Kashmiri Proverbs

The gardener had not yet dug out the radish, when the beggar held the alms-bowl in front of him.

The customers are known to the shopkeepers.

The danger past, and God forgotten.

One man can burn water, whereas another cannot even burn oil.

One man cut the barrage, and a thousand people fell into the river.

I bought the nettle, sowed the nettle, and then the nettle stung me.

One and one are sometimes eleven.

No strength within, no respect without.

No sunshine but hath some shadow.

The fall is nobody’s sire.

When pumpkins are watered, brinjals also get watered.

No sweet without sweat.

One man’s beard is on fire, and another man warms his hands on it.

One man’s breath’s another man’s death.

Saving mustard seeds in hand, while a watermelon escapes.

Eleven persons take eleven paths.

When rogues fallout, honest men come by their own.

Empty vessels make much noise.

Giving advice to a stupid man is like giving salt to a squirrel.

Hindu Proverbs

Saints fly only in the eyes of their disciples.

Anger has no eyes.

When anger comes, wisdom goes.

Kill a cow to donate shoes.

Many dogs kill a hare, no matter how many turns it makes.

Among the blind, the squint rules.

Of what use is the veil if you are going to dance.

Sleep after selling horses and elephants.

Wash your hands in the flowing Ganges.

Waste makes want.

Waste not want not.

When a camel is at the foot of a mountain then judge of his height.

When an elephant is in trouble even a frog will kick him.

They who give have all things; they who withhold have nothing.

These three take crooked ways: carts, boats, and musicians.

Can the monkey know the taste of ginger?

Whose stick, his buffalo.

Dig a well everyday to drink water everyday.

Eating while seated makes one of large size; eating while standing makes one strong.

It is better to walk than to run; it is better to stand than to walk; it is better to sit than to stand; it is better to lie than to sit.

Indian Proverbs

The way to overcome the angry man is with gentleness, the evil man with goodness, the miser with generosity and the liar with truth.

Large desire is endless poverty.

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

Garlic is as good as ten mothers.

Life is not a continuum of pleasant choices, but of inevitable problems that call for strength, determination, and hard work.

Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday sun.

September blow soft till the fruit’s in the loft.

Sit on the bank of a river and wait: Your enemy’s corpse will soon float by.

Don’t bargain for fish which are still in the water.

Fate and self-help share equally in shaping our destiny.

Call on God, but row away from the rocks.

To the mediocre, mediocrity appears great.

You can never enter the same river twice.

You can often find in rivers what you cannot find in oceans.

Once out of the throat it spreads over the world.

The adult looks to deeds, the child to love.

Agriculture is best, enterprise is acceptable, but avoid being on a fixed wage.

You can only lean against that which resists.

Blaming your faults on your nature does not change the nature of your faults.

Blow the wind ne’er so fast, it will lower at last.

Malay Proverbs

If there is no reason, why would the tempua bird nest on the low branches?

To bend a bamboo, start when it is a shoot.

Where there is sugar, there are bound to be ants.

The more sorrow one encounters, the more joy one can contain.

You cannot get at the precious sago without first breaking the bark.

Don’t use an axe to embroider.

Fear to let fall a drop and you will spill a lot.

Feasting is the physician’s harvest.

The more shoots, the more leaves.

The existence of the sea means the existence of pirates.

Smack a tray of water and you get to wash your face.

One can pay back the loan of gold, but one dies forever in debt to those who are kind.

If you have, give; if you lack, seek.

The body pays for a slip of the foot, and gold pays for a slip of the tongue.

Korean Proverbs

A kitchen knife cannot carve its own handle.

Even children of the same mother look different.

If you starve for three days, there is no thought that does not invade your imagination.

The bad ploughman quarrels with his ox.

The deeper the water are, the more still they run.

When there are no tigers, a wildcat is very self-important.

Man’s affairs are evaluated only after his coffin is closed.

Man’s extremity, God’s opportunity.

Put off one day and ten days will pass.

A nobleman’s calf does not know how a butcher kills.

Carve the peg by looking at the hole.

Words have no wings but they can fly a thousand miles.

You will hate a beautiful song if you sing it often.

If you like things easy, you’ll have difficulties; if you like problems, you’ll succeed.

Cast no dirt into the well that gives you water.

Cast not pearls to swine.

Catch not at the shadow, and lose the substance.

Cross even a stone bridge after you’ve tested it.

Even a fish would not get into trouble if it kept its mouth shut.

Persian Proverbs

He who want a rose must respect the thorn.

He who wants content cannot find an easy chair.

I used to feel sorry for myself because I had no shoes until I met a man who was dead.

A thief is a king till he’s caught.

A thief knows a thief as a wolf knows a wolf.

A bad wound heals but a bad word does not.

A broken hand works, but not a broken heart.

A broken sleeve holdeth the arm back.

A stone thrown at the right time is better than gold given at the wrong time.

Be a lion at home and a fox abroad.

By a sweet tongue and kindness, you can drag an elephant with a hair.

Courteous men learn courtesy from the discourteous.

Courtesy is cumbersome to them that ken it not.

Courtesy on one side can never last long.

Do little things now; so shall big things come to thee by and by asking to be done.

Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs thistles?

Epigrams succeed where epics fail.

Every man goes down to his death bearing in his hands only that which he has given away.

Go as far as you can see, and when you get there you’ll see further.

Go and wake up your luck.

Go further and fare worse.

He gives a party with bath-water.

He gives him roast meat and beats him with the spit.

Proverbs

Chinese Proverbs

Learning is like rowing upstream: not to advance is to drop back.

If there is light in the soul, there will be beauty in the person. If there is beauty in the person, there will be harmony in the house. If there is harmony in the house, there will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.

The mind that turns forever outward will have no end to craving. Only the mind turned inward will find a still-point of peace.

If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap.
If you want happiness for a day, go fishing.
If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune.
If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody.

Confucian Proverbs

Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes.

If thy strength will serve, go forward in the ranks; if not, stand still.

If today will not, tomorrow may.

If two ride on a horse, one must ride behind.

Buddhist Proverbs

When the mind discriminates, there is manifoldness of things; when it does not, it looks into the true state of things.

Taoist Proverbs
To act sincerely with the insincere is dangerous.

No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.

Tibetan Proverbs

A father deserted by a wise son is like being caught in a shower without a felt.

Excellent people are honoured wherever they go.

The wise understand by themselves, fools follow the reports of others.

Even if you have failed at something nine times, you have still given it effort nine times.

The wish is father to the thought.

Swedish Proverbs

Fear less, hope more;
whine less, breathe more;
talk less, say more;
hate less, love more;
and all good things are yours.

Myanmar Proverbs

The learned are apt to be taciturn.

The least and weakest man can do some hurt.

The least boy always carries the biggest fiddle.

Nepal Proverbs

Wealth is both an enemy and a friend.

Afghan Proverbs

In bad things be slow; in good things be quick.

Arabian Proverbs

The willing contemplation of vice is vice.

When you have spoken the word, it reigns over you. When it is unspoken you reign over it.

Do not stand in a place of danger trusting in miracles.

Islamic Proverbs

To you your religion and to me my religion.

Indonesian Proverbs

Different fields, different grasshoppers; different seas, different fish.

Different men have different opinions; some like apples, some onions.

Filipino Proverb

A fly that lands on a carabao feels itself to be higher than the carabao.

Balinese Proverbs
Goodness shouts. Evil whispers.

Bengali Proverbs

Unless a man is simple, he cannot recognise God, the Simple One.

Singhalese Proverbs

By committing foolish acts, one learns wisdom.

Eat coconuts while you have teeth.

Even the fall of a dancer is a somersault.

If you had teeth of steel, you could eat iron coconuts.

Tamil Proverbs

Abstinence is the best medicine.

Kind words conquer.

Popular agitation leads to justice.

Hindustani Proverbs

No sooner have you spoken than what you have said becomes the property of another.

It is a cart if it goes well, otherwise it is but timber.

Diet cures more than the lancer.

Give your ears to words but do not give your words to ears.

Bathe early everyday and sickness will avoid you.

Dictators ride to and fro upon tigers which they dare not dismount.

Cambodian Proverbs

Cultivate a heart of love that knows no anger.

Vietnamese Proverbs

All cats are grey in the dark.

Never forget benefits done you, regardless how small.

One often gets what one disdains.

People live with their own idiosyncrasies and die of their own illnesses.

The rich worry over their money, the poor over their bread.

Venture all; see what fate brings.

When eating a fruit, think of the person who planted the tree.

When the tree falls, any child can climb it.

Persian Proverbs

You cannot please everyone.

You cannot polish a turd.

You cannot push on a rope.

You cannot put new wine in old bottles.

You cannot squeeze blood from a rock.

Philippine Proverbs

Alertness and courage are life’s shield.

Don’t empty the water jar until the rain falls.

He who boasts of his accomplishments will heap ridicule on himself.

He who gives alms to the poor faces heaven.

It is advantageous to follow advice, for you will succeed in life.

The pain of the little finger is felt by the whole body.

Loyalty is more valuable than diamonds.

Chinese Proverbs

All the flowers of all of the tomorrows are in the seeds of today.

A diamond with a flaw is worth more than a pebble without imperfections.

If your strength is small, don’t carry heavy burdens. If your words are worthless, don’t give advice.

Great souls have wills; feeble ones have only wishes.

Be not afraid of going slowly; be afraid only of standing still.

Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself.

There are three truths: my truth, your truth, and the truth.

A single conversation across the table with a wise man is worth a month’s study of books.

If you are planning for one year, grow rice. If you are planning for 20 years, grow trees. If you are planning for centuries, grow men.

A hundred men may make an encampment, but it takes a woman to make home.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Not the cry, but the flight of the wild duck, leads the flock to fly and follow.

Happiness is like a sunbeam, which the least shadow intercepts, while adversity is often as the rain of spring.

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

Patience is power; with time and patience the mulberry leaf become silk.

Dig a well before you are thirsty.

Be the first to the field and the last to the couch.

Never was good work done without much trouble.

The person who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.

One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade.

When you cannot avoid, welcome.

Japanese Proverbs

If you wish to learn the highest truths, begin with the alphabet.

No branch is better than its trunk.

Darkness reigns at the foot of the lighthouse.

A fog cannot be dispelled by a fan.

Adversity is the foundation of virtue.

Affinity is a mysterious thing, but it is spicy.

Don’t stay long when the husband is not at home.

Even a sheet of paper has two sides.

Even a thief takes ten years to learn his trade.

An excess of courtesy is discourtesy.

Bad and good are interwined like rope.

If a man be great, even his dog will wear a proud look.

If man has no tea in him, he is incapable of understanding truth and beauty.

If one man praises you, a thousand will repeat the praise.

If the father is a frog, the son will be a frog.

It is a beggar’s pride that he is not a thief.

Laughter cannot bring back what anger has driven away.

Laughter is the hiccup of a fool.

Money grows on the tree of persistence.

My son is my son till he gets him a wife, but my daughter’s my daughter all the days of her life.

Never trust the advice of a man in difficulty.

One kindness is the price of another.

One who smiles rather than rages is always the stronger.

One written word is worth a thousand pieces of gold.

Only lawyers and painters can turn white to black.

Silence surpasses speech.

The inarticulate speak longest.

The mouth is the door of evil.

The nail that sticks its head up is the one that gets hit.

The tongue is but three inches long, yet it can kill a man six feet high.

The tongue is more to be feared than the sword.

Tigers die and leave their skins; people die and leave their names.

Time spent laughing is time spent with the gods.

To teach is to learn.

Virtue is not knowing but doing.

Vision without action is a daydream; action without vision is a nightmare.

Walls have ears, bottles have mouths.

We learn little from victory, much from defeat.

While we consider when to begin, it becomes too late.

If you look up, there are no limits.

The beginning of sin is sweet; its end is bitter.

Zen Proverbs

Better to see the face than to hear the name.

Be master of mind rather than mastered by mind.

The infinite is in the finite of every instant.

The man who’s drunk water knows if it’s cool or warm.

No snowflake ever falls in the wrong place.

From the withered tree, a flower blooms.

Only when you can be extremely pliable and soft can you be extremely hard and strong.

Sitting quietly, doing nothing, spring comes, and the grass grow by itself.

If you understand, things are just as they are; if you do not understand, things are just as they are.

Two monks were describing a flapping flag. One said,”The flag is moving.” The other said,”The wind is moving.” Hui Neng happened to be passing by. He said,”Not the wind, not the flag; the mind is moving.” ~ Zen Koan