# 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:** 16\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2005, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/61 "2005-05-30T17:17:17Z")
> [@ltfire](#): > > Never put off ‘till tomorrow, what you can put off ‘till the day after tomorrow. I’ve heard this as: Never put off ‘till tomorrow, what you can put off altogather. Another Army line from my brother: The KISS rule. Keep It Simple, Stupid. ---
**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 31, 2005, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/62 "2005-05-31T02:23:47Z")
Malay proverb: _ **Di mana semut mati kalau tidak dalam gula** _ Translation (plus bonus rhyming commentary): **Where do ants die, if not in sugar?** (Men risk ruin for their pleasure.) ---
**Author:** ![RealTronic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9dc877/32.png) [@RealTronic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealTronic)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/63 "2005-05-31T07:41:37Z")
_It’s never too late to quit!_ ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/64 "2005-05-31T08:49:36Z")
My sig. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/65 "2005-05-31T08:51:05Z")
my sig again… duh… ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/66 "2005-05-31T09:10:18Z")
“Wish in one hand. Spit in the other. See which fills up first.” ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/67 "2005-05-31T13:42:28Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > “Wish in one hand. Spit in the other. See which fills up first.” hehe…I’ve heard it with shit instead of spit. Makes sense either way, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/68 "2005-05-31T13:43:53Z")
Yeah, but you can tell my version in front of mom 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/69 "2005-05-31T19:29:12Z")
Not exactly a proverb, but might as well be: “It has been said… that there are few situations in life that cannot be honourably settled, and without any loss of time, either by suicide, a bag of gold, or by thrusting a despised antagonist over the edge of a precipice on a dark night.” Ernest Bramah,\* Kai Lung’s Golden Hours\*, of which I’m a big fan. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/70 "2005-05-31T19:37:32Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > “When you see ants on the staircase, know that there is semolina upstairs.” The best of 39 plans is to run away. I sww someone else here likes old Life in Hell comics. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/71 "2005-05-31T20:36:45Z")
He that won’t be counseled can’t be helped. – Benjamin Franklin Character is much easier kept than recovered. – Thomas Paine Sports do not build character. They reveal it. – Heywood Hale Broun ---
**Author:** ![DataZak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@DataZak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataZak)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/72 "2005-06-01T09:02:34Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Malay proverb: > > _ **Di mana semut mati kalau tidak dalam gula** _ > > Translation (plus bonus rhyming commentary): > > **Where do ants die, if not in sugar?** > (Men risk ruin for their pleasure.) Hey, a Malay proverb! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/73 "2005-06-01T22:53:32Z")
From Babylon 5: “The avalanche has begun; it is too late for the pebbles to vote.” > [@La Llorona](#): > > Au royame des aveugles, les borgnes sont rois. In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed men are kings. I prefer my own version: In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man gets burned as a witch. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/74 "2005-06-01T23:14:51Z")
> [@SiXSwordS](#): > > I’ve heard this as: Never put off ‘till tomorrow, what you can put off altogather. My version: Never put off till tomorrow what you can put off till next week, or get out of doing altogether. ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/75 "2005-06-01T23:36:33Z")
Hanging is too good for a man who makes puns; he should be drawn and quoted. – Fred Allen We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. –Aesop The more one pleases generally, the less one pleases profoundly. – Stendahl Keep your eyes wide open before marriage and half shut afterwards. – Benjamin Franklin ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754/76 "2005-06-02T02:45:53Z")
A Bedouin proverb that I, as an apartment dweller, have always appreciated: “If our hearts are to be close together, our tents must be far apart.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-proverbs/305754.md?page=3)