SolitaryRoad.com

Website owner:  James Miller


[ Home ] [ Up ] [ Info ] [ Mail ]

Proverbs to Live By




   Experience is the father of wisdom. 

                                          Anonymous 



   The grand essentials in this life are something to do, 
   something to love, and something to hope for. 

                                                        Addison 




   From a little spark may burst a mighty flame. 

                                             Dante 



   The cow knows not what her tail is worth until she has lost it. 

                                                         Anonymous 



   The crown of a good disposition is humility. 

                                           Arab Proverb 



   Asking costs little. 

                              Italian Proverb 




   The wise man has long ears, big eyes and a short tongue. 

                                      Russian Proverb 




   Conscience gets a lot of credit that belongs to cold feet. 

                                       Anonymous 




   A good laugh is sunshine in a house. 

                                        Thackery 




   Think not those faithful who praise all thy words and actions, 
   but those who kindly reprove thy faults. 

                                                          Socrates 



   Give if thou canst, an alms;  if not, afford, instead of that, 
   a sweet and gentle word. 
                                                          Herrick 




   Do not choose for anyone what you do not choose for yourself. 

                                                 Persian Proverb 




   There is no fire like passion, there is no shark like hatred, 
   there is no snare like folly, there is no torrent like greed. 

                                                      Buddha 
                                   



   Forewarned, forearmed;  to be prepared is half the victory. 

                                                       Cervantes 




   If a man could have half his wishes, he would double his 
   troubles. 

                                                       Franklin 



   Everyone loves the tree that gives him shelter. 

                                        Russian Proverb 




   He who considers too much will perform little. 

                                              Schiller 




   The sky is of the same color wherever you go. 

                                       Persian Proverb 




   He is lifeless who is faultless. 

                                           Anonymous 



   The sky is the daily bread of the eyes. 

                                           Emerson 




   The greatest king must at last be put to bed with a shovel. 

                                        Russian Proverb 




   What can the enemy do when the friend is cordial? 

                                        Persian Proverb 




   Joy and sorrow are next door neighbors. 

                                      German Proverb 




   Work is often the father of pleasure. 

                                         Voltaire 




   Love looks not with the eyes, but with the heart. 

                                        Shakespeare 



   Poverty does not destroy virtue nor wealth bestow it. 

                                         Anonymous 



   Cleanse thy heart from greed, and thy foot shall remain free 
   from fetters. 
                                                  Arabian Proverb 



   Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. 

                                                Anonymous 



   Good humor is one of the best articles of dress one can wear in 
   society. 

                                                        Thackeray



   All is not false that seems at first a lie. 

                                            Southey 



   Good manners are made up of petty sacrifices. 

                                            Emerson 



   It is the peculiar quality of a fool to perceive the faults of 
   others and to forget his own. 
                                                         Cicero 



   The chameleon does not leave one tree until he is sure of 
   another. 
                                               Arabian Proverb 




   A barking dog is often more useful than a sleeping lion. 

                                                       Irving 



   Do not cut down the tree that gives you shade. 

                                      Arabian Proverb 



   Never let the bottom of your purse or your mind be seen. 

                                                     Anonymous 



   The mouse that has but one hole is soon caught. 

                                     Arabian Proverb 




   He who knows but little, presently outs with it. 

                                      Italian Proverb 




   Health and cheerfulness mutually beget each other. 

                                             Addison 




   Much does he gain who learns when he loses. 

                                      Italian Proverb 




   Joy and Temperance and Repose slam the door on the doctor's 
   nose. 
                                                     Longfellow 



   Who seeks a quarrel, finds it near at hand. 

                                       Italian Proverb 




   The cask can only yield the wine it contains. 

                                      Italian Proverb 




   He who sings frightens away his ills. 

                                       Spanish Proverb 




   Any plan is bad which is not susceptible to change. 

                                       Italian Proverb 



   The remedy for injuries is not to remember them. 

                                        German Proverb 




   The stitch is lost unless the thread is knotted. 

                                        Italian Proverb 





   A man who has committed a mistake and doesn't correct it is 
   committing another mistake. 

                                             Confucius 




   None are so blind as those who won't see. 

                                            Anonymous 




   Now 'tis the spring, and weeds are shallow-rooted;  suffer them 
   now and they'll o'ergrow the garden. 

                                           Shakespeare 




   When your horse is on the brink of a precipice it is too late 
   to pull the reins. 
                                                 Chinese Proverb 



   That crown is well spent which saves you ten. 

                                       Italian Proverb 




   Striving to better, oft we mar what's well. 

                                          Shakespeare 





   He has gained enough who gives up a vain hope. 

                                       Italian Proverb 




   Books give not wisdom where was none before. 

                                            Anonymous 




   No one is satisfied with his fortune, nor dissatified with his 
   intellect. 

                                        French Proverb 




   When a man is falling, every saint pushes him. 

                                      Italian Proverb 




   He who falls in love with himself will have no rivals. 

                                            Anonymous 



   There is no one luckier than he who thinks himself so. 

                                              German Proverb 



   The riches that are in the heart cannot be stolen. 

                                          Russian Proverb 





   Keep company with good men, and you'll increase their number. 

                                              Italian Proverb 




   He who is an ass and takes himself to be a stag finds his 
   mistake when he comes to leap the ditch. 

                                             Italian Proverb 




   He who would have no trouble in this world must not be born in 
   it. 

                                                   Italian Proverb 




   Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it. 

                                                   Confucius 




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

                                              Chinese Proverb 




   No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings. 

                                                       Blake 




   Adversity is the diamond dust Heaven polishes its jewels with. 

                                                Author unknown 





   He who sows discord will reap regret. 

                                    Arabian Proverb 




   When the ship has sunk everyone knows how she might have been 
   saved. 

                                                Italian Proverb 




   First catch your hare, then cook it. 

                                        Anonymous 




   A man's being in a good or bad humor depends upon his will. 

                                                        Johnson 




   He saith little that loveth much. 

                                      Italian Proverb 




   Let thy discontents be secrets. 

                                         Franklin 




   The path of duty lies in what lies near at hand; and men seek 
   for it in what is remote. 
                                              Japanese Proverb 




   Wisdom thoroughly learned will never be forgotten. 

                                               Pythagoras 




   Those who do not feel pain seldom think that it is felt. 

                                                       Johnson 



   The world is governed more by appearances than by realities, so 
   that it is fully as necessary to seem to know something as to 
   know it. 
                                                 Daniel Webster 





   Little strokes fell great oaks. 

                                           Franklin 




   A small-minded man looks at the sky through a reed. 

                                   Japanese Proverb 




   One must lose a minnow to catch a salmon. 

                                      French Proverb 



   It is not permitted to the most equitable of men to be a judge 
   in his own cause. 

                                              Pascal 




   The pebble in the brook secretly thinks itself a precious 
   stone. 
                                               Japanese Proverb 





   Full many a flower is born to blush unseen. 

                                               Gray 





   He who reigns within himself, and rules passions, desires, and 
   fears, is more than a king. 

                                                  Milton 



   Wear a smile and have friends;  wear a scowl and have wrinkles. 

                                                  George Elliot 




   A man who is his own doctor has a fool for his patient. 

                                                    Anonymous 



   A man must insult himself before others will. 

                                          Chinese Proverb 




   He loses all who loses the right moment. 

                                       Spanish Proverb 



   Wit is the salt of conversation, not the food. 

                                               Hazlitt 




   He who lies upon the ground can fall no lower. 

                                         Latin Proverb 




   Pray devoutly, but hammer stoutly. 

                                          Anonymous 




   What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. 

                                                     Addison 



   Good example is half a sermon. 

                                         Anonymous 




   He conquers who endures. 

                                      Italian Proverb 




   He is well paid that is well satisfied. 

                                        Shakespeare 




   A man's good name is as precious to him as its skin is to a 
   tiger. 
                                              Japanese Proverb 




   If there is no apple one eats a little carrot. 

                                     Russian Proverb 




   Natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning by 
   study. 
                                                          Bacon 




   A man with a sour face should not open a shop. 

                                      Japanese Proverb 





   One pardons to the degree that one loves. 

                                       La Rochefoucauld 





   When anger arises think of the consequences. 

                                           Confucius 




   Drop by drop fills the tub. 

                                      French Proverb 




   He is not laughed at who laughs at himself first. 

                                          Anonymous 




   It is part of the cure to wish to be cured. 

                                          Seneca 




   The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn. 

                                          Emerson 



   Break the legs of an evil custom. 

                                        Italian Proverb 



   A fool can no more see his own folly than he can see his ears. 

                                          Thackeray 




   You can't make an omlet without breaking eggs. 

                                          Anonymous 




   The heron's a saint when there are no fish about. 

                                   Japanese Proverb 




   When interest lags, memory lags too. 

                                           Goethe 





   What is bitter to endure may be sweet to remember. 

                                               Anonymous 





   A soft answer turneth away wrath;  but grievous words stir up 
   anger. 
                                                    Old Testament 






   For every evil under the sun, there is a remedy or there is 
   none.  If there be one, try and find it; if there be none, 
   never mind it. 
                                                     Anonymous 





   A harper is laughed at who plays always on the same string. 

                                                         Horace 




   If you have to kill a snake, kill it once and for all. 

                                              Japanese Proverb 




   In the fields of observation, chance favors only the prepared 
   mind. 
                                                        Pasteur 





   If well thou hast begun, go on;  it is the end that crowns us, 
   not the fight. 
                                                        Herrick 






   No man's head aches while he comforts another. 

                                        Italian Proverb 



   A narrow mind has a broad tongue. 

                                        Arabian Proverb 




   Better shun the bait than struggle in the snare. 

                                             Dryden 




   What one does, one becomes. 

                                       Spanish Proverb 





   The greatest difficulties lie where we are not looking for 
   them. 

                                                Goethe 




   An idle brain is the devil's workshop. 

                                    English Proverb 




   Kindness is the sunshine in which virtue grows. 

                                        Anonymous 





   Talk does not cook rice. 

                                     Chinese Proverb 





   Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind. 

                                      Shakespeare 




   Following happiness is like chasing the wind, or clutching the 
   shadow. 
                                              Japanese Proverb 





   We have two ears and one mouth that we may listen the more and 
   talk the less. 
                                                   Greek Proverb 




   They who know the truth are not equal to those who love it, and 
   they who love it are not equal to those who find pleasure in 
   it. 
                                                Chinese Proverb 




   If you wish another to keep your secret, first keep it 
   yourself. 
                                        Latin Proverb 




   Having a good wife and rich cabbage soup, seek not other 
   things. 

                                        Russian Proverb 




   Never esteem anything of advantage to thee that shall make thee 
   break thy word of lose thy self-respect. 

                                                   Marcus Aurelius 




   A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds. 

                                                       Anonymous 




   Anger is as a stone cast into a wasp's nest. 

                                       Indian Proverb 




   If you walk on snow you cannot hide your footprints. 

                                       Chinese Proverb 




   Let your hook be always cast; in the pool where you least 
   expect it, there will be a fish. 

                                                         Ovid 





   He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens 
   our skill. 
                                                Edmund Burke 





   Compare your griefs with other men's and they will seem less. 

                                               Spanish Proverb 





   Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power. 

                                                     Seneca 





   A word of kindness is better than a fat pie. 

                                   Russian Proverb 







   One dog yelping at nothing will set ten thousand straining at 
   their collars. 
                                               Japanese Proverb 







   Arrogance diminishes wisdom. 

                                    Arabian Proverb 






   When we cannot find contentment in ourselves, it is useless to 
   seek it elsewhere. 

                                                 La Rochefoucauld 






   For a marriage to be peaceful the husband should be deaf and 
   the wife blind. 
                                                Spanish Proverb 





   Words are like leaves; and where they most abound, much fruit 
   of sense beneath is rarely found. 

                                                            Pope 





   When the  fox cannot reach the grapes he says they are not 
   ripe. 

                                                    Greek Proverb 





   Do not remove a fly from your friend's head with a hatchet. 

                                                    Chinese Proverb 





   That is an empty purse that is full of other men's money. 

                                                     Anonymous 




   When the fruit is scarcest its taste is sweetest. 

                                            Irish Proverb 




   The daughter of a crab does not give birth to a bird. 

                                              Chinese Proverb 




   It's no use going to the goats house to look for wool. 

                                                  Irish Proverb 





   Three things too much and three too little are pernicious to 
   man: to speak much, and know little; to spend much, and have 
   little; to presume much, and be worth little. 

                                                       Cervantes          






   The more a man knows, the more he forgives. 

                                                    Anonymous 




   You cannot sew buttons on your neighbor's mouth. 

                                                 Russian Proverb 





   Don't see all you see, and don't hear all you hear. 

                                                Irish Proverb 




   Every cloud engenders not a storm. 

                                                 Shakespeare 





   "Tis not the dying for a faith that's so hard; 'tis the living 
   up to it that is difficult. 

                                                    Thackeray 




   Men carry their superiority inside; animals outside. 

                                               Russian Proverb 





   One pound of learning requires ten pounds of common sense to 
   apply it. 
                                                Persian Proverb 





   Vegetables of one's own raising are not relished --- those from 
   other's gardens are the best. 

                                                 Chinese Proverb 





   A small hole can sink a big ship. 

                                                 Russian Proverb 




   Whatever necessity lays on thee, endure; whatever she commands, 
   do. 
                                                           Goethe 




   Better be alone than in bad company. 

                                                   Anonymous 




   The web of our life is a mingled yarn, good and ill together. 

                                                      Shakespeare 






   A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the 
   value of nothing. 

                                                    Oscar Wilde 





   Measure thy cloth ten times, thou canst cut it but once. 

                                                 Russian Proverb 




   Though patience be a tired mare, yet she will plod. 

                                                  Shakespeare 






   Go home and make a net if you desire to get fishes. 

                                               Chinese Proverb 





   A long life may not be good enough, but a good life is long 
   enough. 

                                                    Anonymous 






   Long sleep makes a bare back. 

                                      Irish Proverb 





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




   The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. 

                                                 Chinese Proverb 





   Our bodies are our gardens, to which our wills are gardeners. 

                                                      Shakespeare 






   He who plants thorns must never expect to gather roses. 

                                                  Arabian Proverb 





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

                                                     Hindu Proverb 





   Wit without discretion is a sword in the hand of a fool. 

                                              Spanish Proverb 





   Words are the voice of the heart. 

                                       Confucius 






   If you go to war pray once; if you go on a sea journey pray 
   twice; but pray three times when you are going to be married. 

                                                   Russian Proverb 





   To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die. 

                                                       Anonymous 






   Wisdom is often nearer when we stoop than when we soar. 

                                                     Wordsworth 





   You cannot hang everything on one nail. 

                                                 Russian Proverb 

          



   A vacant mind is open to all suggestions as a hollow building 
   echos all sounds. 

                                                  Chinese Proverb 





   It takes little effort to watch a man carry a load. 

                                               Chinese Proverb 





   The greater the obstacle the more the glory in overcoming it. 

                                                          Moliere 




   All things are less dreadful than they seem. 

                                                      Anonymous 





   Many take by the bushel and give by the spoon. 

                                                    German Proverb 





   No one knows what he can do till he tries. 

                                                    Latin Proverb 




   What the young one begs for, the grown-up throws away. 

                                                   Russian Proverb 





   Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which 
   difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air. 

                                                John Quincy Adams 





   A little and a little, collected together, become a great deal; 
   the heap in the barn consists of single grains, and drop and 
   drop make the inundation. 

                                                         Saadi 




   Much wealth will not come if a little does not go. 

                                                 Chinese Proverb 





   It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: 
   What are we busy about? 
                                                       Thoreau 





   The proper study of mankind is man. 

                                              Pope 





   The future belongs to him who knows how to wait. 

                                                  Russian Proverb 




   It is only when the cold season comes that we know the pine and 
   cypress to be evergreens. 

                                                 Chinese Proverb 




   Tyrant custom makes a slave of reason. 

                                              Anonymous 





   The same fire purifies gold and consumes straw. 

                                                  Italian Proverb 




   You look for the horse you ride on. 

                                             Russian Proverb 




   Beggars mounted ride their horse to death. 

                                                    Shakespeare 




   Love the truth but pardon error. 

                                              Voltaire 




   Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound 
   together. 
                                                       Goethe 





   One's good deeds are only known at home; one's bad deeds far 
   away. 
                                                  Chinese Proverb 






   That day is lost on which one has not laughed. 

                                                 French Proverb 





   A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small package. 

                                                     Anonymous 




   He who handle pitch besmears himself. 

                                                  German Proverb 




   Hurry is only good for catching flies. 

                                                 Russian Proverb 




   Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened but go on in 
   fortune or misfortune at their own pace, like a clock during a 
   thunderstorm. 

                                         Robert Louis Stevenson 





   He who is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything 
   else. 
                                                        Franklin 





   In the kingdom of the blind men, the one-eyed is king. 

                                                     Anonymous 





   Uncertainty and expectation are the joys of life. 

                                                       Congreve 





   Life is a mirror: if you frown at it, it frowns back; if you 
   smile, it returns the greeting. 

                                                        Thackeray 





   He jests at scars that never felt a wound. 

                                                        Shakespeare 





   The chameleon, who is said to feed upon nothing but air, has of 
   all animals the nimblest tongue. 

                                                            Swift 



   The apples on the other side of the wall are the sweetest.  

                                                      Anonymous 




   Look for a thing till you find it and you'll not lose your 
   labor. 

                                              Chinese Proverb 




   One can advise comfortably from a safe port. 

                                                      Schiller 




   When one door shuts another opens. 

                                                 Spanish Proverb 




   Do not despise an insignificant enemy or a slight wound. 

                                                   German Proverb 




   An eel held by the tail is not yet caught. 

                                                   Anonymous 




   Love your enemies, for they tell you your faults. 

                                                        Franklin 




   A good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit. 

                                                          Milton 




   He who rides a tiger is afraid to dismount. 

                                                   Chinese Proverb 




   Shun idleness. It is a rust that attaches itself to the most 
   brilliant of metals. 
                                                          Voltaire 





   A man often pays dear for a small frugality. 

                                                          Emerson 




   Thach your roof before rainy weather; dig your well before you 
   become parched with thirst. 

                                                   Chinese Proverb 






   He that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils. 

                                                          Bacon 





   The longest day will have an end. 

                                                        Anonymous 





   A mile walked with a friend has only one hundred steps. 

                                                 Russian Proverb 





   Brevity is the soul of wit. 

                                        Shakespeare 





   He who brings himself into needless dangers dies the devil's 
   martyr. 
                                                    Anonymous 





   Though honey is sweet, do not lick it off a briar. 

                                                    Irish Proverb 





   Rotten wood cannot be carved. 

                                       Chinese Proverb 






   Conceit is to nature what paint is to beauty; it is not only 
   needless, but it impairs what it would improve. 

                                                             Pope 





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

                                                  Chinese Proverb 




   Mellow nuts have the hardest rind. 

                                           Anonymous 





   Help thy brother's boat across, and lo! thine own has reached 
   the shore. 

                                                   Hindu Proverb 





   The dress does not make the friar. 

                                           Spanish Proverb 






   Make every bargain clear and plain, that none may afterwards 
   complain. 

                                                         Anonymous 




   If the child does not cry, the mother knows not its wants. 

                                               Russian Proverb 




   Truth will rise above falsehood as oil above water. 

                                                        Cervantes 





   Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice. 

                                                       Shakespeare 




   The only way to compel men to speak good of us is to do it. 

                                                        Voltaire 





   Desire beautifies what is ugly. 

                                        Spanish Proverb 




   He who has health, has hope; and he who has hope, has 
   everything. 

                                                 Arabian Proverb 




   When it rains, it falls on all alike. 

                                               Anonymous 




   Good temper, like a sunny day, sheds a ray of brightness over 
   everything: it is the sweetener of toil and the soother of 
   disquietude! 
                                                 Washington Erving 




   A man's faults all conform to his type of mind.  Observe his 
   faults and you may know his virtues. 

                                                      Confucius 





   Good, better, best; never rest till good be better, and better, 
   best. 

                                                     Anonymous 





   Burdens become light when cheerfully borne. 

                                                        Ovid 




   He who peeps in at his neighbor's window may chance to lose his 
   eyes. 
                                                  Arabian Proverb 





   An empty sack cannot stand up. 

                                        Russian Proverb 




   It is with narrow-souled people as with narrow-necked bottles; 
   the less they have in them, the more noise they make in pouring 
   it out. 
                                                           Pope 




   Conceit is God's gift to little men. 

                                                    Anonymous 




   Evesdroppers never hear any good of themselves. 

                                                   French Proverb 





   Little and often fills the purse. 
   
                                                   German Proverb 





   Who will eat the kernel of the nut must break the shell. 

                                                        Anonymous 





   Silence betokens consent. 

                                Persian Proverb 





   A diamond with a flaw is preferable to a common stone with 
   none. 
                                                  Chinese Proverb 




   The reward of a thing well done, is to have done it. 

                                                      Emerson 




   One cannot learn to swim in a field. 

                                              Spanish Proverb 




   It is not only what we do, but what we do not do, for which we 
   are accountable. 

                                                          Moliere 




   Winter comes fast on the lazy. 

                                       Irish Proverb 





   Habits are first cobwebs, then cables. 

                                                Anonymous 




   Patience is the key of joy; but haste is the key to sorrow. 

                                                   Arabian Proverb 




   When the cat mourns for the mouse do not take her seriously. 

                                               Japanese Proverb 




   Those who know when they have enough are rich. 

                                                 Chinese Proverb           






More from SolitaryRoad.com:

The Way of Truth and Life

God's message to the world

Jesus Christ and His Teachings

Words of Wisdom

Way of enlightenment, wisdom, and understanding

Way of true Christianity

America, a corrupt, depraved, shameless country

On integrity and the lack of it

The test of a person's Christianity is what he is

Who will go to heaven?

The superior person

On faith and works

Ninety five percent of the problems that most people have come from personal foolishness

Liberalism, socialism and the modern welfare state

The desire to harm, a motivation for conduct

The teaching is:

On modern intellectualism

On Homosexuality

On Self-sufficient Country Living, Homesteading

Principles for Living Life

Topically Arranged Proverbs, Precepts, Quotations. Common Sayings. Poor Richard's Almanac.

America has lost her way

The really big sins

Theory on the Formation of Character

Moral Perversion

You are what you eat

People are like radio tuners --- they pick out and listen to one wavelength and ignore the rest

Cause of Character Traits --- According to Aristotle

These things go together

Television

We are what we eat --- living under the discipline of a diet

Avoiding problems and trouble in life

Role of habit in formation of character

The True Christian

What is true Christianity?

Personal attributes of the true Christian

What determines a person's character?

Love of God and love of virtue are closely united

Walking a solitary road

Intellectual disparities among people and the power in good habits

Tools of Satan. Tactics and Tricks used by the Devil.

On responding to wrongs

Real Christian Faith

The Natural Way -- The Unnatural Way

Wisdom, Reason and Virtue are closely related

Knowledge is one thing, wisdom is another

My views on Christianity in America

The most important thing in life is understanding

Sizing up people

We are all examples --- for good or for bad

Television --- spiritual poison

The Prime Mover that decides "What We Are"

Where do our outlooks, attitudes and values come from?

Sin is serious business. The punishment for it is real. Hell is real.

Self-imposed discipline and regimentation

Achieving happiness in life --- a matter of the right strategies

Self-discipline

Self-control, self-restraint, self-discipline basic to so much in life

We are our habits

What creates moral character?


[ Home ] [ Up ] [ Info ] [ Mail ]