Proverb Examples from around the world

Proverbs Starting with letter D - part 3
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Don't praise my good fortune before I'm dead and buried.
Don't praise the bread that is not out of the oven.
Don't praise the day before sunset.

Don't praise your furnace when the house is cold.
Don't promise something when you are full of joy; don't answer letters when you are full of anger.
Don't promise to the saints - and don't make promises to (piccirelli slang for insignificant people).
Don't pull hard enough to break the rope.
Don't put a finger into his mouth( — he might bite your arm off).
Don't put all you eggs in one basket.
Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
Don't put gold buttons on a torn coat.
Don't put golden buttons on a torn coat.
Don't put it in my ear, but in my hand.
Don't put new wine into old bottles.
Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today.
Don't put out a fire that isn't burning you.
Don't put the cart before the horse.
Don't put the cart before the oxen.
Don't put too tight a ring on your finger.
Don't put your trust in Fortune until you are in heaven.
Don't raise more Demons than you can lay down.
Don't raise your club so high; it will only fall on your head.
Don't reckon without your host.
Don't reckon your eggs before they are laid.
Don't refuse a wing to the one who gave you the chicken.
Don't reject the good together with the bad.
Don't rely on the label of the bag.
Don't remove winter vests (undergarments) until summer arrives.
Don't rob Peter to pay Paul.
Don't rock the boat.
Don't run in front of a carriage.
Don't run too far, you will have to return the same distance.
Don't sail out farther than you can row back.
Don't say 'hop', until you jumped over.
Don't say 'up', before you have jumped.
Don't say amen to an unacceptable prayer.
Don't scratch your shoe when it's your foot that itches.
Don't scuffle with the potter, for he makes money by the damage.
Don't sell eggs in the bottom of hens.
Don't sell the bear's fur before you hunt it.

Don't sell the bear-skin before you have killed the bear.
Don't sell the bearskin before the bear is dead.
Don't sell the bearskin before you have caught the bear.
Don't sell the fish that is still swimming in the ocean.
Don't sell the fur before shooting the bear.
Don't sell the fur until the bear has been shot.
Don't sell the skin of the bear from the forest.
Don't sell the skin till you have caught the fox.
Don't sell the skin till you've caught the bear.
Don't send away your cat for being a thief.
Don't set sail on someone else's star.
Don't set the attic on fire just because you didn't catch any mice.
Don't settle in a place where the doctor has gout.
Don't shake the tree when the pears fall off themselves.
Don't share the skin while it's still on the bear.
Don't shoot people you hate; don't lend to those you love.
Don't show a hyena how well you can bite.
Don't show me the palm tree, show me the dates.
Don't show your teeth if you can't bite.
Don't shut the barn door after the horse is gone.
Don't shut the barn door after the horse is stolen.
Don't skin the bear before it's been shot.
Don't slaughter a duck that's hatching eggs if you want more ducks.
Don't slaughter more pigs than you can salt.
Don't speak of the noose in the hanged man's house.
Don't speak sweet words when your deeds are of stone.
Don't speak to the man at the helm.
Don't speak unless you can improve on the silence.
Don't spill blood until the raven has flown over.
Don't spit in the wind - it might land on your head.
Don't spit into the wind.
Don't spoil a cool place under the hospitable tree.
Don't spoil the ship for a ha'p'orth of tar.
Don't spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar.
Don't spoil the ship for a halfpenny-worth of tar.
Don't spur a willing horse.
Don't squat with your spurs on.
Don't stay long when the husband is not at home.
Don't stay on the dew until the sun reaches its highest.
Don't stop sowing just because the birds ate a few seeds.
Don't stop the way of a bull or of a current of air.
Don't strike a flea on a tiger's head.
Don't swear off of beggary and jail.
Don't take a golden sword to cut a radish.
Don't take a second mouthful before you have swallowed the first.
Don't take another mouthful before you have swallowed what is in your mouth.
Don't take any wooden nickels.
Don't take any wooden nickles.
Don't take life too seriously; you'll never get out of it alive.

Don't take seriously the cat who mourns for a mouse.
Don't take this the wrong way.
Don't talk Latin before the Franciscans.
Don't talk about others, they won't talk about you.
Don't talk too much, because your ignorance is greater than your knowledge.
Don't talk unless you can improve the silence.
Don't teach fishes to swim.
Don't teach the tiger cub to eat meat.
Don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs.
Don't tell a peasant how well cheese goes with pears.
Don't tell any more fairy tales when the child has gone to sleep.
Don't tell others to do what you cannot do.
Don't tell your secret to your friend, he will tell it to his friend.
Don't that just butter your grits.
Don't think about the pig until it's in the poke.
Don't think back on someone whose name you forgot, he is probably someone else by now.
Don't think there are no crocodiles because the water is calm.
Don't think there are no crocodiles just because the water's calm.
Don't think you are eloquent just because a fool applauds you.
Don't throw a stone into a well from which you have drunk.
Don't throw a stone into a well you drank from.
Don't throw away dirty water before you have more clean water.
Don't throw away the old bucket until you know whether the new one holds water.
Don't throw away the old bucket until you know whether the new one is watertight.
Don't throw away your dirty water till you have got clean.
Don't throw away your old shoes until you have a new pair.
Don't throw away your own shoes till you have got new ones.
Don't throw out the baby with the bath water.
Don't throw out your dirty water until you get in fresh.
Don't throw pearls to the swine.
Don't throw rocks if you live in a glass house.
Don't throw the arrow that will return against you.
Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Don't throw the handle after the bill.
Don't throw your blanket in the fire just because it has one flea in it.
Don't tread on the tail of a sleeping snake.
Don't trust in fortune until you are in heaven.
Don't trust the horses if they run away, or the prostitutes if they repent.
Don't trust the smile of your opponent.
Don't trust your bone to another man's dog.
Don't trust your wife until she has borne you ten sons.
Don't try to buy fish in the Dry Towns.
Don't try to fly before you have wings.
Don't try to get blood from a locust; God didn't put it in there.
Don't try to get into hell ahead of your father.
Don't try to make predictions -- especially those concerning the future.
Don't try to make someone hate the person he loves, for he will still go on loving, but he will hate you.
Don't try to run before you can walk.
Don't try to sell pumpkins to a gardener.

Don't try to teach a pig to sing. It doesn't work, and you'll annoy the pig.
Don't try to walk before you can crawl.
Don't undo your bootlaces until you have seen the river.
Don't upset the apple cart.
Don't use a lot where a little will do.
Don't use an axe to do embroidery.
Don't use an axe to embroider.
Don't use oiled paper to wrap up fire.
Don't use your teeth when you can untie the knot with your fingers.
Don't visit auctions if you have no money.
Don't wade into a river without knowing a ford.
Don't wait for tomorrow to do something you can do today.
Don't wake he who is sleeping, if you wake him, you will sleep yourself.
Don't wake the bear that sleeps.
Don't wake up trouble while it sleeps quietly.
Don't wash your dirty linen in public.
Don't waste good iron for nails or good men for soldiers.
Don't waste too many stones on one bird.
Don't waste your favours before you get them (also works with money).
Don't weep over spilled milk.
Don't worry if people call you ordinary -- only if you are ordinary.
Don't worry if you borrow -- worry if you lend.
Don't yoke the plough before the horses.
Don't you know, my son, with how little wisdom the world is governed?.
Done by the one who profits from it.
Done in by his own trade like a water merchant in the rain.
Donkey voices don't reach heaven.
Donkey's lips don't fit onto a horse's mouth.
Donkeys only come to the court to carry bags.
Don?t leave till tomorrow what can be finished today.
Don?t talk operas.
Don?t undress one saint to dress another.
Doth the moon on high care for the barking of a dog?.
Double charging will break a cannon.
Double standards may work in theory, but they don't work in practice. This phrase is mainly used when one expresses two contrary opinions in an often heated argument, and the other part uses this proverb to illustrate such.
Doubt is the beginning, not the end, of wisdom.
Doubt is the key to all knowledge.
Doubt is the key to knowledge.
Doubt makes the mountain which faith can move.
Doubtful the die, and dire the cast!.
Doubts mean losing half of one's case beforehand.
Doughtiness and cowardice are one step apart.
Downhill all saints help, uphill things change.
Dr. Robert Schuller.
Draw not thy bow before thy arrow be fixed.
Draw the bow but don't shoot -- it is a bigger threat to be intimidated than to be hit.
Drawn wells have sweetest water.
Dread the anger of the dove.
Dream different dreams while on the same bed.

Dream of a funeral and you hear of a marriage.
Dreams are foam.
Dreams are froth.
Dreams are lies.
Dreams are not the ones which come when you sleep, but they are the ones which will not let you sleep.
Dreams go by contraries.
Dress makes the man.
Dress slowly when you are in a hurry.
Dress-up a stick and you get a doll.
Dress-up the beatle, it becomes the Lady of the Ladies.
Dressed like a windmill.
Drink a glass of wine after your soup and you will be stealing a ruble from the doctor.
Drink and frankfurters for a dime; kill a man before his time.
Drink and sing: the dark night is ahead of us.
Drink beer, think beer.
Drink is the curse of the land. It makes you fight with your neighbor. It makes you shoot at your landlord and it makes you miss him.
Drink makes you forget your sorrow; but only, alas, until tomorrow.
Drink nothing with out seeing it; sign nothing without reading it.
Drink nothing without seeing it, sign nothing without reading it.
Drink nothing without seeing it; sign nothing without reading it.
Drink water like an ox, wine like the king of Spain.
Drink wine and let water go to the mill.
Drink wine upon figs.
Drink wine, and have the gout; drink no wine, and have the gout too.
Drinking a little too much is drinking a great deal too much.
Drinking tea is unlike chopping firewood.
Drive a rat into a corner, and he'll jump at you.
Drive gently over the stones.
Drive not a second nail till the first be clinched.
Drive not away what never came near you.
Drive not too many ploughs at once, some will make foul work.
Drive the nail that will go.
Drop after drop, there will be a sea.
Drop by drop fills the tub.
Drop by drop the lake is drained.
Drop by drop the lake is formed.
Drop by drop wears away the stone.
Drop by drop would make a lake,.
Drop the jest when it is most amusing.
Dropping a stitch.
Drown not thyself to save a drowning man.
Drum is happy by a drum's sound.
Drumming is not the way to catch a hare.
Drums sound loud because they are hollow.
Drunk sweetly, paid sourly.
Drunkards know no danger.
Drunkards talk to the gods.
Drunkenness does not itself cause bad qualities but it does show them up clearly.
Drunkenness makes some men fools, some beasts, and some devils.
Drunkenness takes more lives than the sword.
Dry bread at home is better than roast meat abroad.
Dry wood makes a quick fire.
Ducats are clipped, pence are not.
Ducks quack loudly before a rain.
Dull scissors make crooked-mouthed tailors.
Dumb dogs and still water are dangerous.
Dumplings are better than flowers.
Dung is no saint, but where it falls it works miracles.
During hardship, the devil eats flies.
During the battle you cannot lend your sword to anyone.
During war you don't clean your weapons.
Dust does not rise because a dog-flea hops.
Duty before devotion.

Dwarfs see giants everywhere.
Dwell not upon thy weariness, thy strength shall be according to the measure of thy desire.
Dying is as natural as living.
Dying is not child's play.
Dying while young is a boon in old age.

These are Proverb Examples from around the world, some have been translated from their original language to english.


Full list:
A  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  B  2  3  4  C  2  D  2  3  E  2  3  4  F  2  3  G  2  H  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  I  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  J  K  L  2  M  2  3  N  2  3  4  O  2  3  4  P  2  Q  R  S  2  3  T  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  U  V  W  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  Y  2  Z