The Homework Helper: Proverbs

No matter what you call them – adages, aphorisms, banalities, bromides, bywords, clichés, inanities, maxims, mottos, platitudes, proverbs, proverbial sayings, saws, sayings, truisms, wise words – sometimes we all need a simple way to express an observation or a principle generally accepted as wise or true. Here’s is a list of paired proverbs that I have gathered together over the years. I like to call them "proverbial relatives" and, Like relatives, some are similar; some are polar opposites. Have fun. Email me if you have any to share.

1. A dimple on the chin, the devil within.

2. "Age before beauty," said the devil as he threw his grandmother off' the stairs.

3. An idle brain is the devil's workshop.

4. Crime is cunning; it puts an angel in front of every devil.

5. Eat with the devil but give him a long spoon.

6. Gossipers are the devil's trumpeters.

7. Haste is the invention of the devil.

8. He who sows the seed of discord works in the devil's barn.

9. If you do good to the Devil, out of gratitude he will deliver you to hell.

10. If you have never done anything evil, you should not be worrying about devils knocking at your door.

11. If you want to annoy the devil stay silent.

12. In time of war the devil makes more room in hell.

13. Man sins... then blames it on the devil.

14. One devil that you know is better than twenty that you don't.

15. Nowadays you have to go to heaven to meet an angel.

16. Speak of the Devil and he appears.

17. Street angel, house devil.

18. Talk of the devil, and he is bound to appear.

19. The devil is in the details.

20. When flatterers meet, the devil goes to dinner.

21. When God says "today," the devil says "tomorrow."

22. When the angels appear, the devils run away.

23. When the devil grows poor he becomes a tax collector.

24. Young angel, old devil.

1. Don't be a thief and you won't fear the king.

2. A thief has more than two hands.

3. The thief hates the moon.

4. A thief does not like to be robbed.

5. A bashful beggar has an empty purse.

6. A slothful man is a beggar's brother.

7. Beggars cannot be choosers.

8. Don't be misled by the tears of a beggar.

9. He who gives away his belongings, slowly becomes a beggar.

10. If wishes were horses then beggars would ride.

11. It is a beggar's pride that he is not a thief.

12. It is better to be born a beggar than a fool.

13. The beggar who asks for crumbs gets more than the one who asks for bread.

14. The best morsels are never given to a beggar.

15. There is no worse robber than a bad book.

16. When the sea turned into honey, the beggar lost his spoon.

17. With money you are a dragon; with no money, a worm

1. A flatterer has water in one hand and fire in the other.

2. Compliments cost nothing, yet many pay dearly for them.

3. Envious persons never compliment, they only swallow.

4. Good manners can be paid for with compliments, but only the sound of money will pay your debts.

5. He who insults another, digs two graves.

6. Insults must be written in sand and compliments carved in stone.

7. Of a compliment only a third is meant.

8. Soup must be hot -- insults cold.

9. The wise man forgets insults as the ungrateful forget benefits.

10. Whoever does not respect you, insults you.

1. A close friend can become a close enemy.

2. A donkey has two friends: his two hind legs.

3. A friend -- one soul, two bodies.

4. A friend in need is a friend indeed.

5. A friend is worth more than ten thousand relatives.

6. A friend's eye is a good mirror.

7. A hedge between keeps friendship green.

8. A man is known by his friends.

9. A man is known by the company he keeps.

10. A small house will hold a hundred friends.

11. A traveler to distant places should make no enemies.

12. A wound inflicted by a friend does not heal.

13. An enemy will agree, but a friend will argue.

14. An old friend is like a saddled horse.

15. An old friend met in a far country is like rain after drought.

16. As mills require two stones, so friendship requires two heads.

17. Bad times reveal good friends.

18. Be patient with your enemies and forgiving of your friends.

19. Better a thousand enemies outside the tent than one within.

20. Both your friend and your enemy think you will never die.

21. Ceremony is the smoke of friendship.

22. Choose a friend with the eyes of an old man, and a horse with the eyes of a young one.

23. Dine with a friend but do not do business with him.

24. Do not use a hatchet to remove a fly from your friend's forehead.

25. Flattery makes friends and truth makes enemies.

26. Friends are like fiddle strings, they must not be screwed too tight.

27. Friends are lost by calling often and calling seldom.

28. Friendship is a furrow in the sand.

29. Friendship is not born of words alone.

30. He who does not want to lend loses friends; he who lends gains enemies.

31. He who has no enemies has no friends either.

32. Ice in spring is treacherous; new friendships are seldom sure.

33. If you have figs in your knapsack, everyone will want to be your friend.

34. If you have no enemies think then that your own mother might have produced one.

35. It is easier to wage war with wise enemies than be at peace with foolish friends.

36. Just as tall trees are known by their shadows, so are good men known by their enemies.

37. Mutual gifts cement friendship.

38. Never mind storms and snows for the sake of a friend.

39. Observe your enemies, for they are first find your faults.

40. Return to old watering holes for more than water; friends and dreams are there to meet you.

41. So long as the pot is boiling, friendship will stay warm.

42. Sorrow is like a precious treasure, shown only to friends.

43. Take heed of enemies reconciled, and of meat twice boiled.

44. The friend who helps me and the enemy who does me no harm, make a pair of earrings.

45. The more intimate the friendship the deadlier the enmity.

46. The weak never forgive their enemies.

47. The wise man learns more from his enemies than a fool does from his friends.

48. There are four things in this life of which we have more than we think: faults, debts, years and enemies.

49. There are three kinds of enemy: the enemy himself, the friends of your enemy, and the enemies of your friends.

50. To keep a friend never borrow, never lend.

51. Warm food, warm friendships.

52. When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.

53. Your friend will swallow your mistakes, your enemy will present them on a plate.

54. Your friendship is your needs answered.

1. A bird in the hand is worth two in a bush.

2. A broken hand works, but not a broken heart.

3. A face that never laughs betrays an evil heart.

4. A heart free from care is better than a full purse.

5. A lot will stick to dirty hands.

6. A man's worth depends on his two smallest organs: his heart and his tongue.

7. Active hands, full bellies.

8. Awake not the lion in the heart.

9. Blind eyes see better than blind hearts.

10. Cold hands, warm heart.

11. Cultivate a heart of love that knows no danger.

12. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.

13. Flowers leave a part of their fragrance in the hands that bestow them.

14. Good advice is as good as an eye in the hand.

15. Hands that give also receive.

16. If a child washes his hands he could eat with kings.

17. If life is fulfilled we go away with empty hands.

18. If you are a friend of the captain, you can wipe your hands on the sail.

19. If you have given away much of your wealth, then you have given a little of your heart.

20. If you would live long, open your heart.

21. Kiss the hand of your enemy if you cannot chop it off: Envy has no rest.

22. Let no one look into your heart or into your purse.

23. Long tongue, short hands.

24. Many hands make light work.

25. Never try to catch two frogs with one hand.

26. Nothing wipes your tears away but your own hand.

27. One cannot start a fast with baklava in one's hand.

28. One hand washes the other and both wash the face.

29. Practice with the left hand while the right is still there.

30. Promises have legs. Only a gift has hands.

31. Reproaches are the soap of the heart.

32. The bitter heart eats its owner.

33. The eye never forgets what the heart has seen.

34. The fire cannot be put out with your hands.

35. The hand of the stranger is heavy.

36. The heart is but the beach beside the sea that is the world.

37. The house of the heart is never full.

38. The human heart is never satisfied, just like the snake that wants to swallow an elephant.

39. The sight of books removes sorrows from the heart.

40. The teeth are smiling, but is the heart?

41. The wise traveler leaves his heart at home.

42. There is no nail varnish that can make old hands look younger.

43. There is no point in offering a helping hand to someone who wants to drown.

44. Though talking face to face, their hearts are a thousand miles apart.

45. Thought breaks the heart.

46. When the heart acts the body is its slave.

47. When the heart is at ease, the body is healthy.

48. Where the heart would go, there follows the foot.

49. Who bathes his hands in blood will have to wash them with tears.

50. Who is narrow minded cannot be big-hearted.

51. Who takes the child by the hand, takes the mother by the heart.

52. You cannot clap with only one hand.

53. You cannot climb a tree with one hand.

54. You must judge a man by the work of his hands.

1. A hero is a man who is afraid to run away.

2. A hero is someone who can keep his mouth shut when he's right.

3. A hero only appears once the tiger is dead.

4. Blood is the sweat of heroes.

5. He who is sure of his victory will not start a war.

6. It's better to fly and stay alive than to die a hero.

7. Love has produced some heroes but many idiots too.

8. Many heroes appear after the war.

9. No hero without a wound.

10. Nobody wages war with ghosts.

11. Not the glittering weapon fights the fight, but rather the hero's heart.

12. Peace is only possible after war.

13. The best soldiers are not warlike.

14. The greatest hero is one who has control over his desires.

15. The most useful holy war is the one fought against your own passions.

16. The real hero doesn't say that he is one.

17. The soldiers fight, and the kings are heroes.

18. To be a hero hang on for a minute longer.

19. War ends nothing.

20. War is a disaster for winner and loser alike.

21. Where there are weapons, there will be wars.

1. A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book.

2. A small cottage wherein laughter lives is worth more than a castle full of tears.

3. After the head is off, one does not cry over the hair.

4. All things are cause for either laughter or weeping.

5. Cry and the whole world cries with you.

6. Do not laugh at the fallen; you may find slippery roads ahead.

7. Don't cry over spilt milk.

8. Don't laugh when your neighbors oven is on fire.

9. Follow the advice of the one who makes you cry, not the one who makes you laugh.

10. Friendship does not need pepper to cry.

11. He who flatters with laughter wants to see you cry.

12. He who tickles himself may laugh when he pleases.

13. How lovely is the sun after rain, and how lovely is laughter after sorrow.

14. If you tell the truth too early, you are laughed at -- too late and you are stoned.

15. It is a wise man who can laugh at his own jokes.

16. Laugh at the rice and you will weep for the lentil.

17. Laugh, if you are wise.

18. Laughing is not always the proof of a mind at ease.

19. Laughter is the best medicine.

20. Learn from your tears and you will win laughing.

21. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.

22. Many families are built on laughter.

23. Rather once cry your heart out than always sigh.

24. The teeth that laugh are also those that bite.

25. Time spent laughing is time spent with the gods.

26. What is viler than to be laughed at?

27. What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul.

28. When you live next to the cemetery you cannot weep for everyone.

29. When the mouse laughs at the cat, there is a hole nearby.

30. When the thief has stolen from a thief, God laughs in heaven.

31. When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced.

32. Where there is laughter happiness likes to be.

33. You will never be punished for making people die of laughter.

34. Your years will still remain the same whether you laugh or cry.

1. Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

2. Brotherly love for brotherly love, but cheese for money.

3. Children's love is like water in a basket.

4. Cultivate a heart of love that knows no danger.

5. Debt severs love.

6. Do not wrong or hate your neighbor for it is not he that you wrong but yourself.

7. Dogs don't love people, they love the place where they are fed.

8. Don't shoot people you hate; don't lend to those you love.

9. For people who love even water is sweet.

10. Hate has no medicine.

11. He who loves the vase loves also what is inside.

12. He who loves thinks that the others are blind; the others think that he is crazy.

13. If love is a sickness, patience is the remedy.

14. If you hate a man, let him live.

15. In order to really love someone you must love him as though he was going to die tomorrow

16. Lend money to someone who won't pay you back and he'll hate you.

17. Live patiently in the world; know that those who hate you are more numerous than those who love you.

18. Love and hate always exaggerate.

19. Love and let the world know, hate in silence.

20. Love is blind, so you have to feel your way.

21. Love is like a baby: it needs to be treated tenderly.

22. Love is sometimes difficult but death even more so.

23. Love lasts as long as does the reproach.

24. Love makes a man both blind and deaf.

25. Love sees clearly, hate even more so, but jealousy sees the most clear, because it is equal to love plus hate.

26. Love your neighbors, but don't pull down the fence.

27. Marry in haste and repent at leisure.

28. Open rebuke is better than secret love.

29. The child hates the one who gives him all he wants.

30. The wolf loves the fog.

31. There is no physician who can cure the disease of love.

32. Those who love you will make you weep; those who hate you will make you laugh.

33. To love someone who does not love you, is like shaking a tree to make the dew drops fall.

34. We hate whom we have injured.

35. When poverty comes in the door, love flies out the window.

36. Where there is love there is no darkness.

37. Where there is love, there is peace.

38. Whoever lives within himself is burning with love.

39. You can hate the dog, but do not tell him that his teeth are dirty.

1. A beautiful maxim in the memory is like a piece of gold in the purse.

2. A good cat does not need a collar of gold.

3. A mule laden with gold is welcome at every castle.

4. A silver hammer can open an iron gate.

5. A wooden bed is better than a golden coffin.

6. All that glitters is not gold, nor all that sparkles silver.

7. An ass is but an ass, though laden with gold.

8. An inch of time cannot be bought with an inch of gold.

9. Better a drop of wisdom than an ocean of gold.

10. Better to have a friend on the road than gold and silver in your purse.

11. Better your own copper than another man's gold.

12. Build a golden bridge for the fleeing enemy.

13. Chains of gold are stronger than chains of iron.

14. Don't put gold buttons on a torn coat.

15. Don't take a golden sword to cut a radish.

16. Every cloud has a silver lining.

17. Fire makes mud hard and gold melt.

18. Gold is a debt we can repay, but kindness not till our dying day.

19. Gold is the devil's fishhook.

20. Gold without wisdom is but clay.

21. Hay is more acceptable to a donkey than gold.

22. He who sleeps in a silver bed has golden dreams.

23. He who would make a golden door must add a nail to it daily.

24. Manure is the farmer's gold.

25. Not all that glitters is gold; not all that is sticky is tar.

26. Not to mention the truth is hiding gold.

27. Peace and tranquility are a thousand gold pieces.

28. Pure gold does not fear the melting pot.

29. Save three pieces of gold and the fourth one will fall into your lap.

30. Talking is silver, silence is golden.

31. The ass bedecked with gold still eats thistles.

32. The miser does not own the gold, it is the gold that owns the miser.

33. The morning hour has gold in its mouth.

34. What good is a golden gallows if they are going to hang you.

35. When you go to buy, don't show your silver.

1. A bird does not sing because he has the answer to something; he sings because he has a song.

2. An empty barrel sings in the wind.

3. As the old birds sing, so the young ones twitter.

4. Bad people don't sing.

5. Birds of prey do not sing.

6. He who starts singing too high will never finish the song.

7. I sing the song of the person whose bread I eat.

8. If a bird knew how poor he was it wouldn't sing so beautifully.

9. If I keep a green bough in my heart, the singing bird will come.

10. It is folly to sing twice to a deaf man.

11. It is not summer until the crickets sing.

12. Let someone else sing your praise.

13. Loving and singing are not to be forced.

14. Not everyone who sings a lullaby stays awake.

15. Singing birds don't build nests.

16. There are many people who can sing, but don't know the words.

17. Three things that can't be taught: generosity, poetry and a singing voice.

18. Until spring comes, nightingales do not sing.

19. Water quenches the thirst but does not teach you how to sing.

20. What the old ones sing, the young ones whistle.

21. When I eat your bread, I sing your song.

22. When mosquitoes work, they bite and then they sing.

23. When we sing everybody hears us, when we sigh nobody hears us.

24. You can cage a bird but you can't make it sing.

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

1. A closed mouth tells not lies and catches no flies.

2. A fable is a bridge that leads to truth.

3. A lie has many variations, the truth none.

4. A lie travels round the world while truth is putting her boots on.

5. A single bag of money is stronger than two bags of truth.

6. An old error has more friends than a new truth.

7. Always tell the truth in the form of a joke.

8. Better a lie which heals than a truth which wounds.

9. Better suffer for the truth than prosper in a falsehood.

10. Beware: some liars tell the truth.

11. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

12. Excuses are always mixed with lies.

13. If you want to hear the truth about yourself -- offend your neighbor.

14. He who is a slave of truth is a free man.

15. He who lies for you will lie about you.

16. He who predicts the future lies, even if he tells the truth.

17. He who wants to tell the truth will always stand before closed doors.

18. Lies are accepted once, not twice.

19. Lies are usually caused by undue fear of men.

20. Lies never pay the toll.

21. One man tells a lie, dozens repeat it as the truth.

22. The rope of a lie is short.

23. The tongue of experience utters the most truth.

24. There are only two ways to reach the truth -- with literature and agriculture.

25. There are such things as false truths and honest lies.

26. To tell the truth is dangerous; to listen to it is boring.

27. Truth lies at the bottom of a well.

28. Truth may walk through the world unarmed.

29. Truth seldom finds a home.

30. Truth's violinist is always beaten with his own bow.

31. What goes around, comes around.

32. When you shoot an arrow of truth, dip its point in honey.

1. A bad cause requires many words.

2. A bad word whispered will echo a hundred miles.

3. A bad wound heals but a bad word doesn't.

4. A kind word is like a Spring day.

5. A picture is worth a thousand words.

6. A round egg can be made square according to how you cut it; words would be harsh according to how you speak them.

7. A silent man's words are not brought into court.

8. A wise man hears one word and understands two.

9. A word about to be spoken is like a stone that is ready to be thrown.

10. Actions speak louder than words.

11. All food is fit to eat, but not all words are fit to speak.

12. Big words seldom accompany good deeds.

13. Buffaloes are held by ropes, man by his words.

14. Deeds are fruits, words are only leaves.

15. Do not use words that are too big for your mouth.

16. Even the fool says a wise word sometimes.

17. Faith and dishonesty are other words for uselessness.

18. Friendly words are convincing.

19. Friendship is not born of words alone.

20. Great events may stem from words of no importance.

21. He who always wants the last word, ends up talking to himself.

22. He who breaks his word shall through his word be broken.

23. If you wish to know the mind of a man, listen to his words.

24. If your heart is a rose, then your mouth will speak perfumed words.

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

26. It is worse to be wounded by words than a sword.

27. Judge a man not by the words of his mother, but from the comments of his neighbors.

28. Kind words are worth much and they cost little.

29. Many a true word is spoken in jest.

30. Many words do not fill a basket.

31. Mere words do not feed the friars.

32. More than one war has been caused by a single word.

33. Not all the words that were ever uttered are worth weighing on golden scales.

34. Once a word has been uttered it belongs to those who hear it.

35. One good word puts out the flames better than a bucket of water.

36. One word spoken in anger may spoil an entire life.

37. Polite words open iron gates.

38. Rather weigh the will of the speaker, than the worth of the words.

39. Silence is more than just a lack of words.

40. Slow in word, swift in deed.

41. Soft words butter no parsnips, but they won't harden the heart of the cabbage either.

42. Soft words win hard hearts.

43. Spread the word of a Psalm and it becomes a popular song.

44. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.

45. Take a man at his word, an ox by the horns.

46. The best word is the unspoken word.

47. The best word still has to be spoken.

48. The fewer the words, the better the prayer.

49. The walking-stick reaches many lands, the word many more.

50. The word "yes" brings trouble; the word "no" leads to no evil.

51. The word of a powerful man is the truth.

52. The word of the king is the king of words.

53. There are some words that look like salted jam.

54. They have sowed the seed of the word "tomorrow" and it has not germinated.

55. Too many words blacken your ears.

56. Truthful words are seldom pleasant.

57. Unspoken words are the flowers of silence.

58. Use soft words and hard arguments.

59. Water and words are easy to pour but impossible to recover.

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

61. Where there is a glut of words, there is a dearth of intelligence.

62. Words are like eggs: when they are hatched they have wings.

63. Words are like spears: once they leave your lips they never come back.

64. Words are like the spider's web: a shelter for the clever ones and a trap for the not-so-clever.

65. Words are mere bubbles of water; deeds are drops of gold.

66. Words do not fill your purse.

67. Words from the heart reach the heart, words from the mouth reach the ear.

68. Words go further than bullets.

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

70. Words must be weighed not counted.

71. Words will not pollute the soup.

72. You can conquer the whole world with words, but not with drawn swords.

73. You can live with tea and cold rice but not with cold words.

74. You cannot keep a word of thanks in your pocket.

75. You know a man by the sweat of his brow and the strength of his word.

1. A bad workman never finds a good tool.

2. A doctor will take care of the rich man; the poor man is cured with work.

3. A good rest is half the work.

4. A lazy boy and a warm bed are difficult to part.

5. A lazy tailor finds his thread too long.

6. A lazy thief is better than a lazy servant.

7. A learned man without work is a cloud without rain.

8. A person always breaking off from work never finishes anything.

9. Blame is a lazy man's wages.

10. Do not bite off more than you can chew.

11. Even a clock that does not work is right twice a day.

12. God is a busy worker but loves to be helped.

13. Hard work makes good luck.

14. He has hard work who has nothing to do.

15. Hunger, work, and sweat are the best herbs.

16. If work were good for you, the rich would leave none for the poor.

17. Lazy people always want to do everything at the same time.

18. Lazy people have no spare time.

19. Many hands make light work.

20. Never let a boy do a man's work.

21. No bees, no honey; no work, no money.

22. Poverty is an older child of laziness.

23. Pray as though no work could help, and work as though no prayer could help.

24. Procrastination is the thief of time.

25. The acre of laziness is full of thistles.

26. The lazy ox drinks dirty water.

27. The lazy sweat when they eat and complain of the cold when they work.

28. The weather vane will not work without wind.

29. The wicked work harder to preach hell than the righteous do to get to heaven.

30. To try and fail is not laziness.

31. Voluntary work is better than slavery.

32. When the head does not work, the legs suffer.

33. Who begins too much accomplishes little.

34. With hard work, you can get fire out of a stone.

35. Work and you will be strong; sit and you will smell.

36. Work improves the harvest better than the field itself.

37. Work is good provided you do not forget to live.

38. Work is half of health.

39. Work is the medicine for poverty.

40. Work like a slave and eat like a gentleman.

41. Working on the land is better than praying in the desert.

42. You don't satisfy your hunger by watching others work.

43. You won't get sick if you have plenty of work.