Traditional Proverbs
Browse traditional proverbs from cultures and traditions around the world, offering timeless insights on success, personal growth, leadership, mindset, and achievement.
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“A single arrow is easily broken, but not ten in a bundle.”
“A wise man adapts himself to circumstances, as water shapes itself to the vessel that contains it.”
“Trust, but verify.”
“Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still.”
“He that takes medicine and neglects diet wastes the skill of the physician.”
“When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills.”
“He who has health has hope; and he who has hope has everything.”
“The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now.”
“The glutton digs his grave with his teeth.”
“Money grows on the tree of persistence.”
“Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.”
“Promise little and do much.”
“Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.”
“The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it.”
“He who is silent is taken to agree.”
“A bad settlement is better than a good lawsuit.”
“If the wind will not serve, take to the oars.”
“Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half a sorrow.”
“This too shall pass.”
“Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.”
“The man who chases two rabbits catches neither.”
“We cannot see our reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.”
“One tree does not make a forest.”
“If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.”
“He who buys what he does not need steals from himself.”
“A single conversation across the table with a wise person is worth a month’s study of books.”
“The flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest and most beautiful of all.”
“Great souls have wills; feeble ones have only wishes.”
“Success and rest don’t sleep together.”
“Vision without action is a daydream; action without vision is a nightmare.”
“The spoken word perishes; the written word remains.”
“He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever.”
“What was hard to bear is sweet to remember.”
“Dig the well before you are thirsty.”
“Enough is a feast.”
“Smooth seas do not make a skilled mariner.”
“The wise man learns by the mistakes of others, the fool by his own.”
“If you don't want anyone to find out, don't do it.”
“Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you.”
“There are no miracles for those that have no faith in them.”
“When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.”
“Knowledge without wisdom is like a load of books on the back of a donkey.”
“To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.”
“Greatness does not approach him who is forever looking down.”
“With time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown.”
“What is meant for you will reach you even if it is beneath two mountains, and what is not meant for you will not reach you even if it is between your two lips.”
“A boat doesn't go forward if each one is rowing their own way.”
“Measure twice, cut once.”
“To hear something a hundred times is not as good as seeing it once.”
“Little by little, one travels far.”
“Fall seven times, stand up eight.”
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
“During the day you should behave in such a way that you can sleep at night in peace; and in your youth you should behave in such a way that you can live in your old age in peace.”
“If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody.”
“When eating fruit, remember the one who planted the tree.”
“There is nothing noble in being superior to some other man. The true nobility is being superior to your previous self.”
“As you think, you travel, and as you love, you attract.”
“A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.”
“A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything.”
“Eat little, sleep sound.”
“Certain things catch your eye, but pursue only those that capture the heart.”
“The palest ink is better than the best memory.”
“Self-knowledge is the beginning of self-improvement.”
“A wise man makes his own decisions; an ignorant man follows public opinion.”
“A man too busy to take care of his health is like a mechanic too busy to take care of his tools.”
“You can't pour from an empty cup.”
“Arrogance diminishes wisdom.”
“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
“To understand all is to forgive all.”
“Let go, or be dragged.”
“If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.”
“An army of sheep led by a lion would defeat an army of lions led by a sheep.”
“Sunshine all the time makes a desert.”
“Even the lion, king of the jungle, rests after the hunt.”
“Sweat more in training, bleed less in war.”
