My Admiration for Proverbs from China, Russia and Japan
1.
Have God and have all.
2.
Hell is always open.
3.
Necessity has no holiday.
4.
The longest day has an end.
5.
Where there is peace, God is.
6.
In China, more physicians than patients.
7.
Good Americans, when they die, go to Paris.
8.
Much science, much sorrow.
9.
Life is short and time is swift.
10.
Life is a pilgrimage.
11.
Music is the food of love.
12.
He teaches skill, who teaches all.
13.
Do as I say, not as I do.
14.
Control barbarians with barbarians.
15.
There is blessedness in adversity.
16.
A living body is a dying body.
17.
Curses come back to yourself.
18.
Day has its eyes; night has its ears.
19.
Carelessness is a great enemy.
20.
Cheerfulness is the very flower of health.
21.
Bring up your beloved child with a stick.
22.
He who departs is forgotten.
23.
To die is easy, to live is hard.
24.
A woman’s whole-hearted desire will pierce even a rock.
25.
Serious disasters come from small causes.
26.
If you know the disease, recovery is near.
27.
A barking dog is weak.
28.
The quick eater does quick work.
29.
An idiot’s eloquence is silence.
30.
If the end is good, everything is good.
31.
Even though you become the enemy of a good man,
don’t become the friend of a bad man.
32.
Repay your enemy with a favour.
33.
Fate assists the courageous.
34.
The flow of water and the future of human beings
is uncertain.
38.
Illness starts with the mouth.
39.
When you are busy, you have no illness.
40.
Who owns the bank owns the fish.
41.
The bear dances, but the gypsy takes the money.
42.
The beauty of a loan is repayment.
43.
Better to be born happy than pretty.
44.
The boss is always right.
45.
Better bread with water than cake with trouble.
46.
Bread and salt never quarrel.
47.
It is the bread that keeps one warm, not the fur.
48.
Love your children with your heart,
But train them with your hands.
49.
The cure for old age is the grave.
50.
Every day is a messenger of God.
51.
Death is a brother to the Russian soldier.
52.
Good deeds travel far; bad ones farther.
53.
Desire is stronger than bondage.
54.
If you have desire, you must also have patience.
55.
The dog is a lion in his own home.
56.
If you drink, you die.
If you don’t drink, you die.
So it is better to drink.
57.
Ears do not grow higher than the head.
58.
Nowhere in the world do eyes look satisfied.
59.
What the eyes do not see, the heart does not desire.
60.
Failure teaches you more than success.
61.
Faith can move mountains.
62.
Fear has large eyes.
63.
Flies and priests can enter any house.
64.
A friend is recognised only in misfortune.
65.
He who is everybody’s friend is either very poor or very rich.
66.
One old friend is better than two new ones.
67.
It is not the gift which is precious, it is the love.
68.
God goes to him who comes to Him.
69.
God wanted to chastise mankind, so He sent lawyers.
70.
God will cook the soup for him who has water, herbs and wood.
71.
Praise God and love men.
72.
Pray to God but continue to row to the shore.
73.
Rely on God, but don’t get out of line yourself.
74.
You cannot deceive God, even by getting up early.
75.
Religion has two children: love and hatred.
76.
Every rouble bears a sin.
77.
No sin, no salvation.
78.
The more you sleep, the less you sin.
79.
He is not a thief who has stolen, but he who has been caught.
80.
When the Czar has a cold, all Russia coughs.
81.
Bend the tree only while it is young.
82.
Mock not the fallen, for the slippery road is ahead of you.
83.
Gossip needs no carriage.
84.
Heaven has many cracks through which God can see.
85.
Ignorance does not commit sins.
86.
If you are afraid of bad luck,
You will never get good luck.
87.
Marriage is the tomb of love.
88.
Money goes where money is.
89.
When money speaks, the truth keeps silent.
90.
Love your neighbour, but put up a fence.
91.
Onion and garlic are born brothers.
92.
People’s opinion has crucified Christ.
93.
The ploughman has no time for mischief.
