# Cool proverbs **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 27, 2005, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754 "2005-05-27T13:47:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/1 "2005-05-27T13:47:57Z")
Have you heard any proverbs or sayings that you really like? I just came across a Turkish saying that uses the characteristic style of the Turkish language to express a really neat idea. _ **Egri oturalim, dogru konusalim** _ Translation: _ **Let’s sit slanted and talk straight** _ ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/2 "2005-05-27T13:49:24Z")
“It ain’t what you want that makes you fat; it’s what you get.” Granny, The Beverly Hillbillies ---
**Author:** ![La\_Llorona](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@La\_Llorona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/La_Llorona)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/3 "2005-05-27T14:23:27Z")
_Au royame des aveugles, les borgnes sont rois_. In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed men are kings. ---
**Author:** ![BadBadger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@BadBadger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BadBadger)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/4 "2005-05-27T14:35:42Z")
Confucius say he who go to bed with itchy bottom, wake up with smelly finger… ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/5 "2005-05-27T15:06:18Z")
Confucius say, Near-sighted girl not know her friends until they are on top of her. But seriously, one of my favorite sayings happens to be in Chinese: _lan yu chong shu_. It refers to a story of an emperor who loved music, so he wanted to create the largest orchestra ever. However, there were only so many talented musicians to go around, so the nobles hired a bunch of people to sit in the orchestra and pretend that they’re playing, only to have the talented people do all the real work. So, when someone complements you for something you’ve done, and you wish to deny that you’ve done anything great, you can put yourself in the place of one of those unskilled people who are just pretending to keep up with the real masters: _lan yu chong shu_. I’ve never figured out a short, pithy way to relate the meaning of that proverb. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/6 "2005-05-27T15:17:34Z")
“When you see ants on the staircase, know that there is semolina upstairs.” ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/7 "2005-05-27T15:28:57Z")
\*Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus \* (Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon) ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/8 "2005-05-27T15:46:55Z")
“Semper ubi sub ubi”, meaning “Always wear underwear”. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/9 "2005-05-27T15:55:14Z")
Early to rise, early to bed, makes a man healthy, wealthy and dead. –Rincewind ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/10 "2005-05-27T15:56:24Z")
Walk softly, and you will harvest many bananas. A cougar can kill a dog, but five dogs can kill a hundred cougars. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/11 "2005-05-27T15:57:35Z")
That seems to point up a significant difference between Europeans and Americans. A European says: “I can’t understand this, what’s wrong with me?” An American says: “I can’t understand this, what’s wrong with him?” –Terry Pratchett ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/12 "2005-05-27T16:00:53Z")
“Don’t put your trust in revolutions. They always come around again. That’s why they’re called revolutions. People die, and nothing changes.” –Vimes ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/13 "2005-05-27T16:09:42Z")
“Why does a chicken? I don’t know why.” – A. A. Milne ---
**Author:** ![La\_Llorona](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@La\_Llorona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/La_Llorona)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/14 "2005-05-27T16:27:18Z")
Build a man a fire, and he’ll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he’ll be warm for the rest of his life. –Terry Pratchett ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/15 "2005-05-27T17:39:00Z")
Every clown has a silver lifeboat. Children should be seized and not hard. - John Lennon (from “In His Own Write”) ---
**Author:** ![Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cornelius_Tuggerson)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/16 "2005-05-27T19:16:47Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > A cougar can kill a dog, but five dogs can kill a hundred cougars. What do you mean? A 100 cougars could probably tear their way through at least 300 dogs. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/17 "2005-05-27T19:24:33Z")
Let’s think the unthinkable, let’s do the undoable, let’s prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all. –Douglas Adams (I’m on a _Hitchhiker’s_ kick today) ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/18 "2005-05-27T19:28:12Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > Early to rise, early to bed, makes a man healthy, wealthy and dead. > –Rincewind Early to rise and early to bed makes a man healthy, but socially dead. –The Wheel O’Morality (Animaniacs) God, I miss that show. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/19 "2005-05-27T19:30:17Z")
> [@faldureon](#): > > What do you mean? A 100 cougars could probably tear their way through at least 300 dogs. The 5 dogs will work together to kill each cougar one at a time. The cougars will never team up like that. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/20 "2005-05-27T19:43:41Z")
[Dripping water can eat through stone.](http://gloriana.myphotoalbum.com/view_photo.php?set_albumName=album03&id=tattoo) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754.md?page=2)