12 Sometimes one must let turnips be pears GERMANY
13 Fools seldom differ ENGLAND
14 Not even a bell always rings the same way SERBIA
49 LASTING
1 What one writes remains NETHERLANDS
2 Accomplishments remain with oneself JAPAN
3 A contented mind is a continual feast ENGLAND
4 A cat may go to a monastery, but she still remains a cat ETHIOPIA
5 The more things change the more they remain the same FRANCE
6 Someone may learn and learn and yet remain a fool GREECE
7 Even if water flows in all directions, the sand will remain at the bottom GEORGIA
8 Rain which does not fall remains in the sky ITALY
9 To fall is no shame, but to remain fallen is SWEDEN
10 The eyes close in sleep, but the pillow remains awake MALAYSIA
11 Nobody can rest in their own shadow HUNGARY
12 Those who look fixedly at gold lose their sight NETHERLANDS
13 Who marches fast remains on the road ALBANIA
14 If you want to keep your milk sweet, leave it in the cow LIBERIA
15 Old countries don’t disappear overnight; they stay for breakfast EGYPT
16 To open a shop is easy; to keep it open is an art CHINA
17 As long as life lasts, the cow never stops moving its tail NIGERIA
18 Those who seek a constant friend go to the cemetery RUSSIA
50 CEASING
1 Your liberty ends where my nose begins USA
2 All good things come to an end ENGLAND
3 The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the one doing it CHINA
4 Those who deal in onions no longer smell them GERMANY
5 If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging USA
6 If you are building a house and a nail breaks, do you stop building or do you change the nail? RWANDA AND BURUNDI
7 It is not clever to play but to stop playing USA
8 Time and tide wait for no one ENGLAND
9 Don’t quit until the hearse comes round USA
51 CHANGING
1 In the middle of the river do not change horses PERU
2 It is no advantage for someone in a fever to change their bed ENGLAND
3 We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails GERMANY
4 No matter how much the world changes, cats will never lay eggs MALI
5 When the music changes, so does the dance NIGERIA
6 A change is as good as a rest ENGLAND
7 Rain doesn’t remain in the sky ESTONIA
8 If you engrave it too much it will become a hole INDIA
9 Even if you cannot climb the mountain do not remain in the valley GERMANY
10 If your neighbour is an early riser, you will become one ALBANIA
11 The more things change the more they remain the same FRANCE
12 That which is to become a good nettle must sting early SWEDEN
13 The roughest stone becomes smooth when it is much rolled SWITZERLAND
14 The dragon in shallow water becomes the butt of shrimps CHINA
15 What falls into salt becomes salt INDIA
16 The leopard cannot change its spots ENGLAND
17 The smaller the lizard, the greater its hope of becoming a crocodile ETHIOPIA
18 Justice becomes injustice when it makes two wounds on a head which only deserves one REPUBLIC OF CONGO
19 The twig that falls in the water will never become a fish CÔTE D’IVOIRE
20 A blanket becomes heavier as it becomes wetter INDIA
21 Those who change their trade make soup in a basket ENGLAND
22 The wolf changes his hair, but not his skin ALBANIA
23 If you are building a house and a nail breaks, do you stop building or do you change the nail? RWANDA AND BURUNDI
24 A bald-headed man cannot grow hair by getting excited about it REPUBLIC OF CONGO
25 Even deep water-holes may get dry SOUTH AFRICA
26 Those who do not eat cheese will go mad FRANCE
27 The mind does not grow old WALES
28 The broth from a distance grows cool on the road KENYA
29 The feathers make the fowl big CÔTE D’IVOIRE
30 Puttin’ feathers on a buzzard won’t make it no eagle USA
31 Grass must turn to hay LATIN
32 What is done cannot be undone ENGLAND
33 Luck and glass soon break GERMANY
34 You never know your luck till the wheel stops USA
52 HAPPENINGS
1 Bad is called good when worse happens NORWAY
2 Take the ball as it bounces FRANCE
3 Education don’t come by bumping against the school-house USA
4 Everything comes to those who wait ENGLAND
5 The thinnest bread finds itself married to bread ALGERIA6 BELONGING TOGETHERA widely used stylistic trick is for a proverb to ascribe a particular quality to two very different entities. The device makes us momentarily pause before we see the point.Wine and children speak the truth. (ROMANIA)Beware of a person’s shadow and a bee’s sting. (MYANMAR)Two things make one either greater or smaller, praise and shadows. (GERMANY)In buying horses and in taking a wife, shut your eyes tight and commend yourself to God. (ITALY)Time and tide wait for no one. (ENGLAND)All is fair in love and war. (ENGLAND)Eggs and vows are easily broken. (JAPAN)A guest and a fish after three days are poison. (FRANCE)Words and feathers are taken by the wind. (SPAIN: BASQUE)Loving and singing are not to be forced. (GERMANY)Priests and women never forget. (GERMANY)A rich person’s sickness and a poor person’s pancake are smelt a long way off. (BELGIUM)Before God and the bus-conductor we are all equal. (GERMANY)Rhubarb and patience work wonders. (GERMANY)Mad folks and proverbs reveal many truths. (USA)SEE ALSO Contrasts
6 If you don’t want the gun to go off, don’t cock the trigger REPUBLIC OF CONGO
7 Accidents will happen ENGLAND
8 To read a book for the first time is to make the acquaintance of a new friend; to read it a second time is to meet an old one CHINA
9 A gardener’s flirtations take place outside the garden AFGHANISTAN
10 Life is just one damned thing after another USA
11 Things don’t turn up; they must be turned up ENGLAND
12 Those who simultaneously eat and sing rise up fools PHILIPPINES
13 The end of an ox is beef, and the end of a lie is grief MADAGASCAR
14 What reliance can be placed on a sneeze? INDIA
15 One accident is one too many CANADA
16 When luck offers a finger one must take the whole hand SWEDEN
17 All good things