Proverb Quotes

“Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life.”
― Terry Pratchett, Jingo

“The flame that burns Twice as bright burns half as long.”
― Lao Tzu, Te-Tao Ching

“Instead of cursing the darkness, light a candle.”
― Ben Franklin

“Educate a boy, and you educate an individual. Educate a girl, and you educate a community.”
― Adelaide Hoodless

“Yuyeh sesh.Despise your heart.Ni weh sesh.I have no heart.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising

“There is an ancient tribal proverb I once heard in India. It says that before we can see properly we must first shed our tears to clear the way.”
― Libba Bray, The Sweet Far Thing

“When someone is counting out
gold for you, don't look at your hands,
or the gold. Look at the giver.”
― Mawlana Jalal al-Din Rumi, The Masnavi, Book Two

“Survival is the ability to swim in strange water.”
― Frank Herbert, Dune

“Muddy water, let stand, becomes clear.”
― Lao Tzu

“Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.”
― Chinua Achebe (Author)

“Plants are more courageous than almost all human beings: an orange tree would rather die than produce lemons, whereas instead of dying the average person would rather be someone they are not.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
― Benjamin Franklin

“He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior.”
― Confucius

“Plant an expectation; reap a disappointment." (Quoting an old adage)”
― Elizabeth Gilbert, Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage

“Whoever said ignorance is bliss must have died a horrible death with a really surprised look on his face.”
― Lisa Shearin, Armed & Magical

“Praise not the day until evening has come, a woman until she is burnt, a sword until it is tried, a maiden until she is married, ice until it has been crossed, beer until it has been drunk.”
― Michael Crichton, Eaters of the Dead

“You cannot be truly humble, unless you truly believe that life can and will go on without you.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“What you choose also chooses you.”
― Kamand Kojouri

“To treat a person like a carpet, it is necessary that one do the walking, and one allow himself to be walked on.
--Shin'a'in saying”
― Mercedes Lackey, Owlflight

“A relationship is likely to last way longer, if each partner convinces or has convinced themselves that they do not deserve their partner, even if that is not true.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“In Shoshone, there's a saying. It's a long one, and it doesn't have an English equivalent, so bear with me.

Sutummu tukummuinna. It means, I don't speak your language, and you don't speak mine. But I still understand you. I don't need to walk in your footsteps if I can see the footprints you left behind.”
― Rose Christo, Why the Star Stands Still

“Melody is the essence of music. I compare a good melodist to a fine racer, and counterpointists to hack post-horses; therefore be advised, let well alone and remember the old Italian proverb: Chi sa più, meno sa—Who knows most, knows least.”
― Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

“Some of us were brought into this troubled world primarily or only to increase our fathers’ chances of not being left by our mothers, or vice versa.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana, The Use and Misuse of Children

“Civilize The Mind, But Make Savage The Body.”
― Ancient Chinese Proverb

“Life sometimes reminds us that it is sometimes heartless by giving something or someone we really need to someone who does not need or even want them or it.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“The most upsetting thing about Society’s attitude towards disabled people is that many millions of disabled people became disabled while trying to please Society, the very same bitch that secretly regards them as subhuman.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana, The Use and Misuse of Children

“A premature death does not only rob one of the countless instances where one would have experienced pleasure, it also saves one from the innumerable instances where one would have experienced pain.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“Life is a process during which one initially gets less and less dependent, independent, and then more and more dependent.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“We are loved way more by some of the people who have not contacted us in the last twelve or so months than we are loved by some of those who contact us every twelve or so days… or hours.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“Most sane human beings who are over the age of six usually act or react not as per what they genuinely feel or really think but in accordance with the expectations of those around them.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana, The Use and Misuse of Children