Proverbs

Expressions that have come down from our ancestors, containing a particular element of judgement, employed in prose form, and the authorship of which are uncertain.

Examples of Turkish proverbs:

- A gold sword opens an iron door.
- A horse leaves the ring behind when it dies, but the hero leaves glory.
- A whole is better than a half.
- Anyone can make a spoon, but not everyone can make the handle.
- Chickens do not drink on rainy days.
- Children are the fruits of a home.
- Children pick up habits from one another.
- Do as the imam says, not as he does.
- Do not smell the rose out of gratitude or the thorns will prick you.
- Do not speak out of turn.
- Feed a crow and it will pluck out your eyes.
- Flowers make spring lovely.
- He who earns little earns a lot, he who earns a lot earns nothing.
- He who eats honey eventually gets sick of it.
- He who falls from a horse does not die, but he who falls from a donkey does.
- He who is no use to his father is no use to anyone.
- He who spends little in days of plenty will spend much in days of want.
- If a fool has a lot of grease he will wipe it on his beard.
- If the patient survives, he will oppose the doctor.
- If you do it, so will your livestock, and that is how we progress.
- If you have a thousand horses ride and rest, if one have only one, get off and rest.
- If your enemy is an ant, you be an elephant.
- Intelligence is the capital of the young man.
- It is easy to take, but hard to pay.
- Make hay while the sun shines.
- May 6 is the beginning of summer, its storms last for seven days.
- May your blood boil in August, but your cooking pot in winter. Mistaking a white dog for a sheep.
- More haste, less speed.
- No good comes of a woman who rises after her husband. Problems stay with those who hide them.
- Some people spoil the vineyard, others the vegetable garden. Some problems are bigger than giants.
- The cowardly chicken pretends to be a rooster.
- The bride mounted on a camel, see where her destiny lies.
- The female bird builds the nest.
- The heart does not mind if the eye does not see.
- The property of one who weeps is of no use to one who laughs.
- The rose that blooms early soon fades.
- The sea turned into yoghurt, but there was no spoon to eat it with.
- The sword you cut bread with will not cut anything else.
- There can be little peace in poverty.
- There can be no mountain without mist, and no man free of error. There is darkness at the bottom of the candle.
- There is no smoke without fire.
- This world is a building with two doors.
- Worry fills you up, but pain makes you hungry.
- You can find no pomegranates on a willow tree, nor shame in the wicked.
- You can tell a hungry man by his cheek, and a thirsty one by his lips.
- You don’t get black lips if you don’t kiss an Arab’s hand.