Yiddish Proverbs

2011-10-13

A proverb has three characteristics: it has few words, a wise sense, and a clear image.

Yiddish Proverbs

Your secret is your prisoner; once you reveal it you become its prisoner.
A bad coin never gets lost.
A brother turned enemy is an enemy for life.
Be certain to send a lazy man to summon the Angel of Death.
A guest for one day can see a long way.
A friend is got for nothing, an enemy has to be paid for.
The tavern can't corrupt a good man, the temple can't reform a bad one.
More alms are given to a cripple than a scholar.
A flatterer must not lose his temper.
A wise man hears one word and understands two.
The biggest ball of twine can be unwound.
A fool is his own informer.
"For example" is no proof.
A vicious tongue is worse than a violent fist.
A fool grows without rain.
A fool takes two steps where a wise man takes none.
A pretty face costs money.
A wounded spirit is hard to heal.
To be party to a secret is no blessing.
A dead man is mourned for seven days, a fool is mourned for his lifetime.
A deaf man heard a mute tell how a blind man saw a crippled man run.
A good deed has many claimants.
An imaginary ailment is worse than a disease.
When the miller fights with the chimney sweep, the miller gets black and the chimney sweep white.
A man who is too good for this world is no good to his wife.
A girl who can't dance says that the band can't play.
If God were living upon this earth, people would break his windows.
He that is fated to drown will drown — even if it is in a spoonful of water.
Mix with your neighbours and you will learn what is going on in your own house.
Talk too much and you talk about yourself.
If you live long enough, you will live to see everything.
Before you marry, make sure you know who you are going to divorce.
If you're out to beat a dog, you're sure to find a stick.
If you stay at home you won't wear out your shoes.
When the house is swept, everything turns up.
Hell shared with a sage is better than paradise shared with a fool.
It is better to pray for oneself than to curse another.
A poor man's roast and a rich man's death are both sniffed from far away.
Hell is not as bad as the road that leads to it.
Honour is from him who gives it, not in him who gets it.
A man is what he is, not what he used to be.
Prayers rise and blessings descend.
Go rarely where you are loved, and never where you are hated.
Three things grow overnight: profits, rents, and girls.
It isn't the rich man that pays, but whoever is the debtor.
It's a burden to carry, but a pity to throw away.
One fool can ask more questions than ten sages can answer.
There is a new question to every answer.
Sell and be sorry.
Money buys everything, except sense.
A rich miser and a fat goat are of no use until they are dead.
Many a man leaves heaven for hell just to be stubborn.
From fortune to misfortune is but a step; from misfortune to fortune is a long way.
Don't sell the skin off the bear that's still in the woods.
It is good to hope, but it's the waiting that spoils it.
In the mirror everyone sees his best friend.
No choice is a choice.
To know a man well you must ride in the same wagon as him.
You are ushered in according to your dress, and shown out according to your intelligence.
A lie may take you far, but it will not take you home again.
If the rich could hire others to die for them, the poor could make a good living.
Your health comes first — you can always hang yourself later.
A shroud has no pockets.
Learning cannot be bequeathed.
You don't need a calendar to die.
What is left from the thief is spent on the fortune-teller.
The longer a blind man lives, the more he sees.

Islamic Proverbs

If you wish to know how hard the carpenter has been working, then look at the wood shavings upon his floor.
The best of kings is the one who visits scholars. The worst of scholars is the one who visits kings.
Learn to behave from those who do not.