Taverner (1545)

He that hath a trade, hath an estate. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

He that is hard to please, may get nothing in the end. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

He that is rich need not live sparingly and he that can live sparingly need not be rich. -

Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

He that lies down with the dogs riseth with fleas. - George Herbert (1593-1633)

He that pays for work before it's done, has but a pennyworth for two pence. - Ben

Franklin (1706-1790)

He that pays the piper, calls the tune. - unknown

He that resolves to mend hereafter, resolves not to mend now. - Ben Franklin (1706-

1790)

He that respects himself is safe from others. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-

1882)

He that scatters thorns, let him not go barefoot. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

He that steals an egg will steal an ox. - George Herbert (1593-1633)

He that waits on fortune is never sure of a dinner. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

He that would eat the fruit, must climb the tree. - Scottish Proverb

He that would govern others, first should be the master of himself. - Phillip Massinger

(1583-1640)

He that would live in peace and at ease, must not speak all he knows, nor judge all he

sees. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

He who bites the hand that feeds him, ends up licking the boot that kicks him. -

unknown (thanks to Dale Cade)

He who flees at the right time can fight again. - Marcus Trentius Varro (c.116-27 BC)

He who has a why to live can bear almost any how. - Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)

He who hesitates is lost. - Joseph Addison (1672-1719)

He who laughs last, laughs best. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

He who plots to hurt others often hurts himself. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

He who rules must fully humor as much as he commands. - George Eliot (1819-1880)

He who wants to do good, knocks at the gate; he who loves finds the gates open. - R.

Tagore Thakur

Page 22: Wise Old Sayings

Health is better than wealth. - unknown

Hear reason or she will make you feel her. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. - William Congreve (1670-1729)

Heroism consists of hanging on one minute longer. - Norwegian (on courage and

fear)

His bark is worse than his bite. - George Herbert (1593-1632)

History repeats itself. - George Eliot (1819-1880)

Hit the nail on the head. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

Hold a true friend with both your hands. - Nigerian Proverb

Hold fast to the words of your ancestors. - Maori (on proverbs)

Home is where the heart is. - J.J. McCloskey (1870)

Honesty is the best policy. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Honor is better than honors. - Flemish (on the conduct of life)

Hope for the best and prepare for the worst. - Thomas Norton & Thomas Sackville

(1536-1608)

Hope is a good breakfast but a bad supper. - W. Rawley (1661)

Hope springs eternal. - Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

However long the night, the dawn will break. - African Proverb - Hausa Tribe

Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted. - Martin Luther King

Jr.

Hunger drives the wolf out of the wood. - 14th Century French Proverb

Hunger is the best sauce. - French Proverb

Hurry is good only for catching flies. - Russian (on the conduct of life)

Hurry no man's cattle; you may come to own a donkey yourself. - Sir Walter Scott

(1771-1832)

I

Saying - Author

I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice. - Abraham

Lincoln, 16th President of the United States.(1809-1865) thanks to Pete Hartzel of

Woodstock Corporation, Boston, MA

Idleness and pride tax with a heavier hand than kings and parliaments. - Ben Franklin

(1706-1790)

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. - unknown

If evils come not then our fears are in vain; and if they do, fear but augments the pain.

Page 23: Wise Old Sayings

- Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

If God wants people to suffer, he sends them too much understanding. - Yiddish (on

balance and moderation)

If God were not willing to forgive sin, heaven would be empty. - German proverb

If I keep my character, I'll be rich enough. - Plutonius

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. - American Saying

If it were not for hope, the heart would break. - Greek (on attitude)

If not today--when? - Kashmiri (on permanence and change)

If passion drives, let reason hold the reins. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

If someone gives you advice, it is in his own interest. - Tunisian Proverb

If the bird hadn't sung, it wouldn't have been shot. - Japanese (on prudence)

If the eyes didn't see, the hands wouldn't take.- Yiddish (on opportunity)

If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail. -

Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)

If the rich could hire people to die for them, the poor could make a nice living. -

Yiddish (on wealth and poverty)

If the shoe fits, wear it. - Nicholas Breton (c.1545-1626)

If the townspeople are happy, look to the chief.- Liberian (on leadership)

If you are afraid of something, you give it power over you. - Moroccan (on courage

and fear)

If you are going a long way, go slowly.- Ilocano (Filipino) (on journeys)

If you are hiding, don't light a fire. - Ghanaian (on common sense)

If you are not a fish, how can you tell if the fish are happy? - Chinese (on experience)

If you are not good for yourself, how can you be good for others. - Spanish (on

character and virtue)

If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.

- Chinese Proverb

If you believe everything you read, better not read. - Japanese (on books and writers)

If you buy things you don't need, you will soon be selling things you do need. -

Pampango - Filipino (on buying and selling)

If you buy what you don't need, you steal from yourself. - Swedish (on thrift)

If you call one wolf, you invite the pack. - Bulgarian (on caution and care)

If you can't bite, better not show your teeth. - Yiddish (on common sense)

If you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

If you can't serve, you can't rule.- Bulgarian (on leadership)

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. - Harry Truman (1884-1972)

If you don't have a plan for yourself, you'll be part of someone else's. - American (on

Page 24: Wise Old Sayings

planning)

If you don't laugh, you'll cry. - unknown

If you don't scale the mountain, you can't view the plain. - Chinese (on rewards and

consequences)

If you don't see the bottom, don't wade. - Scottish (on prudence)

If you don't want trouble, don't go looking for it. - unknown

If you fail to practice your art, it will soon disappear. - German (on art and creativity)

If you follow a fool, you are a fool yourself. - Jamaican (on foolishness)

If you foolishly ignore beauty, then you will soon find yourself without it. - Frank

Lloyd Wright (1869-1959)

If you ford a river in a crowd, the crocodiles won't get you. (Ed. note: If your lucky!) -

Malagasy (on strength and weakness)

If you give orders and leave, the work won't get done. - Portuguese (on business)

If you have, give; if you lack, seek. - Malay (on generosity)

If you have nothing to lose, you can try everything. - Yiddish (on business)

If you kick a stone in anger you will hurt your foot. - Korean (on anger)

If you know how to spend less than you get, you have the philosopher's stone. - Ben

Franklin (1706-1790)

If you make yourself into a doormat, people will wipe their feet on you. - Belizean (on

character and virtue)

If you pray for another, you will be helped yourself. - Yiddish (on prayer)

If you think your bundle of clothes too heavy, try picking up your neighbor's. - Virgin

Islander (on comparable worth)

If you want something done right, do it yourself. - unknown

If you want to lift yourself up, lift someone else up.- Booker T. Washington (1856-

1915)

If you want your eggs hatched, sit on them yourself. - Haitian (on self-reliance)

If you would be rich in a year, you may be hanged in six months. - Italian (on

business)

If you would get ahead, be a bridge. - Welsh (on ambition)

If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it. - Henry Wadsworth

Longfellow (1807-1882)

If you would live long, open your heart.- Bulgarian (on health and wellness)

If you would rise in the world, veil ambition with the forms of humanity.- Chinese (on

hypocrisy)

If you'ld have a servant that you like, serve yourself. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

If you've never run aground, you've never been anywhere! - unknown sailor - thanks

to John M.

Page 25: Wise Old Sayings

Icontinued

Saying - Author

If youth knew, if age could. - Henri Estienne (1531-1598)

If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride. - unknown

Ignorance is a voluntary misfortune. - unknown

Ignorance is bliss. - Thomas Gray (1716-1771)

Ignorance is the seed of intimidation. - D. Hiser

Ill gotten goods never thrive. - Cicero (106-43 BC)

Ill weeds grow fast. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

Imagination is more important than knowledge. - Albert Einstein

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. - Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780-1832)

Implementation beats oration. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

In a crisis, give help first and then advice. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

In bad luck, hold out; in good luck, hold in.- German (on luck)

In bad things be slow; in good things be fast. - Afghan (on time and timeliness)

In for a penny, in for a pound. - E. Ravenscroft (1695)

In night there is counsel. - Greek (on advice)

In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. - Desiderius Erasmus (1465-

1536)

In time we hate that which we often fear. - Seneca (8 BC-AD 65)

Industry pays debts, despair encreases them. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Industry, perseverance & frugality make fortune yield. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Instead of seeking new landscapes, develop new eyes. - Marcel Proust (1871-1922)

Instruction in youth is like engraving in stone. - Moroccan (on education)

Interest on debt grows without rain.- Yiddish (on indebtedness)

Into every life a little rain must fall. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

"into each life some rain must fall."

It ain't over til it's over. - Yogi Berra

It is a fool's sheep that breaks loose twice. - Ashanti (West African) (on foolishness)

It is a foolish sheep that makes the wolf its confessor. - Italian (on common sense)

It is a long lane that has no turns.James Ray (1670)

It is as cheap sitting as it is standing. - Italian Proverb

It is better to be born a beggar than a fool. - Spanish Proverb

Page 26: Wise Old Sayings

It is better to be the head of a chicken than the rear of an ox. - Japanese (on relative

worth)

It is better to enjoy the cool breeze of others waving your flag, than to suffer the sweat

of doing it yourself. - L.D. Seese (1992) thanks to J. Martin

It is better to give than to receive. - Jesus

It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness. - Chinese Proverb

It is better to prevent than to cure. - Peruvian (on common sense)

It is better to return a borrowed pot with a little something you last cooked in it. -

Omaha (Native American) (on the conduct of life)

It is better to suffer for truth than to prosper by falsehood. - Danish (on comparable

worth)

It is better to take many injuries than to give one. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

It is better to wear out one's shoes than one's sheets. - Genovese (Italian)(on work)

It is easier to believe than to go and ask.- Serbian (on idleness)

It is easier to criticize than to do better. - Swiss (on criticism)

It is easier to dam a river than to stop gossip. - Moro (Filipino) (on gossip)

It is easy to advise the wise. - Serbian (on advice)

It is easy to be brave from a distance. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

It is easy to despise what you cannot get. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

It is easy to kick a person when he is down. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

It is far easier to start something than to finish it. - unknown

It is foolish to try to imitate the skills of others. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

It is hard for an ex-king to become a nightwatchman. - Kashmiri (on habit)

It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself. - Eleanor

Roosevelt (1884-1962)

It is often easier to fight for your principles than to live up to them. - Adlai Stevenson

It is possible to have too much of a good thing. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

It is said that you can't take it with you; I say there are two things you can take with

you: the things you do for others and the things you do to others - (harold h. cornett,

jr.)

It is the last straw that breaks the camel's back. - Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

It is useless attacking the insensible. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

It is wise not to seek a secret and honest not to reveal it. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

It never rains but it pours. - unknown

It pays to be content with your lot. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

It pays to be nice. - unknown

It pays to be prepared. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Page 27: Wise Old Sayings

It takes a heap of licks to hit a nail in the dark. - African American (on common sense)

It takes a village to raise a child. - unknown

It takes all kinds to make a world go round. - T. Shelton

It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan. - Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)

It takes one to know one. - unknown

It takes two to tangle. - unknown

It's a small world. - unknown

It's all in how you look at things. - unknown

It's an ill bird that fouls his own nest. - Latin Proverb

It's an ill wind that blows no good. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

It's better to be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Bible

It's better to find a whole worm in your apple than half a worm. - unknown

It's but little good you'll do a-watering the last year's crop. - George Eliot (1819-1880)

It's never too late. - unknown

It's no use closing the barn door after the horse is gone. - John Heywood (c.1497-

1580)

It's not enough to know how to ride- one must also know how to fall. - Mexican (on

success and failure)

It's not the end of the world. - unknown

It's not what you say; it's how you say it. - American mothers (thanks to J. Martin)

It's okay to make a mistake, as long as you learn from it. - unknown

It's six of one, half dozen of another. - unknown

It's the little things that count. - unknown

J

Saying - Author

Jealousy is a disease for the weak. - unknown

Judge not, lest ye be judged. Bible

Just because everybody's doing something, doesn't mean it's right. - unknown

Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do, doesn't mean it's useless.

- Thomas Edison (1847-1931)

Just because something is common sense doesn't mean it's common practice. -

unknown

Justice is truth in action. - Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)

Page 28: Wise Old Sayings

K

Saying - Author

Keep a stiff upper lip. - unknown

Keep an open mind. - unknown

Keep conscience clear, then never fear. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Keep no more cats than will catch mice. - J. Dare (1673)

Keep plugging. - unknown

Keep thy shop and thy shop will keep thee. - George Chapman (c.1559-1634)

Keep your chin up. - unknown

Keep your eyes on the sun and you will not see the shadows. - Australian Aborigine

Saying

Keep your friends close, your enemies even closer. - Sun Tzu

Keep your friendships in repair. - Samuel Butler (1612-1680)

Keep your head about you. - unknown

Keep your nose to the grindstone. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

Keep your shirt on. - American Saying

Kind words are short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. - Mother

Teresa (1910-1997)

Kind words conquer. - Tamil (Asian Indian)(on courtesy and respect)

Kindness is more persuasive than force. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Kingdoms divided soon fall. - Bible (Matthew 12:25)

Know thyself. - Ancient Greek Proverb

Know which side your bread is buttered on. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

Knowledge is more than equivalent to force. - Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

Knowledge is power. - Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

L

Saying - Author

Laugh and the world laughs with you; cry and you cry alone. - Horace (65-8 BC)

Laugh every day; it's like inner jogging. - unknown

Laughter is the best medicine. - unknown<>

Laws catch flies but let hornets go free.- Scottish (on justice)

Page 29: Wise Old Sayings

Learn from other peoples mistakes. - unknown

Learn from your mistakes. - unknown

Learning is best when put into practice. - unknown

Learning is better than house and land. - David Garrick (1716-1779)

Least said, soonest mended - unknown

Leave no stone unturned. - Euripides (480-406 BC)

Lend your money and lose your friend. - William Caxton (1421-1491)

Less is more. - Robert Browning (1812-1889)

Let bygones be bygones. - Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894)

Let pride go afore, shame will follow after. - George Chapman (c.1559-1634)

Let sleeping dogs lie. - English Proverb

Let the punishment fit the crime. - W.S. Gilbert (1836-1911)

Let your head be more than a funnel to your stomach. - German (on food and hunger)

Let your words be purrs instead of hisses. - Fannie Roach Palmer

Let's get things straight. - unknown

Liars often set their own traps. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Liars need good memories. - French (on truth and falsehood)

Liberty has no price. - Spanish (on freedom and slavery)

Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're going to get. - unknown,

truthfully I lost the submitter's name because when i print an email, for some reason,

the printer omits the "to" and "from" email addresses.

Like father, like son. - Asian Proverb

Life has its little ups and downs. - unknown

Life is a journey, not a destination. - Cliff Nichols, [email protected]

Life is like the moon: now full, now dark.- Polish (on permanence and change)

Life is not a dress rehearsal. - unknown

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take

our breath away - unknown

Life is not so short but that there is always time for courtesy. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

(1803-1882)

Life is one big experiment. - unknown

Life is short and full of blisters.- African-American (on life and living)

Life is the greatest bargain; we get it for nothing.- Yiddish (on life and living)

Life is too short to waste. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Life is what you make it. - Grandma Moses (1860-1961)

Life isn't all beer and skittles. - Thomas Chandler Haliburton (1796-1865)

Page 30: Wise Old Sayings

Light gains make heavy purses. - George Chapman (c.1559-1634)

Lightning never strikes the same place twice. - P. H. Myers (1857)

Like a fish, one should look for holes in the net. - Samoan (on freedom and slavery)

Like breeds like. - R. Edgeworth (1557)

Like father, like son. - unknown

Little by little does the trick. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Little by little one walks far.- Peruvian (on journeys)

Little fish are sweet. - R. Forby (1830)

Little friends may prove great friends. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Little is spent with difficulty, much with ease. - Thai (on buying and selling)

Little leaks sink the ship. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Little pitchers have big ears.- John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

Little said is soonest mended. - George Wither (1588-1667)

Little strokes fell great oaks. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Little thieves are hanged but great ones escape. - 14th Century French Proverb

Live and learn. - George Gascoigne (c.1539-1577)

Live and let live. - Dutch Proverb

Live life to the fullest because you may not have it tomorrow. - reader's name lost

Live your own life, for you will die your own death.- Latin (on life and living)

Look at the bright side. - unknown

Look before you leap. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

Lookers-on see most of the game. - John Palsgrave (d.1554)

Looks can be deceiving. - unknown

Loose lips sink ships. - World War II American slogan attributed to Mr. Anthony

Modeski, an artillery factory worker who along with his fellow workers was asked to

come up with slogans for war posters. Submitted by his grandson, Mike Kurinsky

Lost time is never found again. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Love is often the fruit of marriage.- French (on marriage)

Love isn't love until you give it away. - John H. MacDonald Jr. 1992

Love me, love my dog. - St. Bernard of Clairvaux (12th century)

Love will find a way. - unknown

M

Saying - Author

Page 31: Wise Old Sayings

Make a friend when you don't need one. - Jamaican (on friendship)

Make a meal and contention will cease.- Hebrew (on the human comedy)

Make do with what you have. - unknown

Make haste slowly. - Suetonius (c.69-140)

Make hay while the sun shines. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

Make the most of every situation. - unknown

Making money selling manure is better than losing money selling musk. - Egyptian

(on buying and selling)

Man cannot live by bread alone. - Bible

Man is made by his beliefs; as he believes, so he is. - The Bhagahvad Gita (a Sanskrit

poem)

Manana (tomorrow) is often the busiest day of the week. -Spanish (on

procrastination)

Many hands make light work. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

Many have quarreled about religion that never practised it. - Ben Franklin (1706-

1790)

Many meet the gods but few salute them. - Latin (on courtesy and respect)

Marry in haste, repent in leisure. - unknown

Masterly retreat is in itself a victory. - Norman Vincent Peale (1898-1993)

May the outward and inward man be at one. - Socrates (469-399 BC)

May the wind be always at your back. - unknown

Measure a thousand times; cut once. - Turkish (on caution and care)

Medicine left in the container can't help. - Yoruba (West African)

Mediocrity is climbing molehills without sweating. - Icelandic (on work)

Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself but talent instantly recognizes genius. -

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930)

Men willingly believe what they wish. - Julius Caesar (c.102-44 BC))

Mess with the bull and one usually gets the horns. - Latin American saying

Mind your p's and q's. - English Proverb

Misfortune tests the sincerity of friends. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Mistakes are doorways to discovery. - unknown

Money buys everything but good sense.- Yiddish (on money)

Money has no value if it is not used. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Monkey see, monkey do. - attributed to his great grandfather, Hercurmer Jones by

Mr. Glenn McQueen Sr.

Page 32: Wise Old Sayings

More than enough is too much. - unknown

Most people are about as happy as they make their minds up to be. - Abraham Lincoln

(1809-1865)

Much ado about nothing. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Music has charms to soothe a savage beast. - William Congreve (1670-1729)

N

Saying - Author

Nature is the art of God.- Latin (on nature)

Necessity is a great teacher. - Mexican (on education)

Necessity is the mother of invention. - Irish Proverb

Necessity never made a good bargain. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Neglect kills injuries, revenge increases them. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Neglect mending a small fault and 'twill soon be a great one. - Ben Franklin (1706-

1790)

Neither a borrower nor a lender be. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Never apologize before you are accused. - Charles I of Great Britain (1600-1649)

Never bet your money on another man's game. - unknown

Never change horses in midstream. - Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

Never cut what can be untied. - Portuguese Proverb

Never give advice unasked. - unknown

Never give up hope. - unknown

Never look a gift horse in the mouth. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

Never mind whether the horse is blind or not, just load up the wagon. - Stephen Boyd

(thanks to Warren ?)

Never mistake a single mistake with a final mistake. - F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)

Never pick up what you didn't put down. - Virgin Islander (on temptation)

Never put off until tomorrow what can be done today. - English Proverb

Never reveal the bottom of your purse or the depth of your mind. - Italian (on caution

and care)

Never say die. - unknown

Never say never. - unknown

Never spend time with people who don't respect you. - Maori (on courtesy and

respect)

Page 33: Wise Old Sayings

Never spend your money before you have it. - unknown

Never stop learning. - unknown

Never take anything for granted. - Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)

Never trouble trouble 'til trouble troubles you. - unknown

New day, new fate.- Bulgarian (on opportunity)

Nice words are free, so choose ones that please another's ears. - Vietnamese (on

courtesy and respect)

No act of kindness no matter how small is ever wasted. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

No better relation than a prudent and faithful friend. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

No clock is more regular than the belly. - French (on food and hunger)

No gains without pains. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

No legacy is as rich as honesty. - unknown

No man can lose what he never had. - George Herbert (1593-1632)

No man fears what he has seen grow. - African Proverb

No news is good news. - unknown

No offense taken when none is meant. - unknown

No one can make us feel inferior without our consent. - Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-

1962)

No one goes through life unscathed. - unknown

No one is easy to live with all of the time. - unknown

No one is good at everything but everyone is good at something. - unknown

No one is hurt by doing the right thing. - Hawaiian (on good and evil)

No one should be judge in his own cause. - Legal Maxim

No pain, no gain. - American (on adversity)

No rest for the weary. - unknown (variation "no rest for the wicked")

No river can return to its source, yet all rivers must have a beginning.- Native

American (on impossibility)

No sin is hidden to the soul. - Bengali (Asian Indian) (on conscience)

No sleep, no dreams. - Korean (on rewards and consequences)

No time like the present. - Mrs. Mary De La Riviera Manley (1663-1724)

Nobility is not a birthright, but is defined by one's actions. - Darren Bateman

Nobody's perfect. - unknown

Nor eye in a letter, nor hand in a purse, nor ear in the secret of another. - Ben Franklin

(1706-1790)

Not all who make love, make marriages.- Russian (on marriage)

Not everything you hear is good for talk. - Japanese (on gossip)

Page 34: Wise Old Sayings

Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Nothing goes on forever. - unknown

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-

1882)

Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely. - Auguste Rodin (1840-

1917)

Nothing is as burdensome as a secret. - French Proverb

Nothing is as good as it seems beforehand. - George Eliot (1819-1880)

Nothing is black or white. - unknown

Nothing is certain but death and taxes. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Nothing is difficult if you're used to it. - Kashmiri(on habit)

Nothing is easy to the unwilling. - Gaelic (on attitude)

Nothing is impossible to the willing mind. - Books of the Han Dynasty

Nothing is impossible to the willing heart. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

Nothing remains constant except change itself. - unknown

Nothing seems expensive on credit.- Czech (on indebtedness)

Nothing succeeds like success. - unknown

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. - Chaucer (c.1343-1400)

O

Saying - Author

Observe all men; thyself most. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Of all the plants that cover the earth and lie like a fringe of hair upon the body of our

grandmother, try to obtain knowledge that you may be strengthened in life.-

Winnebago (Native American) (on nature)

Off with the old and on with the new. - unknown

Often, less is more. - unknown

Often there is eloquence in a silent look. - Latin (on eloquence)

Once a word is spoken, it flies, you can't catch it. - Russian Proverb

Once bitten, twice shy. - unknown

Once the rice is pudding, it's too late to reclaim the rice. - Indonesian (on time and

timeliness)

Once you reach the top, take care as the only way left to go is down. - Darren

Bateman

Page 35: Wise Old Sayings

One day at a time. - unknown

One day in perfect health is much.- Arabic (on health and wellness)

One does evil enough when one does nothing good. - German proverb.

One enemy is too many and a hundred friends too few. - unknown

One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters. - George Herbert (1593-1633)

One flower makes no garland. - George Herbert (1593-1632)

One generation plants the trees, another gets the shade. - Chinese Proverb

One good turn deserves another. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

One hand for yourself and one for the ship. - unknown

One hand washes the other. - Epicharmus (273 AD)

One head cannot hold all wisdom. - Maasai(East African)(on wisdom)

One man can make a difference. - unknown

One man may be more cunning than another, but not more cunning than everybody

else. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

One man's beard is on fire; another man warms his hands on it. - Kashmiri (on

perversity)

One man's junk is another man's treasure. - unknown

One man's meat is another man's poison. - unknown

One might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb. - N. Rogers (1662)

One must not play on the nose of a sleeping bear. - German (on prudence)

One person can burn water, while another can't even burn oil. - Kashmiri (on

differences)

One should learn to sail in all waters. - Italian (on the conduct of life)

One should speak little with others and much with oneself. - Danish (on the conduct

of life)

One step at a time. - unknown

One step leads to another. - unknown

One swallow never makes a summer. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

One thing leads to another. - unknown

One today is worth two tomorrows. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

One who marries for love alone will have bad days but good nights.- Egyptian (on

marriage)

One who steals has no right to complain if he is robbed. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

One who waits for chance, may wait a year.- Yoruba (West African (on opportunity)

One with the courage to laugh is master of the world. - Italian (on courage and fear)

Only a fool hates that which he knows nothing about. - unknown

Page 36: Wise Old Sayings

Only a fool tests the water with both feet. - African Proverb

Only the foolish visit the land of the cannibals. - Maori (on foolishness)

Only the sufferers know how their bellies ache. - Burmese (on experience)

Only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches. - George Herbert (1593-1632)

Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values. - Dalai Lama

Opportunities come but do not linger.- Nepalese (on opportunity)

Our brightest blazes are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks. - unknown

Our deeds determine us as much as we determine our deeds. - George Eliot (1819-

1880)

Our desires are the cause of our suffering and pain in life. - Old Buddist saying

Our fears always outnumber our dangers. - Latin (on courage and fear)

Our greatest freedom is the freedom to choose our attitude. - Victor Frankl (1905-

1997)

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. - Thomas Edison (1847-1931)

Our handicaps exist only in our minds. - Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945)

Our life is what our thoughts make it. - Marcus Aurelius (121-180)

Out of adversity comes opportunity. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Out of debt, out of danger. - unknown

Out of sight, out of mind. - unknown

Out of the frying pan, into the fire. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

Out of the fullness of the heart, the mouth speaks. - Chaucer (c.1343-1400)

Outside show is a poor substitute for inner worth. - Aesop, thanks to A. Fonda-

Marsland

P

Saying - Author

Paintings and fightings are best seen at a distance. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Parting is such sweet sorrow. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Patience is a virtue. - unknown

Patience is bitter but its fruit is sweet. - French Proverb

Patience is the companion of wisdom. - St. Augustine (354-430)

Pay what you owe and what you're worth you'll know. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Penny wise, pound foolish. - Robert Burton (1577-1640)

Page 37: Wise Old Sayings

People are architects of their own fortune. - Spanish (on fortune)

People in hell want ice water. - Thanks to Meredith K. whose grandmother explained

that it means you can't always get what you want.

People learn more on their own rather than being force fed. - Socrates (469-399 BC)

People should take time to be happy. - Grandma Moses (1860-1961)

People show their character by what they laugh at. - German (on character and

virtue)

People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. - George Herbert (1593-

1632)

Persevere no matter what. - unknown

Persist as resolutely as you persist in eating. - Maori (on permanence and change)

Persistence is the key. - unknown

Persuasion is better than force. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Philosophy as well as foppery often changes fashion. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Pick your battles. - unknown

Pick your poison. - unknown

Plan your life at New Year's, your day at dawn. - Japanese (on planning)

Plan your life like you will live forever, and live your life like you will die the next

day. - unknown, courtesy of Bryan Sullivan

Play the hand you're dealt. - Jawahareal Nehru (1889-1964)

Play the part and you shall become. - unknown

Please all and you will soon please none. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Pleasing ware is half sold. - George Herbert (1593-1633)

Pleasures are transient--honors immortal.- Greek (on heaven and hell)

Plenty sits still, hunger is a wanderer. - Zulu (South African)

Poetry moves heaven and earth. - Japanese (on art and creativity)

Poor people share with the heart. - Haitian (on generosity)

Possession is nine tenths of the law. - unknown

Postpone today's anger until tomorrow. - Tagalog (Filipino) (on anger)

Poverty breeds discontent. - unknown

Practice makes perfect. - English Proverb

Practice what you preach. - unknown

Praise the young and they will blossom. - Irish Proverb

Pray as if no work could help and work as if no prayer could help. - German (on

prayer)

Presumption first blinds a man, then sets him a running. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Page 38: Wise Old Sayings

Pretty is as pretty does. - unknown

Pride is as loud a beggar as want and a great deal more saucy. - Ben Franklin (1706-

1790)

Proclaim not all thou knowest, all thou owest, all thou hast, nor all thou can'st. - Ben

Franklin (1706-1790)

Procrastination is the thief of time. - unknown

Procrastination only adds stress to your life. - submitter's name lost due to printer

malfunction

Promise little and do much. - Hebrew (on the conduct of life)

Property has its duties as well as its rights. - Thomas Drummond (1797-1840)

Prophecy is the most gratuitous form of error. - George Eliot (1819-1880)

Proverbs are the daughters of experience. - Sierra Leone

Put a silk on a goat and it is still a goat. - Irish Proverb

Put off for one day and ten days will pass by.- Korean (on idleness)

Put on your thinking cap. - unknown

Put two and two together. - unknown

Q

Saying - Author

Quality, not quantity. - unknown

Quarrels never could last long, if on one side only lay the wrong. - Ben Franklin

(1706-1790)

Quit while your ahead. - unknown

R

Saying - Author

Rather go to bed supperless than run in debt for a breakfast. - Ben Franklin (1706-

1790)

Record only the sunny hours. - unknown

Red sky at night, shepherd's delight; red sky in the morning, shepherd take warning. -

unknown

Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck. -

Page 39: Wise Old Sayings

Dalai Lama

Repay evil with kindness. - unknown

(Do not) Rob Peter to pay Paul. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580) earlier (1380) in a

collection by John Wycliffe. Thanks to Mark Ingram we understand what the saying

means: It describes a wasteful or pointless activity, namely taking away something in

order to put it back.

Rocks need no protection from the rain. (Ed. Note: Except over time!) - Malay (on

strength and weakness)

Roll with the punches. - unknown

Rome wasn't built in a day. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength. - Eric Hoffer (1902-1983)

S

Saying - Author

Sacrificing means more. - unknown

Save for a rainy day. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Save money and money will save you. - Jamaican (on thrift)

Scatter with one hand; gather with two. - Welsh (on thrift)

Search others for their virtues, thyself for thy vices. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

See life through an artist's eye. - unknown

Seeing is believing. - unknown

Seek advice but use your own common sense. - Yiddish (on advice)

Seek virtue and of that posest, to Providence resign the rest. - Ben Franklin (1706-

1790)

Seize the day. - unknown

Self conceit may lead to self destruction. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Self-help is the best help. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Self praise is no recommendation. - Romanian (on flattery and praise)

Send a thief to catch a thief. - unknown

Shrouds are made without pockets. - Yiddish (on basic truths)

Silence is golden. - unknown

Silence is often misinterpreted but never misquoted. - unknown

Silence is sometimes the answer. - Estonian (on discretion)

Silence is the hardest argument to refute. - unknown

Page 40: Wise Old Sayings

Sin is not hurtful because it is forbidden but it is forbidden because it is hurtful - Ben

Franklin (1706-1790)

Since we cannot get what we like, let us like what we can get. - Spanish Proverb

Sing away sorrow, cast away care. - Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)

Six feet of earth makes us all equal. - Italian (on death and dying)

Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite. - Colonial American Saying

Sleeping people can't fall down. - Japanese (on caution and care)

Slow and steady wins the race. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Small children give you a headache, big children a heartache. - Russian Proverb

Smiles open many doors. - unknown

Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors. - African Proverb

Some things are better left unsaid. - unknown

Sometimes, it's too little, too late. - unknown

Sometimes, less is more. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Sometimes the remedy is worse than the disease. - Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

Sorrow doesn't kill, reckless joy does.- Yoruba (West African (on joy and sorrow)

Sorrow is to the soul, as worm is to wood.- Turkish (on joy and sorrow)

Spare your breath to cool your porridge. - Francis Robelias

Spending is quick; earning is slow. - Russian (on thrift)

Spring is in the air. - unknown

Stick to your guns. - unknown

Stick to your knitting. - unknown

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names can never hurt me. - unknown

Stones decay, words last. - Samoan (on discretion)

Stop and smell the roses. - unknown

Strangers are just friends waiting to happen. - unknown

Strike while the iron is hot. - Chaucer (c.1343-1400)

Stupid is as stupid does. - Eric Roth

Success has many parents but failure is an orphan. - American (on success and

failure)

Success has ruined many a man. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Sum up at night what thou hast done by day. - George Herbert (1593-1633)

Sun is good for cucumbers, rain for rice. - Vietnamese (on appropriateness)

Sweet are the slumbers of a virtuous man. - Joseph Addison (1672-1719)

Page 41: Wise Old Sayings

T

Saying - Author

Take care of the minutes and the hours will take care of themselves. - Phillip Dormer

Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, (1694-1773)

Take it straight from the horse's mouth. - Francis Iles (1893-1970)

Take life as it comes. - unknown

Take the bull by the horns. - North American Saying

Tap even a stone bridge before crossing it. - Korean (on vigilance)

Tell me what you are conceited about, and I'll tell you what you lack. - Argentinian

saying, thanks to Diego Paternostro for the translation.

Tell me whom you love and I'll tell you who you are.- African-American (on life and

living)

Temper justice with mercy. - John Milton (1608-1674)

Teeth placed before the tongue give good advice. - Italian (on advice)

Thanks cost nothing. - Creole (on gratitude)

The afternoon knows what the morning never expected. - Swedish (on basic truths)

The anger of the prudent never shows. - Burmese (on anger)

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. - Asian Proverb

The arrogance of age must submit to be taught by youth. - Edmund Burke (1729-

1797)

The bad plowman quarrels with his ox. - Korean (on criticism)

The best candle is understanding.- Welsh (on knowledge and ignorance)

The best cure for a short temper is a long walk. - unknown

The best mirror is an old friend. - George Herbert (1593-1632)

The best sauce in the world is hunger. - Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)

The best thing a man can do for his kids is to love their mother. - Seen on a billboard

outside the Bread of Life Church in Fitchburg, MA - Editor's note: and vice versa

The best thing about telling the truth is...you don't have to remember what you said! -

unknown, thanks to Georgie Bee

The best things in life are free. - B.G. DeSilva (1927)

The best way to keep good acts in memory is to repeat them. - Cato (234-149 BC)

The best way to predict the future is to create it. - unknown; thanks to rapstar.com

The bigger they are, the harder they fall. - unknown

The blind person is not afraid of ghosts. - Burmese (on courage and fear)

Page 42: Wise Old Sayings

The blocks of wood should not dictate to the carver. - Maori (on art and creativity)

The brave person regards dying as going home. - Chinese (on courage and fear)

The buyer needs a hundred eyes, the seller but one. - George Herbert (1593-1633)

The calm before the storm. - unknown

The cat would eat fish but would not get her feet wet. - Chaucer (c.1343-1400)

The chief object of education is not to learn things but to unlearn things. - G.K.

Chesterton

The company makes the feast. - J. Warton (1653)

The complete fool is half prophet. - Yiddish (on foolishness)(Meaning: even a fool is

right half the time)

The contented person can never be ruined. - Chinese (on conscience)

The continuous drip polishes the stone.- Peruvian (on patience)

The covetous person is always in want. - Irish (on greed)

The crab that walks too far, falls into the pot. - Haitian (on caution and care)

The cream always rises to the top. - unknown

The creditor hath a better memory than the debtor. - unknown

The crow may be caged but his thoughts are in the cornfield. - Belizean (on

temptation)

The customer is always right. - Barry Pain (1864-1928)

The darkest hours are just before dawn. - English Proverb

The day has eyes; the night has ears.- Scottish (on nature)

The day you decide to do it, is your lucky day.- Japanese (on luck)

The deceitful have no friends.- Hindi (Asian Indian) (on justice)

The devil catches most souls in a golden net. - German (on temptation)

The devil dances in empty pockets. - Tudor (English)(on wealth and poverty)

The devil finds work for idle hands. - St. Jerome (345-420)

The devil looks after his own. - Scottish Proverb

The devil tempts but doesn't force. - Guyanan

The devil wipes his breech with poor folks' pride. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

The difference between a pig and a hog is the lean in his meat. - unknown

The die is cast. - Julius Caesar (thanks to Marvin Wakefield, a descendant of Noah

Webster)

The discontented man finds no easy chair. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

The doors of wisdom are never shut. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

The drum makes a great fuss because it is empty. - Trinidadian (on vanity and

arrogance)

Page 43: Wise Old Sayings

The eagle does not catch flies. - Latin (on character and virtue)

The eagle was killed with an arrow made with its own feathers.- Armenian (on

paradox)

The early bird catches the worm. - William Camden (1551-1623)

The early bird gets the worm, the second mouse gets the cheese. - unknown

The earth has music for those who listen. - unknown, thankyou to Guy Archer

The easiest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it in your pocket. -

unknown, courtesy of T. Ghataurhae of England

The end doesn't justify the means. - Ovid (c.43 BC-AD 18)

The end of one thing is only the beginning of another. - unknown

The errors of a wise man make your rule rather than the perfections of a fool. -

William Blake (1757-1827)

The excellency of hogs is -- fatness; of men-- virtue. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

The eyes are the windows of the soul. - Thomas Phaer (c.1510-1560)

The fall of a leaf is a whisper to the living.- Danish (on life and living)

The fat is in the fire. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

The fly on the water buffalo's back thinks he is taller than the water buffalo. - Tagalog

(Filipino)(on vanity and arrogance)

The fool is thirsty in the midst of water. - Ethiopian (on foolishness)

The fool never undertakes little. - Czech (on foolishness)

The frog enjoys itself in water but not in hot water. - African proverb Wolof Tribe

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. - Eleanor

Roosevelt

The good will of the governed will be starved if not fed by the good deeds of the

governors. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

The grand instructor, time. - Edmund Burke (1729-1797)

The grass is always greener in someone else's yard. - unknown

The greatest remedy for anger is delay. - unknown

The half is better than the whole. - Hesiod (c.720 BC)

The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world. - William Ross Wallace (1819-1881)

The hardest person to awaken is the person already awake. - Tagalog (Filipino)(on

vigilance)

The heart at rest sees a feast in everything. - Hindu (Asian Indian) (on attitude)

The hero appears only after the tiger is dead. - Burmese (on cynicism)

The higher the monkey climbs, the more he shows his tail. - John Wycliffe (c.1320-

1384) alternate source:Belizean (on leadership)

The higher you climb, the heavier you fall. - Vietnamese (on pride)

Page 44: Wise Old Sayings

The honey is sweet but the bee has a sting. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

The house of the loud talker, leaks. - African proverb Zulu Tribe

The human tongue is more poisonous than a bee's sting. - Vietnamese (on criticism)

The laborer is worth his wage. - Bible (Luke 10:7)

The lazy person must work twice.- Latin American (on idleness)

The leopard does not change his spots. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

The lion believes that everyone shares his state of mind. - Mexican (on differences)

The longest journey begins with the first step. - unknown

The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves. -

William Hazlitt (1778-1830)

The love of money is the root of all evil - Bible

The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything. - Edward John

Phelps (1822-1900)

The master of the people is their servant.- Yemeni (on leadership)

The memories of youth make for long, long thoughts. - Lapp (on youth and age)

The miller sees not all the water that flows by his mill. - Robert Burton (1577-1640)

The mind is willing, but the flesh is weak. - Bible

The more the merrier. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

The more things change, the more they stay the same. - Alphonse Karr (1808-1890)

The more you ask how much longer it will take, the longer the journey seems.- Maori

(on journeys; Ed. Note: Parents everywhere can certainly relate to this saying!)

The most exquisite folly is made of wisdom spun too fine. - Ben Franklin (1706-

1790)</I.< tr < td.>

The mouse that hath but one hole is taken quickly. - George Herbert (1593-1633)

The mouth prays to Buddha but the heart is full of evil.- Vietnamese (on hypocrisy)

The new boat will find the old stones. - Estonian (on perversity)

The old law about an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind. - Martin Luther King Jr.

(1929-1968)

The old one who is loved, is winter with flowers. - German (on youth and age)

The one being carried does not realize how far away the town is. - Nigerian (on

gratitude)

The one who teaches is the giver of eyes. - Tamil (Asian Indian) (on education)

The one who understands does not speak; the one who speaks does not understand.-

Chinese (on paradox)

The only real test in life is to conquer your fears. - unknown

The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it. - Dale Carnegie (1888-

1955)

Page 45: Wise Old Sayings

"The palest ink is brighter than the best memory" - Chinese saying. Thanks to Martin

C Wojtkiewicz

The pen is mightier than the sword. - unknown

The person afraid of bad luck will never know good.- Russian (on luck)

The person sins, then blames Satan for it.- Afghan (on the human comedy)

The person who gets stuck on petty happiness, will not attain great happiness.-

Tibetan (on joy and sorrow)

The person with burnt fingers asks for tongs. - Samoan (on experience)

The pleasure of doing good is the only one that will not wear out. - Chinese (on good

and evil)

The poor lack much but the greedy more. - Swiss (on greed)

The pot calling the kettle black. - unknown

The price of your hat is not always the measure of your brain. - African American (on

appearance and reality)

The proof is in the pudding. - Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)

The prudent embark when the sea is calm---the rash when the sea is stormy. - Maori

(on prudence)

The rain falls on every roof. - African Proverb

The rattan basket criticizes the palm-leafed bag, yet both are full of holes. - Filipino

(on criticism)

The real art of conversation is not only saying the right thing at the right moment but

also to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the most tempting moment. - unknown (thanks

to fullmoonsis)

The remedy against bad times is to have patience with them.- Arabic (on patience)

The reward of a thing well done, is to have done it. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-

1882)

The right place at the wrong time. - unknown

The road to a friend's house is never long. - Danish Proverb

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. - Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

The salt of patience seasons everything.- Italian (on patience)

The sap rises in the spring. - unknown

The second word makes the quarrel. - Japanese Proverb

The shoe knows if the stocking has a hole.- Bahamian (on knowledge and justice)

The shoemaker's children have no shoes. - unknown

The sight of books removes sorrows from the heart. - Moroccan (on books and

writers)

The sky's the limit. - Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)

The spider and the fly can't make a bargain. - Jamaican (on buying and selling)

Page 46: Wise Old Sayings

The squeaky wheel gets the grease. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

The stargazer's toe is often stubbed.- Russian (on the human comedy)

The sting of a reproach is the truth of it. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

The strength of the heart comes from the soundness of the faith. - Arabic (on faith)

The strong should help the weak so that the lives of both shall be made easier. - Aesop

(c.620-560 BC)

The teeth that laugh are also those that bite. - Hausa tribe of West Africa (on

appearance and reality)

The tongue has no bones, yet it breaks bones. - Greek (on discretion)

The truly rich are those who enjoy what they have. - Yiddish (on conscience)

The wheel turns slow but it turns sure. - unknown

The winds of heaven change suddenly; so do human fortunes.- Chinese (on

permanence and change)

The wise and the brave dares own that he was wrong. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

The wise do as much as they should, not as much as they can. - French (on wisdom)

The wise man learns more from his enemies than the fool does from his friends. - Ben

Franklin, thanks to Carl McFarland

The wise through excess of wisdom is made a fool. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-

1882)

The wise understand by themselves; fools follow the reports of others. - Tibetan (on

wisdom)

The wolf and the dog agree, at the expense of the goat which together they eat. -

Basque (on friends and foes)

The work will teach you. - Estonian (on work)

The world is the traveler's inn.- Afghan (on journeys)

The worst enemy you have is right in your head. - unknown

The worst prison is a closed heart. - Pope John Paul II

The years teach much which the days never know. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-

1882)

Tcontinued

Saying - Author

There are a thousand roads to every wrong. - Polish (on cynicism)

There are no birds in last year's nest. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

There are no fools more troublesome than those with wit. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

There are no strangers in life; only friends I haven't met yet. - unknown (thanks to

Mike Linder)

Page 47: Wise Old Sayings

There are plenty of fish in the sea. - Gabriel Harvey (c.1545-1630)

There are some defeats more triumphant than victories. - Michel Eyquem Montaigne

(1533-1592)

There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond and to know one's self. - Ben

Franklin (1706-1790)

There is a big gap between advice and help. - unknown

There is always someone worse off than you. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

There is great force hidden in a gentle command. - George Herbert (1593-1633)

There is honor among thieves. - English Proverb

There is more than one way to skin a cat. - unknown

There is much difference between imitating a good man and counterfeiting him. - Ben

Franklin (1706-1790)

There is no accounting for taste. - unknown

There is no dying by proxy. - French (on death and dying)

There is no eel so small but it hopes to become a whale. - German (on ambition)

There is no fire without some smoke. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

There is no fool like an old fool. - unknown

There is no great loss without some small gain. - unknown

There is no hand to catch time. - Bengali (Asian Indian)(on time and timeliness)

There is no key to happiness; the door is always open. - unknown

There is no little enemy. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

There is no proverb without a grain of truth. - Russian

There is no substitute for experience. - unknown

There is nothing that can't be made worse by telling. - Latin (on discretion)

There is nothing to fear but fear itself. - Franklin Roosevelt (1882-1945)

There is often wisdom under a shabby coat. - Latin (on wisdom)

There must be an easier way. - unknown

There was never a good war or a bad peace. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

There would be no great men if there were no little ones. - George Herbert (1593-

1633)

There's a time and place for everything. - unknown

There's always a catch. - unknown

There's many a good cock that came out of a tatter'd bag. - Scottish Proverb

There's many a good tune played on an old fiddle. - Samuel Butler (1612-1680)

There's many a slip twixt cup and lip. - English Proverb

There's no glory without sacrifice. - Bicol - Filipino (on fame)

Page 48: Wise Old Sayings

There's no harm in trying. - unknown

There's no such thing as a free lunch. - American Saying

There's no time like the present. - unknown

There's none so blind as those who will not see. - Mid-14th Century French Proverb

There's none so deaf as those who will not hear. - Mid-14th Century French Proverb

There's plenty of time to bemoan bad fortune once it arrives.- Yiddish (on luck)

There's small choice in rotten apples. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

There's strength in numbers. - unknown

They are most cheated who cheat others. - Danish (on buying and selling)

They are not free who drag their chains after them. - French (on freedom and slavery)

They that dance must pay the fiddler. - Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

They that live the longest, see the most. - 14th Century French Proverb

Things are seldom what they seem. - W.S. Gilbert (1836-1911)

Things come to those who wait. - unknown

Things could be worse. - unknown

Things happen for the best. - unknown

Things happen naturally. - unknown

Things often happen when you least expect them. - unknown

Think many things; do one. - Portuguese (on practicality)

This above all, to thy own self be true. - unknown

Those not ruled by the rudder, will be ruled by the rocks. - Welsh (on rewards and

consequences)

Those who are feared, are hated. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Those who can't dance say the music is no good. - Jamaican (on criticism)

Those who live in glass houses, shouldn't throw stones. - George Herbert (1593-1633)

"Whose house is of glass must not throw stones at another."

Those who love deeply never grow old; they may die of old age but they die young. -

Arthur Wing Pinero (1855-1934)<>

Those who love most are least valued. - English Proverb

Those who play with cats must expect to be scratched. - Miguel de Cervantes (1547-

1616)

Thou dost protest too much. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Though a cage be made of gold, it is still a cage. - Mexican (on appearance and

reality)

Though honey is sweet, don't lick it off a briar. - Irish (on caution and care)

Throw dirt enough and some of it will stick. - unknown

Page 49: Wise Old Sayings

Time and tide wait for no man. - unknown

Time doesn't stand still. - unknown

Time flies when you're having fun. - unknown

Time heals all wounds. - unknown

Time is an herb that cures all diseases. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Time is money. - unknown

Time is of the essence. - unknown

Time waits for no man. - unknown, many thanks to [email protected]

Time is the rider that breaks youth. - George Herbert (1593-1633)

'Tis a well spent penny that saves a groat. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. - William Congreve

(1670-1729)

'Tis easier to prevent bad habits than to break them. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

'Tis easier to suppress the first desire, than to satisfy all that follow it. - Ben Franklin

(1706-1790)

'Tis easy to see, hard to foresee. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

'Tis hard (but glorious) to be poor and honest. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

'Tis the eye of childhood that fears an imagined devil. - William Shakespeare (1564-

1616)

To be great is to be misunderstood. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

To be or not to be, that is the question. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

To be willing is to be able. - French (on attitude)

To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it. - Confucius (c.551-

479)

To believe a thing impossible is to make it so.- French (on impossibility)

To believe with certainty, we must begin by doubting. - Polish (on faith)

To each his own. - William Shakespeare, courtesy of K. Rees NZ

To envy others is foolish indeed. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

To err is human, to forgive divine. - Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

To feel love, give love to yourself and others. - unknown

To get eggs there must be some cackling. - Dutch (on work)

To know all is to forgive all. - MMe. De Stael (1807)

To know how to suggest is the great art of teaching. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-

1882)

To live in peace, one must be blind, deaf and mute. - Turkish (on war and peace)

To speak ill of anyone is to speak ill of yourself. - Afghan (on courtesy and respect)

Page 50: Wise Old Sayings

To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves. - Will Durant (1885-

1981)

To the world you might be one person, but to one person, you just might be the

world. - John H. MacDonald Jr.

To thine own self be true. - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

To those whom much is given, much is asked in return. - Bible (Luke 12:48)</I.<

td>

Today can't catch tomorrow. - Jamaican (on time and timeliness)

Today is the first day of the rest of your life. - North American Saying

Today my turn, tomorrow yours.- Samoan (on justice)

Tomorrow is a new day. - English Proverb

Tomorrow never comes. - unknown

Tongue double, brings trouble. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Too many cooks spoil the broth. - unknown

Too much breaks the bag. - Spanish (on balance and moderation)

Too much politeness conceals deceit. - Chinese (on courtesy and respect)

Too soon old, too late smart ! - Norma Victor

Tread on thorns with your shoes on. - Hebrew (on prudence)

Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools that have not enough wit to be honest. -

Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Trouble always comes in threes. - unknown

Trust in God but tie your camel. - Iranian

Truth and roses have thorns about them. - unknown

Truth comes out in wine. - Pliny (23-79 AD)

Truth when witty is the wittiest of all things. - Julius Charles Hare (1795-1855) &

Augustus William Hare (1792-1834)

Truth will out. - unknown

Try to strike a happy medium. - unknown

Trying to get everything, you often get nothing. - Ivatan (Filipino) (on greed)

Never forget benefits done you, no matter how small. - Vietnamese

Two and two make four. - James MacNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

Two captains sink a ship.- Turkish (on leadership)

Two heads are better than one. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

Two in distress makes sorrow less. - unknown

Two men looked out through the same bars; one sees the mud and one the stars. -

Frederick Langbridge (1849-1923)

Page 51: Wise Old Sayings

Two wrongs don't make a right. - unknown

Two's company, three's a crowd. - unknown

U

Saying - Author

United we stand; divided we fall. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Unjustly got wealth is snow sprinkled with hot water. - Chinese (on greed)

V

Saying - Author

Vanity blossoms but bares no fruit. - Nepalese (on vanity and arrogance)

Variety is the spice of life. - unknown

Venture a small fish to catch a great one. - English (on buying and selling)

Vessels large may venture more but little boats should keep near shore. - Ben

Franklin (1706-1790)

Vices are their own punishment. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

Violence begets violence. - unknown

Virtue alone is true nobility. - William Gifford (1756-1826)

Virtue and happiness are mother and daughter. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Virtue is its own reward. - unknown, thank you to Guy Archer for submission

Virtue is like a rich stone, it's best plain set. - Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

Virtue is not knowing but doing. - Japanese (on character and virtue)

W

Saying - Author

Walls have ears. - unknown

War ends nothing. - Zairean (on war and peace)

War is sweet to those who haven't experienced it. - Latin (on war and peace)

Page 52: Wise Old Sayings

Waste not, want not. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves. - unknown

Wealth and content are not always bedfellows. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Wealth is both an enemy and a friend. - Nepalese (on wealth and poverty)

Wealth is but dung; useful only when spread. - Chinese (on wealth and poverty)

Wealth is not his that has it, but his that enjoys it. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

We boil at different degrees. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

We fear what we don't understand. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

We learn little from victory, much from defeat. - Japanese (on success and failure)

Well begun is half done. - Aristotle (384-322 BC)

Well done is better than well said. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

We'll never know the worth of water 'till the well goes dry. - Scottish Proverb

What breaks in a moment may take years to mend. - Swedish Proverb

What cannot be cured must be endured. - Edmund Spenser (c.1552-1599)

What children say, they have heard at home.- Wolof (West African (on parenting and

children)

What doesn't kill us, makes us stronger. - unknown, thanks to Raymond who because

of this saying is now invincible.

What goes around, comes around. - unknown

What goes up must come down. - unknown

What good is honor when you are starving. - Yiddish (on food and hunger)

What good is running when you're on the wrong road. - German (on planning)

What is learned in the cradle lasts to the grave. - French(on habit)

What is true by lamplight is not always true in sunlight. - French (on appearance and

reality)

What may not be altered is made lighter by patience. - Horace (65-8 BC)

What one hopes for is always better than what one has. - Ethiopian (on faith)

What signifies knowing the names, if you know not the natures of things. - Ben

Franklin (1706-1790)

What you cannot avoid, welcome. - Chinese Proverb

What you do to others will bear fruit in you. - Singhalese (on generosity)

What you give is what you get. - unknown

What you have, hold. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

What you would seem to be, be really. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well. - Philip Dormer Stanhope (1694-

1773)

Page 53: Wise Old Sayings

Whatever the boss says goes. - unknown

What's bred in the bone will come out in the flesh. - English Proverb

What's done is done. - Early 14th Century French Proverb

What's good for the goose is good for the gander. - John Ray "What's sauce for the

goose is sauce for the gander."

What you see is what you get. - unknown

When a thief kisses you, count your teeth. - Yiddish

When eating fruit, remember the one who planted the tree. - Vietnamese (on

gratitude)

When fortune calls, offer her a chair. - Yiddish (on fortune)

When fortune turns against you, even jelly breaks your teeth. - Iranian

When I eat your bread, I sing your song. - German (on friendship)

When in doubt, do nothing. - George John Whyte-Melville (1821-1878)

When in Rome do as the Romans do. - unknown but thanks to Mamtasaransh

When life's path is steep, keep your mind even. - Horace (65-8 BC)

When love and skill go together, expect a masterpiece. - John Ruskin (1819-1900)

When money speaks, truth keeps silent.- Russian (on money)

When one door shuts, another opens. - unknown

When one is hungry, everything tastes good. - unknown

When strict with oneself, one rarely fails. - Confucious ()

When surrounded by chaos, find peace within. - unknown, thanks to J. Scott.

When the apple is ripe it will fall. - Irish Proverb

When the heart is at ease, the body is healthy.- Chinese (on health and wellness)

When the heart is full, the tongue will speak. - Scottish (on eloquence)

When the moon is full, it begins to wane.- Japanese (on permanence and change)

When the music changes, so does the dance. - Hausa tribe of West Africa (on

appropriateness)

When the pupil is ready, the teacher will come. - Chinese Proverb

When the tiger kills, the jackel profits. - Afghan (on business)

When the wind is in the east, tis neither good for man nor beast. - unknown

When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you. - African

Proverb

When we think we lead, we are most led. - Henry James Byron (1834-1884)

When what you want doesn't happen, learn to want what does. - Arabic (on attitude)

When you can do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command

the attention of the world. - George Washington Carver

Page 54: Wise Old Sayings

When you die, make others cry because you left something behind not because they

lost something. - Submitter's name lost

When you drink water, remember the mountain spring. - Chinese (on gratitude)

When you fall into a pit, you either die or get out. - Chinese (on adversity)

When you go to a donkey's house, don't talk about ears. - Jamaican (on courtesy and

respect)

When you say one thing, the clever person understands three. - Chinese (on wisdom)

When you see clouds gathering, prepare to catch rainwater. - African proverb Gola

Tribe

When you taste honey, remember gall. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

When you're sad, learn something, - Merlin

Wherever you go, you can't get rid of yourself. - Polish (on basic truths)

Where is there a tree not shaken by the wind. - Armenian (on basic truths)

Where there is smoke there is fire. - unknown

Where there's a will, there's a way. - unknown

Where there's life, there's hope. - Theocritus (c.270 BC)

Where you were born is less important than how you live. - Turkish (on character and

virtue)

While the cat's away, the mice will play. - James Ray (1670)

Who are a little wise, the best fools be. - John Donne (1573-1631)

Who has deceived thee as oft as thyself. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Who is mighty? He who makes an enemy into a friend. - Hebrew (on friends and

foes)

Who is rich? He that enjoys his portion. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Who is strong? He that can conquer his bad habits. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Who waiteth for dead man's shoes will go long barefoot. - John Heywood (c.1497-

1580)

Whoever has a tail of straw should not get too close to the fire. - Latin American (on

caution and care)

Whoever wins the war gets to write the history. - unknown

Willing is not enough, we must do. - Johann Von Goethe (1749-1832)

Wink at small faults- remember thou hast great ones. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Wisdom is easy to carry but difficult to gather. - Czech (on wisdom)

Wisdom is ofttimes nearer when we stoop than when we soar. - William Wordsworth

(1770-1850)

Wisdom is to live in the present, plan for the future and profit from the past. -

unknown

Page 55: Wise Old Sayings

Wish not so much to live long as to live well. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Wise men learn by others' harms; fools by their own. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Wit is the only wall between us and the dark. - Mark Van Doren (1894-1972)

With a stout heart, a mouse can lift an elephant. - Tibetan (on attitude)

With time even a bear can learn to dance. - Yiddish (on education)

Without kindness there can be no true joy. - Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)

Wonder is the beginning of wisdom, - Greek Proverb

Words are mere bubbles of water; deeds are drops of gold. - Tibetan (on words and

deeds)

Words have no wings but they can fly a thousand miles. - Korean (on gossip)

Words once spoken can never be recalled. - Wentworth Dillon (c.1633-1685)

Words should be weighed not counted. - Yiddish (on discretion)

Words spoken are like eggs broken.- Sheri Glewen

Work and you will be strong; sit and you will stink.- Moroccan (on idleness)

Worldly prosperity is like writing on water. - Telagu (Asian Indian)(on wealth and

poverty)

Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow. - Swedish (on courage and fear)

Worrying never changed anything. - unknown

Worthless people blame their karma. - Burmese (on criticism)

Write injuries in dust, benefits in marble. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Y

Saying - Author

Yield to all and you will soon have nothing to yield. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

You are what you eat. - German Proverb

You become what you think about. - Buddha (Thanks to Ami Kapilevich for the

correction)

You can do anything with children if only you play with them.- German (on

parenting and children)

You can drive out nature with a pitchfork but she keeps on coming back. - Horace

(65-8 BC)

You can fool people some of the time, but you can't fool them all of the time. - Aesop

(c.620-560 BC)

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. - John Heywood (c.1497-

1580)

You can never plan the future by the past. - Edmund Burke (1729-1797)

Page 56: Wise Old Sayings

You can only die once. - Portuguese Proverb

You cannot carve rotten wood. - Chinese

You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. - Irish Proverb

You cannot put an old head on young shoulders. - unknown

You can't be a true winner until you have lost. - unknown

You can't beat a dead horse. - Richard Trench (1807-1886)

You can't build a relationship with a hammer. - unknown

You can't buy an inch of time with an inch of gold. - Chinese (on time and timeliness)

You can't buy love. - unknown

You can't fit a square peg in a round hole. - unknown

You can't get blood from a stone. - John Lydgate (c.1370-1451)

You can't have peace any longer than your neighbor pleases. - Dutch (on war and

peace)

You can't have your cake and eat it too. - John Heywood (c.1497-1580)

You can't judge a horse by its harness. - Thomas Fuller (1608-1661)

You can't make bricks without straw. - unknown

You can't play all the time. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

You can't please everyone. - unknown

You can't see the whole sky through a bamboo tube. - Japanese (on basic truths)

You can't sew buttons on your neighbor's mouth. - Russian (on gossip)

You can't stop a pig from wallowing in the mud. - Yoruba - West Africa (on character

and virtue)

You can't teach an old dog new tricks. - unknown

You can't tell a book by its cover. - American Proverb

You can't win them all. - unknown

You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. - Ben Franklin (1706-

1790)

You could drive a stick man crazy. - unknown

You don't get anywhere unless you try. - unknown

You don't know what you've got until it's gone. - unknown

You have to earn respect. - unknown

You have to take the bitter with the sweet. - unknown

You make the road by walking on it. - Nicaraguan (on work)

You may delay but time will not. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

You may light another's candle at your own without loss. - Danish (on generosity)

You never fail until you stop trying. - unknown - thanks to agate man iwsy

Page 57: Wise Old Sayings

You never know what lies right around the corner. - unknown

You never really know your friends from your enemies until the ice breaks. - Eskimo

(on friends and foes)

You win some, you lose some. - unknown

You'll never do anything behind you that won't come up in front of you. - unknown,

thanks to "riverrat"

Your own rags are better than another's gown. - Hausa (West African)(on self-

reliance)

Your success and happiness lie in you...resolve to keep happy and your joy and you

shall form an invincible host against difficulties. - Helen Keller

Your time is the greatest gift you can give to someone. - unknown