# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/21 "2005-05-27T19:46:38Z")
From my childhood… _Lubish katatsa, lubiy sankee vozeet_ (translation: If you like to go sleding, you have to like to pull the sled too.) Gah, I hated hearing my parents say that when I was a kid and just wanted somebody to just pull me back up the hill for another go. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/22 "2005-05-27T21:16:50Z")
Read one recently, possibly here, that’s supposedly from Japan: If you are uncertain of a man’s character, look to his friends. Neat. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/23 "2005-05-27T22:46:18Z")
“What butter and whiskey won’t cure, there’s no cure for.” –Old Scottish proverb ---
**Author:** ![Long\_Time\_First\_Time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@Long\_Time\_First\_Time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Long_Time_First_Time)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/24 "2005-05-27T22:59:26Z")
Two of my favorites: If my grandmother had wheels she’d be a cart. If "if"s and "but"s were candy and nuts, we’d all have a Merry Christmas ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/25 "2005-05-28T03:47:08Z")
“The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.” Harlan Ellison “The opposite of a small truth is plainly false. The opposite of a great truth is also true.” Niels Bohr ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/26 "2005-05-28T04:22:42Z")
Rule of Reason: “If nobody uses it, there’s a reason.” ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/27 "2005-05-28T04:40:54Z")
My collection: Trust in Allah, but tie your camel. – Arabian proverb Do not use a hatchet to remove a fly from your friend’s forehead. – Chinese proverb Too clever is dumb. – German proverb It is better to be a coward for a minute than dead for the rest of your life. – Irish proverb If God lived on earth, people would break his windows. --Jewish proverb Under capitalism man exploits man. Under socialism the reverse is true. – Polish proverb Don’t talk unless you can improve the silence. – Vermont proverb If the rich could hire other people to die for them, the poor could make a wonderful living. – Yiddish proverb Tell the truth and run. --Yugoslavian proverb ---
**Author:** ![Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stark_Raven_Mad)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/28 "2005-05-28T05:30:55Z")
What language is > [@](#): > > Lubish katatsa, lubiy sankee vozeet in, **Quicksilver** - Russian? My favorite line isn’t a proverb per se, but it strikes a particular chord with me. It’s from Seneca’s _Epistulae Morales_: > [@](#): > > _quid fles - quid optas? perdis operam. desine fata deum flecti sperare precando. rata et fixa sunt et magna atque aeterna necessitate ducuntur: eo ibis quo omnia eunt._ Why do you weep? What do you want? You waste your time. Stop hoping you will change the will of the gods by praying. It is settled and fixed and led by great and eternal necessity: you will go where everyone else is going. Real proverbs that come to mind: 水能载舟,亦能覆舟 Literally, the water can carry boats, but can also flip them over. Often used in kung fu films and stories when a wise old master warns his student about the new technique that was just imparted that might kill one if practised improperly. 天下没有不散的宴席 Literally that there are no banquets in the world that do not scatter. The line’s been done to death on crappy ultraschmaltzy Taiwanese soaps, but it’s one I think back to in my moments of emotional weakness. Used usually to comfort parted lovers/friends. _Chantez à l’âne, il vous fera des pêts._ Sing to an ass and he’ll fart in your face. I love this one. There’s a similar one in Chinese that describes one playing a flute to a cow, but this version is much funnier. ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/29 "2005-05-28T06:50:31Z")
“The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea.” – Isak Dineson. “Most things free-born will submit to anything for a salary.” – Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre. “A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.” – Robert A. Heinlein. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/30 "2005-05-28T07:56:58Z")
Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want. ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/31 "2005-05-28T14:53:46Z")
Advice from a programmer, to a programmer: _Act in haste and repent at leisure. Code too soon and debug forever_ - Raymond Kennington ---
**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 28, 2005, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/32 "2005-05-28T15:29:00Z")
I overheard an Irish comedian on the Comedy Channel who quoted what he claimed was a saying in his hometown. I have to repeat it just because it does sound so quintessentially Irish… _ **If you’re expecting a kick in the balls but you get a slap in the face… you’ve won a victory.** _ ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/33 "2005-05-28T15:36:14Z")
Italian, I am told: The man who would speak the truth had best have one foot in the stirrup. ---
**Author:** ![whatsittoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@whatsittoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whatsittoya)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/34 "2005-05-28T18:45:41Z")
The early bird gets the worm, which just goes to show, the worm should have stayed in bed. I’m not sure when I first heard it, I probably read it in a book as a child. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/35 "2005-05-28T19:26:05Z")
Two from Homer Jay Simpson: Here’s to alcohol–the cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems. He did it because he’s stupid. That’s the only reason anybody does anything. When you have nothing, anything is something. Constants aren’t; variables don’t. ---
**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 28, 2005, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/36 "2005-05-28T21:20:32Z")
The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/37 "2005-05-28T21:44:14Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > The 5 dogs will work together to kill each cougar one at a time. The cougars will never team up like that. So the cougars are going to stand in line? ---
**Author:** ![Dinaroozie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Dinaroozie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinaroozie)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/38 "2005-05-28T23:58:40Z")
“Get busy living, or get busy dying.” I heard that from The Shawshank Redemption - not sure where it’s originially from, if not there. I’ve always been fond of that advice - it always surprises me how few people follow it. ~ Isaac ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/39 "2005-05-29T00:12:36Z")
Never put off ‘till tomorrow, what you can put off ‘till the day after tomorrow. My mantra since I retired. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/40 "2005-05-29T02:19:36Z")
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