Dutch Proverbs (001-100)

❖

It is a poor mouse that has but one hole.

Might is not right.

Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

Necessity breaks iron.

In time a mouse will gnaw through a cable.

❖

It is better to blow than burn your mouth.

It is good sailing with wind and tide.

When apes climb high, they show their naked rumps.

Don't sell the bearskin before the bear is dead.

One misfortune brings on another.

❖

The higher the mountain the lower the vale,
the taller the tree the harder the fall.

Arms, women, and books should be looked at daily.

The art is not in making money, but in keeping it.

A soft answer turns away wrath.

Better lose the anchor than the whole ship.

❖

The ass and the driver never think alike.

Bashfulness is of no use to the needy.

Asses carry the oats and horses eat them.

An ape, a priest, and a louse,
are three devils in one house.

An ass does not hit himself twice against the same stone.

❖

Better be carried by an ass than thrown by a horse.

Behind every mountain lies a vale.

The nobler the tree, the more pliant the twig.

One bird in the hand is better than two flying.

The absent always bear the blame.

❖

Great boast, little roast.

From small beginnings come great things.

An indulgent mother makes a sluttish daughter.

He who slanders his neighbor makes a rod for himself.

So begun, so done.

❖

A bird never flew so high but it had
to come to the ground for food.

A hundred bakers, a hundred millers,
and a hundred tailors are three hundred thieves.

One nail drives in another.

Necessity know no law.

Young twigs may be bent, but not old trees.

❖

Beauty is but dross if honesty be lost.

Better a bird in the hand than ten in the air.

The first in the boat has the choice of oars.

Borrowing brings care.

The bow must not be always bent.

❖

Strain not your bow beyond its bent, lest it break.

A lazy boy and a warm bed are difficult to part.

Good things require time.

A word is enough to the wise.

Hasty questions require slow answers.

❖

Who has no thirst has no business at the fountain.

Fine words don't fill the belly.

Half a word to the wise is enough.

A runaway monk never speaks well of his convent.

Old birds are not caught with cats.

❖

When things go well it is easy to advise.

Don't sell the skin till you've caught the bear.

One beats the bush and the other catches the bird.

Shame last longer than poverty.

A sad bride males a glad wife.

❖

When the cat's away, it is jubilee with the mice.

Money rules the world.

Fair money can cover much that's foul.

That which burns you not, cool not.

When the calf is drowned they cover the well.

❖

The worse the carpenter, the more the chips.

No one is wise in his own affairs.

Young cats will mouse, young apes will louse.

By night all cats are grey.

To every fool his cap.

❖

When many shepherds tend the sheep,
they ever so much longer sleep.

When the mouse has had its fill, the meal turns bitter.

All cocks must have a comb.

Sow not money on the sea lest it sink.

All clouds do not rain.

❖

He that has a choice has trouble.

A cock is valiant on his own dunghill.

Two cocks in one house, a cat and a mouse,
an old man and a young wife, are always in strife.

Little is done where many command.

Good company makes short miles.

❖

An old coachman loves the crack of the whip.

Offer a clown your finger, and he'll take your fist.

A lean compromise is better than a fat lawsuit.

Of listening children have your fears,
for little pitchers have great ears.

Opportunity makes desire.

❖

No office so humble but it is better than nothing.

Tell me the company you keep, and I'll tell you what you are.

He that chases another does not sit still himself.

In prosperity caution, in adversity patience.

Caution is the parent of delicate beer glasses.

❖

Coffee has two virtues, it is wet and warm.

From trivial things great contests oft arise.

Who chastises his child will be honored by him;
who chastises it not will be shamed.

The best cause requires a good pleader.

A smart coat is a good letter of introduction.

❖

When the cook and the steward fall
out we hear who stole the butter.

Every one must row with the oars he has.

A penny spared is better than a florin gained.

Handsome apples are sometimes sour.

Better beg than steal.

❖

Blossoms are not fruits.

Better belly burst than good victuals spoil.

Once is no custom.

Too many cooks oversalt the porridge.

What costs nothing is worth nothing.

❖❖❖

Dutch Proverbs (101-200)

❖

One crow does not peck out another's eyes.

The young ravens are beaked like the old.

Ill begun, ill done.

Perseverance brings success.

Better keep peace than make peace.

❖

One crow does not make a winter.

The world likes to be cheated.

A flying crow always catches something.

It is well that wicked cows have short horns.

It's good steering with wind and tide.

❖

The cow does not know the value
of her tail till she has lost it.

All are not cooks who wear long knives.

Milk the cow, but don't pull off the udder.

It's good dancing on another man's floor.

Better reap two days too soon than one too late.

❖

One penny in the pot makes more
noise than when its full.

Counsel before action.

Correction brings fruit.

Covetousness is never satisfied till
its mouth is filled with earth.

Darkness and night are mothers of thought.

❖

No corn without chaff.

Of hasty counsel take good heed,
for haste is very rarely speed.

He that is embarked with the devil must sail with him.

When the devil gets into the church he seats himself on the alter.

The devil sits behind the cross.

❖

Who is tired of happy days, let him take a wife.

Patience surpasses learning.

It is ill sailing against wind and tide.

A wreck on shore is a beacon at sea,

Talk of the devil and you hear his bones rattle.

❖

Where the dike is lowest the water first runs out.

He that despises the little is not worthy of the great.

Every day is not holiday.

He waits long that waits for another man's death.

Sweep before your own door before
you look after your neighbor's.

❖

That's quickly done which is long repented.

When the dog is down, every one is ready to bite him.

It is hard to teach old dogs to bark.

An ounce of patience is worth a pound of brains.

Much talk, little work.

❖

Better half an egg than an empty shell.

When two dogs fight for a bone,
the third runs away with it.

After great droughts come great rains.

Many open a door to shut a window.

Good drink drives out bad thoughts.

❖

Wake not a sleeping dog.

He that will have eggs, must bear with cackling.

Two dogs seldom agree over one bone.

Dogs have teeth in all countries.

The third person makes good company.

❖

Poverty is the reward of idleness.

Bad egg, bad chick.

Economy is a great revenue.

The open door invites the thief.

To do nothing teaches to do evil.

Barking dogs don't bite.

❖

There's no making a donkey drink against his will.

Better have a dog for your friend than your enemy.

He who mixes himself with the draft
will be eaten by the swine.

He who goes to bed with dogs will get up with fleas.

❖

Caress your dog, and he'll spoil your clothes.

When the pig has had a bellyful it upsets the trough.

Eagles catch no fleas.

Eagles don't breed doves.

Dead dogs don't bite.

❖

A dog with a bone knows no friend.

Everything has an end excepting God.

The end of all things is death.

The eye of the master makes the horse fat,
and that of the mistress the chambers neat.

Enough is better than too much.

❖

Put not all your eggs into one basket.

For great evils strong remedies.

If you pull one pig by the tail all the rest squeak.

If you touch pitch you will be defiled.

Who has but one eye must take good care of it.

❖

To err is human.

The end of mirth is the beginning of sorrow.

Don't buy a cat in a sack.

Bear patiently that which you suffer by your own fault.

Set your expense according to your trade.

❖

By falling we learn to go safely.

When your enemy retreats, make him a golden bridge.

Who excuses, accuses.

Where there is nothing, the emperor loses his right.

A plough that works, shines, but still water stinks.

❖

The best pilots are ashore.

The eyes are bigger than the belly.

Everything has a wherefore.

An ox and an ass don't yoke well to the same plough.

Who buys wants a hundred eyes,
who sells need have but one.

❖

Who goes fasting to bed will sleep but lightly.

A cat may look at an emperor.

Long fasting is no bread sparing.

The master's eye and foot are the best manure for the field.

Envy cries of spite where honor rides.

❖

Common fame seldom lies.

Don't yoke the plough before the horses.

Every bird sings as it is beaked.

Who doesn't keep faith with God won't keep it with man.

After high floods come low ebbs.

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Dutch Proverbs (201-300)

❖

Fools are free all the world over.

If fools ate no bread, corn would be cheap.

It is good fishing in troubled waters.

Fortune lost, nothing lost; courage lost, much lost;
honor lost, more lost; soul lost, all lost.

Little fish are sweet.

❖

More flies are caught with a spoonful of syrup
than with a cask of vinegar.

The fly flutters about the candle till at last it gets burnt.

Soon grass, soon hay.

Where there's no good within, no good comes out.

With the good we become good.

❖

The best goods are the cheapest.

When the cat sleeps, the mice play.

Daughters may be seen but not heard.

One God, one wife, but many friends.

The goose hisses, but does not bite.

❖

Grass grows not upon the highway.

Common goods, no goods.

The older one grows, the more one learns.

Many heads, many minds.

A daily guest is a great thief in the kitchen.

❖

A guest, like a fish, stinks the third day.

Nothing in haste but catching fleas.

Marry in haste and repent at leisure.

Hearsay is half lies.

God sells knowledge for labor, honor for risk.

❖

Help yourself and God will help you.

He that has a head of butter must
not come near the oven.

Hastiness is the beginning of wrath,
and its end repentance.

Everything has two handles.

It's bad combing where there is no hair.

❖

When the head is sick the whole body is sick.

It is a grief to one beggar that another stands at the door.

A stout heart tempers adversity.

A beggar's hand is a bottomless basket.

Hares are not caught with drums.

❖

Even hares pull a lion by the beard when he is dead.

Who gives to me, teaches me to give.

The frog will jump back into the pool
although it sits on a golden stool.

It's hard to catch hawks with empty hands.

Guessing is missing.

❖

What has horns will gore.

Ill-matched horses draw badly.

Hens like to lay where they see an egg.

A good horse is worth his fodder.

One's own hearth is worth gold.

❖

One can't shoe a running horse.

Black hens lay white eggs.

He buys honey dear who has to lick it off thorns.

Roast pigeons don't fly through the air.

He who would gather honey
must brave the sting of bees.

❖

East or west, home is best.

The best horse stumbles sometimes.

Better a blind horse than an empty halter.

Where the hedge is lowest every one goes over.

After honor and state follow envy and hate.

❖

A horse may stumble, though he has four feet.

Better poor with honor than rich with shame.

A merry host makes merry guests.

It is better to ride a good horse for a day
than an ass for the rest of your life.

A good friend is better than silver and gold.

❖

So got, so gone.

It is hard to steal where the host is a thief.

Many hounds are the death of the hare.

The heart does not lie.

When industry goes out of the door,
poverty comes in at the window.

❖

Idleness is hunger's mother, and of theft it is full brother.

Good hunters track narrowly.

Every house has its cross.

When the husband earns well the wife spins well.

From a spark the house is burnt.

❖

Hunger eats through stone walls.

Old foxes are hard to catch.

Before you make a friend, eat a peck of salt with him.

He that would have the kernel
must crack the shell.

Travel east or travel west, a man's own house is still the best.

❖

Better poor on land than rich at sea.

Better a ruined than a lost land.

It is easier to make a lady of a peasant girl
than a peasant girl of a lady.

Who knows the language is at home everywhere.

Better a leg broken than the neck.

❖

Who knows the language is at home everywhere.

The most learned are not the wisest.

The better lawyer, the worse Christian.

God cures, and the doctor gets the money.

God helps the strongest.

❖

Let me get over the lake, and I have no fear of the brook.

Better a ruined than a lost land.

Better poor on land than rich at sea.

Good leading makes good following.

Labor warms, sloth harms.

❖

A liar must have a good memory.

He that would jest must take a jest,
else to let it alone were best.

Self-love is blind.

Love makes labor light.

He that hears much, hears many lies.

❖

In the division of inheritance, friendship stands still.

Forced love does not last.

He that has the luck leads the bride to church.

A man is not known till he comes to honor.

A man without money is like a ship without sails.

❖❖❖

Dutch Proverbs (301-400)

❖

No man learns but by pain or shame.

It is the cowl that makes the friar.

Beware of the man of two faces.

What the sober man thinks, the drunkard tells.

In the land of promise a man may die of hunger.

❖

Were every one to sweep before his own house,
every street would be clean.

Small gains bring great wealth.

All are not friends who smile on you.

The richest man, whatever his lot,
is he who's content with what he has got.

When a man feels pain he lays his hand.

❖

He must shoot well who always hits the mark.

He must indeed be a good master who never errs.

To marry once is a duty; twice a folly; thrice is madness.

Nothing so bad but it finds its master.

The richest man, whatever his lot,
is he who's content with what he has got.

❖

No better masters than poverty and want.

What the sober man thinks, the drunkard tells.

It is bad marketing with empty pockets.

A friend is better than money in the purse.

The fruit falls not far from the stem.

❖

He that creeps falls not.

A crown is no cure for the headache.

An inch too short is as bad as an ell.

Better once in heaven than ten times at the gate.

Honor once lost never returns.

❖

They who are often at the looking-glass seldom spin.

Take a horse by his bridle and a man by his word.

A fool may chance to say a wise thing.

They who come from afar have leave to die.

Clothes make the man.

❖

Geese are plucked as long as they have feathers.

Your friend lends and your enemy asks payment.

When cats are mousing they don't mew.

Creaking carts last the longest.

Young folk, silly folk; old folk, cold folk.

❖

He that loves his child chastises it.

Soon fire, soon ashes.

Take nothing in hand that may bring repentance.

Unlaid eggs are uncertain chickens.

All offices are greasy.

❖

An honest man's word is his bond.

Pleasures steal away the mind.

The fox may lose his hair, but not his cunning.

An idle man is the devil's pillow.

Give him an inch and he'll take an ell.

❖

He must gape wide who would gape against an oven.

When the ass is too happy he begins dancing on ice.

By slow degrees the bird builds his nest.

It is hard to blow with a full mouth.

Sooner or later the truth comes to light.

❖

As you began the dance you may pay the piper.

No sheep runs into the mouth of a sleeping wolf.

When thieves fall out, honest men come to their goods.

Friends are known in time of need.

Roast geese don't come flying into your mouth.

❖

Who hunts with cats will catch nothing but rats.

Advisers are not givers.

The workman is worthy of his hire.

All do not bite that show their teeth.

Take counsel before it goes ill, lest it go worse.

❖

The devil has his martyrs among men.

Reward sweetens labor.

Ride on, but look before you go.

Soon ripe, soon rotten; soon wise, soon foolish.

An old rat easily finds a hole.

❖

God does not pay weekly, but pays at the end.

Everyone for himself, God for us all.

Rest makes rusty.

Good right needs good help.

Better return half way than lose yourself.

❖

Were the sky to fall, not an earthen pot would be left whole.

Better twice remembered than once forgotten.

The further from Rome the nearer to God.

He who would catch a rogue must watch behind the door.

Strew no roses before swine.

❖

Roses fall, but the thorns remain.

Pull gently at a weak rope.

Who ventures to lend, loses money and friend.

Froth is no beer.

It is good rowing with set sail.

❖

Union is strength.

Silence answers much.

Who runs is followed.

The less said the sooner mended.

It is the safest sailing within reach of the shore.

❖

He who would gather roses must not fear thorns.

When the sack is full it pricks up its ears.

There is nothing so secret but it transpires.

Who undertakes too much, succeeds but little.

A friend at one's back is a safe bridge.

❖

More belongs to dancing than a pair of dancing shoes.

When the shepherd strays, the sheep stray.

Don't throw away your old shoes till you have got new ones.

When one sheep is over the dam, the rest follow.

After the sour comes the sweet.

❖

Who has many servants has many thieves.

The more servants, the worse service.

Who fears no shame comes to no honor.

Coupled sheep drown one another.

The scabbier the sheep the harder it bleats.

❖❖❖

END Dutch Proverbs (301-400)

Dutch Proverbs (401-500)

❖

Every flood has its ebb.

Fortune and glass break soon.

Sloth is the beginning of vice.

Every shot does not bring down a bird.

No one knows where another's shoe pinches.

❖

My shirt is nearer than my cloak.

What is long spoken of happens at last.

What lay hidden under the snow comes to light at last.

He that spares something today
will have something tomorrow.

A still sow eats up all the draff.

❖

Better squinting than blind.

When the stomach is full the heart is glad.

A good fire makes a quick cook.

By labor fire is got out of a stone.

It is hard to swim against the stream.

❖

It is too late to lock the stable door when the steed is stolen.

It is easy to find a stick to beat a dig.

Ill tidings come soon enough.

Hasty speed doesn't often succeed.

Step by step one goes far.

❖

We hang little thieves and let great ones escape.

A thief makes opportunity.

Little thieves have iron chains, and great thieves gold ones.

There are more thieves than are hanged.

He that will have fire must bear with smoke.

❖

It is good to warm oneself by another's fire.

Once a thief always a thief.

Much wisdom is smothered in a poor man's head.

Every day a thread makes a skein in the year.

All threateners don't fight.

❖

He would be wise who knew all things beforehand.

Who undertakes many things at once
seldom does anything well.

An old wolf is used to being shouted at.

Thistles and thorns prick sore, but evil tongues prick more.

Time gained, much gained.

❖

Time is God's and ours.

Fortune does not stand waiting at any one's door.

Our time runs on like a stream;
first fall the leaves and then the tree.

Time brings roses.

Time past never returns.

❖

Truth is lost with too much debating.

Time goes, death comes.

Time destroys all things.

A wolf hankers after sheep even at his last grasp.

Time and place make the thief.

❖

Tall trees catch much wind.

Trees often transplanted seldom prosper.

An ennobled peasant does not know his own father.

What the old ones sing, the young ones whistle.

When the tree falls everyone runs to gather boughs.

❖

Good tree, good fruit.

Great wealth, great care.

Who watches not catches not.

The worst wheel makes most noise.

Virtue consists in action.

❖

A usurer, a miller, a banker, and a publican
are the four evangelists of Lucifer.

Wasting is a bad habit, sparing a sure income.

They who fight with golden weapons
are pretty sure to prove their right.

Good wine praises itself.

What is lost in the fire must be sought in the ashes.

❖

Who wants fire, let him look for it in the ashes.

When it is God's will to plague a man,
a mouse can bite him to death.

Neither reprove nor flatter your wife
where any one hears or sees it.

It is a bad well into which one must put water.

The worse the wheel, the more it creaks.

❖

Who spits against the wind, fouls his beard.

Stay a while, a lose a mile.

Who has a bad wife, his hell begins on earth.

The wicked shun the light as
the devil does the cross.

When the wine is in the man, the wit is in the can.

❖

Better one eyewitness than ten hearsay witnesses.

When fools go to market, peddlers make money.

Fortune is round; it makes one a king, another a dunghill.

When the wine goes in, the wit goes out.

Fine words don't fill the belly.

❖

Poor folk's wisdom goes for little.

Wisdom in the man, patience in the wife,
brings peace to the house and a happy life.

All women are good Lutherans-they would
rather preach than hear mass.

That is good wisdom which is wisdom in the end.

Talk of the wolf and his tail appears.

❖

He that lives with wolves must howl with them.

Woods have ears and fields have eyes.

Little wood, much fruit.

Big fish spring out of the kettle.

A word is enough to the wise.

❖

An honest man's word is his bond.

Half a word to the wise is enough.

The young may die, the old must.

What is wrong today won't be right tomorrow.

It is good spinning from another's yarn.

❖

The rich have many friends.

An old rat won't go into the trap.

No greater promisers than they who have nothing to give.

There's no making a silk purse of a sow's ear.

Were fools silent they would pass for wise.

❖

The best fodder is the master's eye.

Proverbs are the daughters of daily experience.

When prosperity smiles, beware of its guiles.

When two quarrel both are in the wrong.

It is pleasant to look on the rain when one stands dry.

❖❖❖

Dutch Proverbs (501-533)

❖

Heavy purses and light hearts can sustain much.

Promises make debts, and debts make promises.

In prosperity think of adversity.

Everyone is a preacher under the gallows.

Who serves the public serves a fickle master.

❖

One quill is better in the hand than
seven geese upon the strand.

There is a fool to every feast.

Great fish break the net.

All are not princes who ride with the emperor.

God gives birds their food, but they must fly for it.

❖

After rain comes fair weather.

A brilliant daughter makes a brittle wife.

The nail suffers as much as the hole.

A kiss without a beard is like an egg without salt.

Those who do not know how to squander their money
– buy some porcelain and drop it.

❖

Where the minute hand suffices, the hour hand is not needed.

God gives birds their food, but they must fly for it.

One cannot grab a bald man by the hair.

Dogs have teeth in all countries.

When the dog is down, everyone is ready to bite him.

❖

Two dogs seldom agree over one bone.

He who goes to bed with dogs will get up with fleas.

Barking dogs don’t bite.

A dog with a bone knows no friend.

Better have a dog for your friend than your enemy.

❖

Wake not a sleeping dog.

Who wants to beat a dog, soon finds a stick.

When two dogs fight for a bone, the third runs away with it.

Caress your dog, and he’ll spoil your clothes.

It is hard to teach old dogs to bark.

❖

Great talkers are little doers.

Don’t cry herrings till they are in the net.

Nobody’s sweetheart is ugly.

❖❖❖

A little fish gets eaten by a big fish, which gets eaten by an even bigger fish, which gets eaten by us. ~ Dutch Proverb [19648]

Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1526/1530–1569)
Public Domain

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16, POTD, Proverb of the Day,

The true artist perseveres no matter what the critics say. ~ Dutch Proverb [19597]

Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh [Public domain]

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Froth is not beer. ~ Dutch Proverb [16613]

Photo: Boz Donovan

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When the winds of change blow, you can build walls or you can build windmills. - Dutch proverb [20010]

MM028, MondayMotivation

“The Blind Leading the Blind” by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1568

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[6097 ]

Only a fool knows everything. — Dutch proverb

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[6077] WW034, WednesdayWisdom

Even the finest carpenter hits a thumb from time to time. — Dutch proverb

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[6036]

A handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains. ~ Dutch Proverb [15427]

Photo by Georges Noble
[CC-BY-SA-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)],
via Wikimedia Commons

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A kiss without a beard is like an egg without salt. ~ Dutch Proverb [15372]

Boaz by Rembrandt [Public Domain]

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A ship on the beach is a lighthouse to the sea. ~ Dutch Proverb [15370]

Photo by FL3JM (Own work)
[CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)],
via Wikimedia Commons

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Good-looking apples are sometimes sour. ~ Dutch Proverb [16702]

Photo: Sunipix.com

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You never know how a cow catches a rabbit. ~ Dutch Proverb [19561]

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With a good name one may sin easily. ~ Dutch Proverb [19549]

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Who watches not, catches not. ~ Dutch Proverb [19517]

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