99 Short proverbs about life (you’ll just love No 54)

Travel around the world, and you’ll hear so many insightful, short proverbs about life and how best to deal with it.

Now I believe that the best education you can have is at the University of Life.

In my time at the University of Life, I’ve travelled to more than 70 countries, and I now have several journals of proverbs from around the world that I’ve collected along the way.

So, today I’ve put together another batch of those short proverbs about life that appeal to me.

In the era of COVID-19, in particular, Number 54 resonated with me.

So take a few minutes to reflect on them all, and then see how many of these little bite-sized pieces of wisdom you can work into your day.

Short proverbs about life (1-20):

Even silence speaks. ~Hausa Proverb
A stumble is not a fall. ~Haitian Proverb

As you teach, you learn. ~Jewish Proverb
Need is a bad negotiator. ~Icelandic Proverb
Blame is a lazy man’s wage. ~Danish Proverb

The bitter heart eats its owner. ~Bantu Proverb
Mewing cats catch no mice. ~Georgian Proverb
Nothing is easy to the unwilling. ~Gaelic Proverb

All married women or not wives. ~Japanese Proverb
A big chair does not make a king. ~Sudanese Proverb
No road is long with good company. ~Turkish Proverb

Prepare your proof before you argue. ~Jewish Proverb
When deeds speak, words are nothing. ~African Proverb
Ask for advice, then use your head. ~Norwegian Proverb

Evil thoughts often come from idleness. ~Gaelic Proverb
Fear an ignorant man more than a lion. ~Kurdish Proverb
It’s easier to give orders than to work. ~Lithuanian Proverb

A bad worker always blames his tools. ~Traditional Proverb
Always tell the truth in the form of a joke. ~Armenian Proverb
The noisiest drum has nothing but air inside. ~Filipino Proverb

Short proverbs about life (21-40):

A disease known is half cured. ~Irish Proverb
A contented man is always rich. ~Latin Proverb
Locks keep out only the honest. ~Jewish Proverb

Useful trees are cut down first. ~ Korean Proverb
Gold glitters even in the mud. ~Lithuanian Proverb
A dog with a bone knows no friend. ~Dutch Proverb

As he thinks in his heart, so he is. ~Jewish Proverb
A man dies when he stops working. ~Hebrew Proverb
Promised berries will not fill the basket. ~Latvian Proverb

He who puts up with insults invites injury. ~Jewish Proverb
The wise man will be cheated only once. ~Finnish Proverb
Examine what’s said, not who is speaking. ~African Proverb

A man is known by the company he keeps. ~Gaelic Proverb
Put it off for one day, and ten days will pass. ~Korean Proverb
For every wise man, there’s one who’s still wiser. ~Kurdish Proverb

Bad is called good when worse happens. ~Norwegian Proverb
If you can’t use your eyes, follow your nose. ~Latvian Proverb
People show their character through what they laugh at. ~German Proverb

Don’t insult the alligator until you’ve crossed the river. ~Haitian Proverb
Calm water does not mean there are no crocodiles. ~Indonesian Proverb

Short proverbs about life (41-60):

A fish gets bigger when it gets away. ~Japanese Proverb

You cannot strike a face that is smiling. ~Korean Proverb
The wise man will be cheated only once. ~Finnish Proverb
He who knows nothing doubts nothing. ~Brazilian Proverb

Five fingers are brothers, but not equals. ~Afghan Proverb
Against stupidity, God himself is helpless. ~Jewish Proverb
A kind word never broke anyone’s mouth. ~Irish Proverb

Use your enemy’s hand to catch a snake. ~Persian Proverb
Nothing is difficult if you’re used to it. ~Indonesian proverb
Make a friend when you don’t need one. ~Jamaican Proverb

Who finds a faithful friend finds a treasure. ~Jewish Proverb
By getting angry, you show you’re wrong. ~Malagasy Proverb
Eggs have no business dancing with stones. ~Haitian Proverb

Do it today. Tomorrow it might be forbidden. ~Finnish Proverb
A man grows most tired while standing still. ~Chinese Proverb
Loose tongues are worse than wicked hands. ~Jewish Proverb

Boil the water and the scum will rise to the top. ~Berber Proverb
You can’t take the milk back from the coffee. ~Jamaican Proverb
No one is as deaf as the man who will not listen. ~Jewish Proverb

A mother understands what a child does not say. ~Jewish Proverb

Short proverbs about life (61-80):

Don’t open a shop unless you know how to smile. ~Jewish Proverb
If you’re not going to bite, don’t show your teeth. ~Ivorian Proverb

Listen with one ear, be suspicious with the other. ~Laotian Proverb
Bargain like a gypsy but pay like a gentleman. ~Hungarian Proverb
A dog that barks all the time gets no attention. ~Argentine Proverb

To a starving man, bread is sweeter than honey. ~Lithuanian Proverb
Never beat a snake when you haven’t seen its head. ~Swazi Proverb
The only truly dead are those who’ve been forgotten. ~Jewish Proverb

Give a blind man eyes and he will ask for eyebrows. ~Georgian Proverb
Don’t insult the alligator until you’ve crossed the river. ~Haitian Proverb
Lower your voice and strengthen your argument. ~Lebanese Proverb

Those who can’t dance say the music is no good. ~Jamaican Proverb
A bad word whispered will echo one hundred miles. ~Chinese Proverb
A fool and water will go the way they are directed. ~Ethiopian Proverb

When a habit begins to cost money, it’s called a hobby. ~Jewish Proverb
Only your friends will tell you when your face is dirty. ~Burmese Proverb
He that is unkind to his own will not be kind to others. ~Galician Proverb

A closed mouth and open eyes never did anyone harm. ~German Proverb
The Sun does not forget a village just because it is small. ~African Proverb
The good fellow to everyone is a good friend to know one. ~Jewish Proverb

Short proverbs about life (81-99):

A good conversation is better than a good bed. ~Ethiopian proverb
Romance without finance doesn’t stand a chance. African-American Proverb
Be happy while you’re living for you’re a long time dead. ~Scottish Proverb

A joke is often the hole through which the truth whistles. ~Japanese Proverb
The coroner and the lawyer grow fat on the quarrels of fools. ~Gaelic Proverb
Keep your eye on girls that don’t tell the mothers everything. ~Luxembourg Proverb.

Never wrestle with a strong man, not bring a rich man to court. ~Latvian Proverb
Don’t be so much in love that you can’t tell when it’s raining. ~Malagasy Proverb
If there were no fools, how would we recognise the wise? ~Norwegian Proverb

Offer the lazy man an egg, and he’ll want you to peel it for him. ~Lithuanian Proverb
A chameleon does not leave one tree until he’s sure of another. ~Arab Proverb
What you don’t see with your eyes, don’t invent with your tongue. ~Jewish Proverb

Even a fish wouldn’t get into trouble if it kept its mouth shut. ~Korean Proverb
Consider the fact seven times before you suspect someone. ~Japanese Proverb
Be sure that the candle is lit before you throw away the match. ~Creole Proverb

Cold tea and cold rice are bearable, but cold looks and cold words are not. ~Japanese Proverb
Offer the lazy man an egg, and he will want you to peel it for him. ~Lithuanian Proverb
If the rich could hire someone else to die, the poor would make a wonderful living. ~Jewish Proverb

Better to have a thousand enemies outside the house than to have one single enemy inside it. ~Lebanese Proverb

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