Proverb Examples from around the world

Proverbs Starting with letter Y - part 2
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You cannot serve God and mammon.
You cannot serve God and the devil.
You cannot shave a man's head in his absence.

You cannot shear the sheep closer than the skin.
You cannot shift an old tree without it dying.
You cannot stop a prostitute, not even with a hundred horses.
You cannot strike a face that is smiling.
You cannot swallow hot milk, nor can you throw it away.
You cannot take a cow from a man who has none.
You cannot take a shirt from a naked man.
You cannot take hawks without climbing some cliffs.
You cannot throw a word out of a song.
You cannot tickle a hungry person.
You cannot tie up a dog with a chain of sausages.
You cannot turn blood into water.
You cannot unscramble eggs.
You cannot wage war without the sound of gunpowder.
You cannot worship an unknown saint.
You cannot write down a meaningful silence.
You cannot write in the chimney with charcoal.
You catch a liar faster than you catch a limping person.
You catch the mice with bacon.
You come with a cat and call it a rabbit.
You compare the bee to the grasshopper!.
You compare the moorhen to the I swan.
You compare the tortoise to the hare.
You cooked it, so eat it yourself.
You could even hew sticks on (his) head.
You count the sand.
You dance better with a full belly than with a new dress.
You do good and what you get back is evil.
You do not always have to believe what you see.
You do not fall because you are weak, you fall because you think you are strong.
You do not fatten pigs with pure water.
You do not need a big stick to break a rooster's head.
You do not need a whip to urge on an obedient horse.
You do not stumble over a mountain, but you do over a stone.
You do not teach the paths of the forest to an old gorilla.
You don't always miss the bus. Sometimes, it misses you.
You don't catch flies with vinegar.

You don't discuss tastes.
You don't get a headache from what other people have drunk.
You don't get something for nothing.
You don't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate.
You don't go into a tavern to say your prayers.
You don't go to heaven in a carriage.
You don't have the right to provoke me.
You don't have to be different to be good. You have to be good to be different.
You don't have to be faster than the bear, just faster than the slowest guy running from the bear.
You don't have to cut a tree down to get at the fruit.
You don't have to die: heaven and hell are in this world too.
You don't have to kill the chicken to get eggs.
You don't have to know much to read, but you do to cook.
You don't have to put out the fire when all is burnt out.
You don't kill a gypsy by cutting him in ten pieces -- you only make ten more gypsies.
You don't know a man before he takes a woman.
You don't learn anything from buying, but you do from selling.
You don't milk a cow with your hands in your pockets.
You don't miss the cow until the stall is empty.
You don't need a candle to look for a fool.
You don't need a dog to catch a lame hare.
You don't need a light to see someone you know intimately at night.
You don't need a teacher of wickedness.
You don't need intelligence to have luck, but you do need luck to have intelligence.
You don't need to open your mouth at noon to cough in the evening.
You don't put a wooden pot on the fire twice.
You don't put robbers to work in a bank.
You don't really see the world if you only look through your own window.
You don't refuse your mother's breast for fear of scabies.
You don't satisfy your hunger by watching others work.
You don't show a fool a job half done.
You don't steal a bitter eggplant.
You don't strike iron while it's cold.
You don't throw the casket in the fire just because you have lost the key.
You don't wash blood away with blood but with water.
You drown at the shore like the gypsy.
You easily forget the eyes that don't see you any more.
You easily lend bread to the one who has flour.
You eat an egg, but you don't understand how painful it was for the chicken.
You fail to see the forest because of all the trees.
You fart, but you never take a dump.
You find everything when you are spring cleaning.
You flirt with a widow, but do you know how her husband died?.
You fool the silly with porridge and cakes.
You get on business, but he keeps telling you about white goat.
You get out of life what you put in to it.
You get to really know your friend when trouble comes.
You get used to everything -- even hell.
You get what you pay for.

You give hay to the dog and bones to the ass.
You give the wolf the wether to keep.
You give them a hand and they take your elbow.
You go out for wool but come back shorn.
You harp perpetually on the same string.
You have a lot of friends if you have money; otherwise there are only strangers.
You have broken my head and now you bring plaister.
You have come too late for the feast.
You have either to suffer a lot or die young.
You have got your feet out of the mire.
You have hit the nail on the head.
You have hit the point exactly.
You have left the sheep with the wolf for safe custody.
You have many strings to your bow.
You have married a beauty? So much the worse for you.
You have spoilt the wine by adding water to it.
You have summer and you have winter -- why, then, be in a hurry?.
You have taken out the eye of the bazaar.
You have to be born in order to pasture.).
You have to be rich to be able to live like a poor man.
You have to believe in gods to see them.
You have to bow a few times before you can stand upright.
You have to break a few eggs to make an omelette.
You have to crawl before you can walkhsfdjkhlksjdfhaksjfhashfdjkhsdfdsfasdf.
You have to dig deep to bury your daddy.
You have to give time some time.
You have to put a young girl onto an old man.
You have to separate the chaff from the wheat.
You have to suffer a lot or die young.
You have to take the good with the bad.
You have to work for what you want in life or else you get nothing.
You have two ears, but you never hear words twice.
You hear little from the drummer that is paid in advance.
You heard the ring, but don't know where.
You inherit from the dead, not from the sick.
You jump up, but you come down all the same.
You keep making that face and it'll stay that way.
You kick against the goad.
You know a bird from the way he flies.
You know a man by the sweat of his brow and the strength of his word.
You know a person by his nickname.
You know how to win victory, Hannibal, you do not how to use it.' According to a cavalry colonel, Maharbal, told Hannibal this after the victory at in , meaning that Hannibal should have marched on Rome directly.
You know not what the evening may bring with it.
You know who the good seamen are when the storm comes.
You learn a lot about a man by his behavior when hungry.
You learn to limp if you live with cripples.
You let the cat out of the bag.
You look for the horse you ride on.
You look prettier when you're quiet.

You made this mess yourself, and now you must eat it all up.
You made your bed, now lie in it.
You make a mountain of a mole-hill.
You make a road by walking on it.
You make an elephant of a mouse.
You may always find an opportunity in your sleeve, if you like.
You may as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb.
You may as well give a good beating as a bad one.
You may as well talk to the sea-shore.
You may boast to strangers, but tell the truth to your own people.
You may call me even a pot, just don't put me into the oven.
You may call that your own which no one can take from you.
You may cook in small pots aw well as in large ones.
You may find the worst enemy or best friend in yourself.
You may force a man to shut his eyes, but not to sleep.
You may force an ox to the water, but you cannot make him drink.
You may forget with whom you laughed, but you will never forget with whom you wept.
You may gain by fair words what may fail you by angry ones.
You may get something off a bone, but nothing off a stone.
You may hide the fire, but what about the smoke?.
You may judge a man by his countenance.
You may judge of a man by his remarks.
You may keep yourself safe from fire, but not from a bad man.
You may know a lion by his claw.
You may know the lion by his claw.
You may laugh at a friend's roof; don't laugh at his sleeping accommodation.
You may laugh at a friend's roof; don't laugh at his sleeping accomodation.
You may lie, but not too much.
You may light another's candle at your own without loss.
You may lock up the rooster, but the sun will still rise.
You may never die before death arrives.
You may poke a man's fire after you've known him for seven years.
You may shut your doors against a thief, but not against a liar.
You may speak with your gold and make other tongues silent.
You may take a horse to the water, but you can't make him drink.
You may well have caught a bird, but have you a fire to roast it on?.
You may well have two legs but you still can't climb two trees at the same time.
You might die yourself, but you must save the friend.
You must answer the devil in his own language.
You must be fully prepared to lose a great deal in order to make a great deal.
You must be strong to pull a rope against a stronger.
You must chop down the tree that gives too much or too little shade.
You must contrive to bake with the flour you have.
You must crack the nuts before you can eat the kernel.
You must crawl before walking.
You must cut your coat according to your cloth.
You must decide where you are going in the evening, if you intend to leave early in the morning.
You must grease the wheels if you would have the car run.
You must have crossed the river before you may tell the crocodile he has bad breath.

You must have good luck to catch hares with a drum.
You must have slept with jean to know how he snores.
You must howl with the wolves when you are among them.
You must howl with wolves if you wish to be one of their herd.
You must judge a man by the work of his hands.
You must keep quiet or say only things that improve silence.
You must kill the spider to get rid of the cobweb.
You must live with a person to know a person. If you want to know me come and live with me.
You must lose a fly, to catch a trout.
You must marry a widow while she is still mourning.
You must never confuse your feelings with your duties.
You must not enthrone ignorance just because there is much of it.
You must not expect old heads upon young shoulders.
You must not throw stones into your neighbor's garden.
You must rave with the insane, unless you would be left alone.
You must scale the mountain if you want to view the plain.
You must scale the mountains if you would view the plain.
You must shift your sail with the wind.
You must take the chance to forge whilst the iron is hot.
You must take the fat with the lean.
You must tolerate that which you cannot change.
You name it, this imp has done it.
You need a sharp axe for a tough bough.
You need not find a shelter for an old ox.
You need sharp axes for knotty trees.
You need to bait the hook to catch the fish.
You need to watch further than the length of your nose.
You need your wits about you the most when you are dealing with an idiot.
You never are so easily mistaken as when you think you know the way.
You never get a headache from winning.
You never get clean flour from a coal sack.
You never know how a cow catches a rabbit.
You never know what you can do till you try.
You never know what you have till it's gone.
You never lose a false coin.
You never meet your mother-in-law on the day that you are welldressed.
You never miss a slice from a cut loaf.
You never miss the water till the well runs dry.
You never miss your water....until your well runs dry.
You never really know your friends from your enemies until the ice breaks.
You notice what I drink, and not the thirst I feel.
You offer an 'Abbassi', we offer a dance.
You often meet your destiny on the road you take to avoid it.
You often meet your fate on the road you take to avoid it.
You only appreciate your father the day you become a father yourself.
You only hear three voices in this world: the babbling of the stream, Jewish law, and money.
You only know saints by their miracles.
You only own that which you have earned.
You only will know what something is really worth when you lose it forever.
You pay top dollar, but you get a front seat!.
You pays your money and you takes your choice.
You play with edged tools.
You pull chestnuts from the fire with a cat's paws.
You reap the crop of another.
You reap what you sow.
You recognize the saint by his miracle.
You recognize the truth by its own sound.
You reproach your daughter, but you mean your daughter-in-law.
You rest the way you have made your bed.
You sail in the same boat. You are in the same danger.].
You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.

You seek for fruit in the garden of Tantalus.
You seek water from a stone.
You seek wool from a donkey!.
You sell more herrings on the market than sole.
You set the trap when the rat has gone.

You shake a man's hand, you don't shake his heart.
You shake in vain the branch that bears no fruit.
You shake man's hand, you no shake his heart.
You should always prefer wind to water.
You should climb Mount Fujiyama once in your life. Climb it twice and you're a fool.
You should have done it on the wedding night, you fool!.
You should kiss the hand that you can't bend.
You should know a man seven years before you stir his fire.
You should make a new bucket whilst you still have the old one.
You should not call in a cat to settle the argument of two birds.
You should not paint the devil on the wall.
You should not scorn that which you get for free.
You shouldn't eat valium before going out.
You shouldn't look at a lion as it is being rained on.
You shouldn't saw off the branch you're sitting on.
You sometimes forget the harm that was done to you, but never the harm you have done to others.
You stick in the same mire.
You surrender your freedom where you deposit your secret.
You talk sweet like the bulbul bird.
You talk to a deaf man.
You talk to a wall!.
You teach a fish to swim.
You teach the dolphin to swim!.
You tell a tale to a dead man.
You think you are strong like the corn plant, yet the bean vine is already choking you.
You think you've lost yor horse? Who knows, he may bring a whole herd back to you someday.
You tie the horse at the will of the master.
You travel on until you return home; you live on until you return to earth.
You trust the guard to a naked or unarmed man.
You try to trap him, he traps you instead!.
You use a lantern at noonday.
You used to be a baker, though now you wear gloves.
You want better bread than wheaten.
You want no one to know it? Then don't do it.
You want no one to know it? Then don't do it.
You war against heaven.
You warm up something for ten days and it goes cold in one.

You who is building in someone else's property, you who.
You will be named after a wise man, if you keep your mouth shut.
You will break the bow if you keep it always bent.
You will catch no birds with a club.
You will come under my tooth.
You will eventually have to face the consequences of your actions towards others as people tend to behave towards you as you have behaved towards others.
You will get no nourishment from the flesh of a woman.
You will hate a beautiful song if you sing it often.
You will learn by teaching.
You will mix what is sacred with what is profane.
You will never be punished for making people die of laughter.
You will never drown where you always take a bath.
You will never know a man till you do business with him.
You will never learn enough looking for only the good things in life; you will always be a pupil.
You will not be loved if you care for none but yourself.
You will not be loved if you think of yourself alone.
You will not dare mistreat the face you see in the morning.
You will not see many with green eyes.
You will often see a high collar above an empty stomach.
You will reap whatever you sow.
You will see something as surely as a pig will see the sky. (pigs cannot look up).
You will sell more sheepskins at the market than wolfskins.
You will wear the ivy wreath, the victor's meed.
You win a few, you lose a few.
You win some, you lose some.
You won't catch trout without wetting your feet.
You won't die that soon'.
You won't gain knowledge by drinking ink.
You won't get much fat from a dry bone.
You won't get sick if you have plenty of work.
You won't help shoots grow by pulling them up higher.
You won't see a good drunk in a teahouse.
You won't survive life.
You would do better to be someone's victim rather than someone's certainty.
You would do better to sit on a powder keg than on the knee of a woman.
You would frighten a lion with a mask!.
You would weave a rope of sand.
You'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
You'll catch a liar before you'll catch a cripple.
You'll learn (in a bad way) from those you hang out with.
You'll marry, you'll get tame.
You'll never plow a field by turning it over in your mind.
You'll reap what you sow.' (, 'De oratore').
You'll repent if you marry, and repent if you don't.
You're a son, you'll be a father, as you'll do so you'll get.
You're finished, sweet figs' Petronius.
You're not as stupid as you look.
You've got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.
You've got to stare the cat down out of the tree.

Young angel, old devil.
Young bamboo trees are easy to bend.
Young cats will mouse, young apes will louse.
Young dogs have sharp teeth.
Young drinkers, old beggars.
Young folk, silly folk; old folk, cold folk.
Young gambler, old beggar.
Young gamblers, old beggars.
Young men may die, but old men must die.
Young men may die, old men must.
Young men's knocks old men feel.
Young people must be taught, old ones be honoured.
Young people talk of what they are doing; old people of what they have done; and fools of what they have a mind to do.
Young people tell what they are doing, old people what they have done, and fools what they wish to do.
Young pigs grunt as old pigs grunted before them.
Young pigs grunt as old swine grunted before them.
Young saint, old devil.
Young saints, old devils.
Young soldiers, old beggars.
Young twigs may be bent, but not old trees.
Young wood makes a hot fire.
Your beauty is in what you have.
Your belly is not a book.

Your best mirror is someone more beautiful than you.
Your body belongs to the Tsar, your soul to God, and your back to the squire.
Your close neighbor is better than your faraway brother.
Your cracked jug seems better to me than my sound one.
Your dog wishes you a long life.
Your elbow is close, yet you can't bite it.
Your enemy makes you wiser.
Your fingers can't be of the same length.
Your five year old son is your instructor; at ten your slave; at fifteen your equal and after that either friend or foe.
Your friend chooses pebbles for you and your enemy counts your faults.
Your friend has a friend and the friend of your friend has another friend. Learn how to keep quiet.
Your friend has a friend; don't tell him.
Your friend lends and your enemy asks for payment.
Your friend lends and your enemy asks payment.
Your friend will swallow your mistakes, your enemy will present them on a plate.
Your friendship is your needs answered.
Your hand is never rhe worse for doing irts own work.
Your hand is never the worse for doing its own work.
Your head is not only for putting a hat on.
Your health comes first -- you can always hang yourself later.
Your health comes first; you can always hang yourself later.
Your hometown is like a small fatherland.
Your neighbor's apples are the sweetest.
Your own friend, and your father's friend, forsake not. Proverbs 27.10.
Your own living room license.
Your own mouth is the one closest to you.
Your own rags are better than another's gown.
Your own wealth is flowers and wine; the other man's is but weeds.
Your pot broken seems better than my whole one.
Your secret is your blood -- when you shed it you die.
Your son can be a prince, your daughter will be a mother.
Your soul to God, your body to dust, your property to your relatives, because thus it has been found written.
Your spluttering insults do not reach the umbrella of my indifference.
Your tongue is like a horse -- if you take care of it, it takes care of you; if you treat it badly, it treats you badly.
Your wife and sheep early at home.
Your wife and your wheelbarrow -- lend them to no one.
Your wife's eyes are in your purse.
Your windmill dwindles into a nutcrack.
Your years will still remain the same whether you laugh or cry.
Youth and white paper take any impression.
Youth does not mind where it sets its foot.
Youth has a small head.
Youth is a bird, escapes my capture.
Youth is a kind of illness cured only by the passing years.
Youth is beauty, even in cattle.
Youth is wasted on the young.

Youth lives on hope, old age on remembrance.
Youth may stray afar yet return at last.
Youth must be served.
Youth must happen.
Youth sheds many a skin.

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