Proverbs and sayings with their Interpretations

• A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.

To make great achievements, you need to acknowledge the fact that every thing
has a beginning. You can think big but should always start small.

• An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

You need to eat and live healthily.

• A bad workman always blames his tools.

People never blame themselves for what they do

• A burnt child dreads the fire.

A person who has had bad experiences will shy away from certain things.

• A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.

It is always good to share with others.

• A calm sea does not make a skilled sailor. (African proverb)

Calm times do not show anything; it's the tough times that make you what you
are.

• A chain is no stronger than its weakest link.

The strength of any group depends on the individual strength of each of its
members.

• A coward dies a thousand times before his death. The valiant tastes of death but
once.
 The brave have less to fear than the cowardly. Also: The damage to the soul and
pride of the coward for his actions are held in comparison to the life of fulfillment
had by the brave. Also: Worrying about a forthcoming disaster may cause as
much (or even more) pain as the disaster when it occurs (but does neither change
it nor make it easier).

• A fool and his money are soon parted.

No matter how much money a fool has, they don’t know how to plan for their
money.

• A friend in need is a friend indeed.

A genuine friend is with you even in times of trouble but some people will only be
very friendly if they need something from you.

• A friend to all is a friend to none.

Being a friend to everyone makes none of your friends feel special

• A good beginning makes a good ending.

• A good man in an evil society seems the greatest villain of all.

Society is what makes good good and bad bad

• A good surgeon has an eagle's eye, a lion's heart, and a lady's hand.

People need to be careful, brave and gentle.

• A guilty conscience needs no accuser.

When people have done something bad, their conscience will always haunt them.
• A loaded wagon makes no noise.

People with real money or success don't talk about it like those with less or even
nothing.

• A miss by an inch is a miss by a mile.

A miss is a miss regardless the distance

• A penny saved is a penny earned.

When you save, you are actually accumulating your future income.

• A man is known by the company he keeps.

A bad man will be identified with bad company and a good one with good
company.

• A rolling stone gathers no moss.

A person who is active will not grow stale. A person who does not stay in one
place very long will not develop roots or meaningful connections with others.

• A stitch in time saves nine.

Fix the small problem now before it becomes larger and harder to fix.

• Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

We miss people when we are separated from them.

• All's fair in love and war.

Love and War are arenas of complete passion that often obfuscate reason.
• All for one and one for all.

We should always be there for one another.

• All that glisters is not gold.

Not everything is what it appears to be.

• All things come to him who waits.

People need to be patient

• All work and no play make Jack a dull boy.

• All play and no work makes Jack a mere toy.

• An empty vessel makes the most noise

Those with the least understanding often complain about things the most.

• An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.

Vengeance is dangerous

• April showers bring May flowers.

Something seeming bad or boring now brings good things in the future.

• Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies.

Ask no questions and hear no lies.

• As you make your bed, so you must lie in it.

One should face the results of their actions.

• A watched pot never boils.

Time seems to pass quicker when you aren't consciously waiting for something.
Worrying over something can make the task seem to take longer than it should.

• Desperate times call for desperate measures.

When faced with though times, you ought to become tough to.

• Different strokes for different folks.

Different people have different preferences.

• Don't ask God to guide your footsteps if you're not willing to move your feet.
• Don't bite the hand that feeds you.

Behave deferentially to those who provide for you.

• Don't burn your bridges.

Do not act in such a way as to leave yourself no alternative or no opportunity to

"retreat."

• Don't bite off more than you can chew.

Do not take on more responsibility than you can handle at any one time.

• Don't cry over spilt milk.

Don't worry about things that have already happened

• Don't fall before you're pushed.

You should not give up in life till it is over.

• Don't have too many irons in the fire.

Do not take on more responsibility than you can handle at any one time.

• Don't judge a book by its cover.

Do not judge by appearances.

• Don't make a mountain out of a molehill.

Don't exaggerate small things / Don't make a big deal out of something minor.

• Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Do not rest all your hopes on one eventuality; plan for several cases.

• Don't put the cart before the horse.

Do things in the correct order.

• Don't shut the barn door after the horse is gone.

Prepare for things to go wrong rather than worrying about them after the fact.

• Don't cross a bridge before you come to it.

Don't fret unnecessarily about future problems.

• Dreams are not the ones which come when you sleep, but they are the ones which
will not let you sleep.

Dreams in your sleep are different from the dreams of your future

• Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
• Every cloud has a silver lining.

Every negative thing has positive aspects.

• Empty vessels make most noise/sound.

Those who lack intelligence speak the most/loudest.

• Failure is the stepping stone for success.

Should not give up when you fail. Instead learn from the mistakes.

• Familiarity breeds contempt.

Long experience of someone or something can make one so aware of the faults as
to be scornful.

• First things first.

Do more important things before other things.

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

To make the same mistake over again is your own fault.

• Fortune favors the brave.

Courageous people make their own luck.

• Failure is not falling down, you fail when you don’t get back up.

• Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed
him for a lifetime.

To learn a lesson is a far better reward than to win a prize early in the GAME. It
is better to know how to help yourself than to beg from others

• Give respect, take respect.

You can’t be respected if you do not respect others.

• He who is good at excuses is seldom good at anything else.
• Half a loaf is better than none.

Be thankful for what you've got.

• He who fails to prepare, prepares to fail.

He who fails to plan, plans to fail.

• He who laughs last laughs best.

He, who laughs last, laughs longest.

• He who lives by the sword dies by the sword.

People die the way they live

• Help yourself and God will help you

• He who pays the piper calls the tune

To be able to control the details of a situation by virtue of being the one who
bears the cost or provides for others.

• Honey catches more flies than vinegar.

One can get more cooperation from others by being nice.

• It takes two to make a quarrel.

It takes two to tango.

• Knowledge is power.

• Laughter is the best medicine.

• Learn to walk before you run.

Do not rush into what you do not know. Learn the basics before you start using
more complex tools or methods

• Life is what you make of it.

• Life's battle don't always go to the stronger or faster man, but sooner or later the
man who wins is the one who thinks he can.

• Make hay while the sun shines.

Do the task while it is possible.

• Man is truly himself when he's alone.

• Money makes the world go around.
• Money talks.
• Money cannot buy happiness
• Money cant buy everything, but everything needs money

It is time to stop living in the fantasy world, and live in the real world.

• Nature, time, and patience are three great physicians.

• Never put off till (until) tomorrow what you can do today.
• Never let the right hand know what the left hand is doing.

Do not boast in giving to the poor- anonymous is best. Secrecy insures security

• Never say die.

Never give up.

• No man can serve two masters.

• No man is an island

Everybody needs other people.

 • No pain, no gain.

You have to suffer in order to get something.

• Once bitten, twice shy

• One good turn deserves another.

You should return a favour done to you.

• One man's meat is another man's poison.

What is beloved to a person is hated by someone else.

• Opportunity knocks only once.

Do not waste time while grabbing opportunities.

• Patience is a virtue.

• People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

Whose house is of glass, must not throw stones at another. Don't criticize other
people when you yourself have faults and weaknesses.

• Practice before you preach.

Before asking others to do something, make sure you are following it yourself.

• Practice makes perfect.

• Prior preparation prevents poor performance.
• Prevention is better than cure.

• Self trust is the first secret of success.

• silence is golden

Sometimes it is better not to say anything.

• Slow and steady wins the race.

Slow but sure.

• Smile, and the world smiles with you; cry, and you cry alone.
• Something worth doing is worth doing well.

If you are going to do something, do it right.

• Strike while the iron is hot.

Seize the moment. Take the opportunity now; don't waste it.

• Spare the rod, spoil the child.

Lack of deserved discipline develops undesired behavior in a child.

• Success grows out of struggles to overcome difficulties.

• The ball is in your court.

It's up to you to decide.

• The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
• The whole is greater than its parts.
• The straw that broke the camels back.

The last of a number of little things which added up to something much bigger
can cause damage.

• Time and tide waits no man.

• United we stand, divided we fall.

Together we are stronger

• Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.
(Japanese proverb)

• Walk the walk and talk the talk.

Should not just talk, act.

• What goes around comes around.

You will eventually have to face the consequences of your actions towards others
as people tend to behave towards you as you have behaved towards others.

• What goes up must come down.

• Winning is earning. Losing is learning.

• You are responsible for you.

• You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

Kind words/actions are more effective than harsh ones.

• You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.

One can take a horse to water; twenty can not make him drink.

• You can choose your friends, but you can't pick/choose your family.
• You can't eat your cake and have it too.

You can't have your cake and eat it (too). This phrase means that you can't still
have the cake once you've eaten it i.e. you can only enjoy something once.

• You reap what you sow.

• You never miss your water....until your well runs dry

Until you are without what to need or want, you cannot appreciate it.
By: Abdurrahman Saed Abdurrahman