Proverbs
Proverbs are like God sending His wishes to the world. Read them, think about them, and incorporate the wisdom into your daily lives.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
Proverbs 8:17
I love those who love me, and those who seek Me diligently find me.
Proverbs 16:3
Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.
Proverbs 17:17
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born of adversity.
Proverbs 31:9
Open your mouth, judge righteously,
and serve justice to the poor and needy.”
Proverbs 4:14
Don’t enter into the path of the wicked.
Don’t walk in the way of evil men.
Proverbs 3:7
Don’t be wise in your own eyes.
Fear Yahweh, and depart from evil.
Proverbs 3:28
Don’t say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again;
tomorrow I will give it to you,” when you have it by you.
Proverbs 10:9
He who walks blamelessly walks surely,
but he who perverts his ways will be found out.
Proverbs from Around the World
African
No one tests the depth of a river with both feet.
American
It is better to be safe than sorry / In God we trust.
Arabian
He gives double who gives unasked.
Argentina
Children’s love is like water in a basket.
Assyrian
Tell me your friends, and I’ll tell you who you are.
Chinese
Happiness never decreases by being shared. / Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. /Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life.
Cuban
When the sun rises, it rises for everyone.
Danish
To a friend’s house the road is never long. / Better to ask twice than to lose your way once.
English
A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner.
Egyptian
Learn politeness from the impolite.
French
To understand is to forgive. / Gratitude is the heart’s memory. / Common sense is not so common. / Write injuries in sand, kindness in marble. / No one is so generous as he who has nothing to give.
German
To change and to change for the better are two different things.
Greek
Character is habit long continued. / We have two ears and one mouth that we may listen the more and talk the less.
Hebrew
God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers.
Irish
You’ll never plow a field by turning it over in your mind.
Italian
Live and learn.
Jamaican
A little axe can cut down a big tree.
Japanese
Fall seven times, stand up eight.
Latin
If there is not wind, row. / Practice yourself what you preach. / Everyone excels in something in which another fails.
Mexican
It’s not enough to know how to ride – you must also know how to fall.
Moroccan
Evening promises are like butter; morning comes and it’s all melted. If you don’t understand it with a wink, you certainly will with a blow.
Nigerian
When the mouse laughs at the cat there’s a hole nearby.
Persian
He who wants the rose must respect the thorn.
Polish
There are a thousand paths to every wrong.
Scottish
Never let your feet run faster than your shoes.
Spanish
A shut mouth catches no flies. / The beginning of health, is to know the disease. / A proverb is a short sentence based on long experience.
Swedish
Those who wish to sing always find a song.
Turkish
A big head has a big ache. / Two captains sink the ship. / God
postpones – He does not overlook.
Yiddish
Everyone is kneaded out of the same dough but not baked in the same oven.