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Home  »  Dictionary of Quotations  »  Spanish Proverb

James Wood, comp. Dictionary of Quotations. 1899.

Spanish Proverb

A Dios rogando y con el mazo dando—Praying to God and smiling with the hammer.

A los bobos se les aperece la Madre de Dios—The mother of God appears to fools.

A mucho hablar, mucho errar—Talk much, err much.

A puñadas entran las buenas hadas—Good luck pushes its way (lit. gets on) by elbowing.

A quien tiene buena muger, ningun mal le puede venir, que no sea de sufrir—To him who has a good wife no evil can come which he cannot bear.

A tu hijo, buen nombre y oficio—To your son a good name and a trade.

Adó sacan y non pon, presto llegan al hondon—By ever taking out and never putting in, one soon reaches the bottom.

Al enemigo, si vuelve la espalda, la puente de plata—Make a bridge of silver for the flying enemy.

Al fin se canta la Gloria—Not till the end is the Gloria chanted.

Aquel pierde venta que no tiene que venda—He who has nothing to sell loses his market.

Arde verde por seco, y pagan justos por pecadores—Green burns for dry, and just men smart (lit. pay) for transgressors.

Ares, no ares, renta me pagues—Plough or not plough, you must pay rent all the same.

Associate with the good, and you will be esteemed one of them.

Bachelor, a peacock; betrothed, a lion; wedded, an ass.

Be silent, or say something better than silence.

Bien predica quien bien vive—He preaches well who lives well.

Bien sabe el asno en cuya cara rabozna—The ass knows well in whose face he brays.

Bien sabe el sabio que no sabe, el nescio piensa que sabe—The wise man knows well that he does not know; the ignorant man thinks he knows.

Bien sabe la vulpeja con quien trebeja—The fox knows well with whom he plays tricks.

Bien vengas, mal, si vienes solo—Welcome, misfortune, if thou comest alone.

Buen siglo haya quien dijó bolta—Blessings on him that said, Right about face!

Buey viejo sulco derecho—An old ox makes a straight furrow.

Burlaos con el loco en casa, burlará con vos en la plaza—Play with the fool in the house and he will play with you in the street.

Cada qual hablé en lo que sabe—Let every one talk of what he understands.

Cada uno es hijo de sus obras—Every one is the son of his own works; i.e., is responsible for his own acts.

Casa hospidada, comida y denostada—A house which is filled with guests is both eaten up and spoken ill of.

Ciencia es locura si buen senso no la cura—Knowledge is of little use if it is not under the direction of good sense.

Cobra buena fama, y échate á dormir—Get a good name, and go to sleep.

Cobre gana cobre que no huesos de hombre—Money (lit. copper) breeds money and not man’s bones.

Como cant a el abad, asi responde el monacillo—As the abbot sings, the sacristan answers.

Con agua pasada no muele molino—The mill grinds corn with water that has passed.

Con dineros no te conocerás, sin dineros no te conocerán—With money you would not know yourself; without it, no one would know you.

Con el Rey y con la Inquisicion, chitos—With the King and the Inquisition, hush!

Cosa mala nunca mucre—A bad thing never dies.

Costumbre hace ley—Custom becomes law.

Crea el cuervo, y sacarte ha los ojos—Breed up a crow and he will peck out your eyes.

Dádivas quebrantan peñas—Gifts dissolve rocks.

Da ventura a tu hijo, y echa lo en el mar—Give your son luck and then throw him into the sea.

Dame donde me asiente, que yo me haré donde me acueste—Give where I may sit down, and I will make where I may lie down.

De hambre a nadie vi morir, de mucho comer a cien mil—I never saw a man die of hunger, but thousands die of overfeeding.

Dead men open living men’s eyes.

Defienda me Dios de my—God defend me from myself.

Del agua mansa me libre Dios; que de la recia me guardaré yo—From smooth water God guard me; from rough, I can guard myself.

Desque nací lloré, y cada dia nace porqué—I wept as soon as I was born, and every day explains why.

Dios es el que sana, y el médico lleva la plata—Though God cures the patient, the doctor pockets the fee.

Dios me dé contienda con quien me entienda—God grant me to argue with such as understand me.

Do falta dicha, por demas es diligencia—Diligence is of no use where luck is wanting.

Do not talk Arabic in the house of a Moor.

El agujero llama al ladron—The hole tempts the thief.

El amor verdadero no sufre cosa encubierta—True love suffers no concealment.

El corazon manda les carnes—The heart bears up the body.

El corazon no es traidor—The heart is no traitor.

El dar es honor, y el pedir dolor—To give is honour; to lose, grief.

El dia que te casas, ó te matas ó te sanas—The day you marry, it is either kill or cure.

El diablo saba mucho, porque es viejo—The devil knows a great deal, for he is old.

El mal que de tu boca sale, en tu seno se cae—The evil which issues from thy mouth falls into thy bosom.

El mal que no tiene cura es locura—Folly is the one evil for which there is no remedy.

El malo siempre piensa engaño—The bad man always suspects some knavish intention.

El pan comido, la compañia deshecha—The bread eaten, the company dispersed.

El pie del dueño estierco para la heredad—The foot of the owner is manure for the farm.

El que trabaja, y madra, hila oro—He that labours and perseveres spins gold.

El rey va hasta do poede, y no hasta do quiere—The king goes as far as he may, not as far as he would.

El rio pasado, el santo olvidádo—The river (danger) past, the saint (delivery) forgotten.

El sabio muda consejo, el necio no—The wise man changes his mind, the fool never.

El tiempo cura el enfermo, que ne el ungnento—It is time and not medicine that cures the disease.

El villano en su tierra, y el hidalgo donde quiera—The clown in his own country, the gentleman where he pleases.

En boca cerrada no entra mosca—Flies don’t enter a shut mouth.

En cada tierra su uso—Every country has its own custom.

En el rio do no hay pezes por demas es echar redes—It is in vain to cast nets in a river where there are no fish.

En salvo está el que repica—He is in safe quarters who sounds the alarm.

Enjoy your little while the fool is seeking for more.

Entienda primero, y habla postrero—Hear first and speak afterwards.

Erase que se era—What has been has been.

Escuchas al agujero; oirás de tû mal y del ageno—Listen at the keyhole; you will hear evil of yourself as well as your neighbour.

Fiar de Dios sobre buena prenda—Trust in God upon good security.

Folly is the most incurable of maladies.

Fortune turns round like a mill-wheel, and he that was yesterday at the top lies to-day at the bottom.

Fraile que pide por Dios pide por dos—The friar who begs for God begs for two.

Gato maullador nunca buen cazador—A mewing cat is never a good mouser.

Giving alms never lessens the purse.

Gloria vana florece, y no grana—Glory which is not real may flower, but will never fructify.

God assists those who rise early in the morning.

God does not smite with both hands.

God grant you fortune, my son, for knowledge avails you little.

God made us, and we admire ourselves.

Goza tû de tu poco, mientras busca mas el loco—Enjoy your little while the fool is in search of more.

Gran victoria es la que sin sangre se alcanza—Great is the victory that is gained without bloodshed.

Hablar sin pensar es tirar sin encarar—Speaking without thinking is shooting without taking aim.

Hay buena cuenta, y no paresca blanca—The account is all right, but the money-bags are empty.

He is a fool who empties his purse, or store, to fill another’s.

He preaches well who lives well.

He that has no head needs no hat.

He who loses wealth loses much, who loses a friend loses more, who loses his spirits loses all.

He who would bring home the wealth of the Indies must carry the wealth of the Indies with him.

He whose work is on the highway will have many advisers.

Herradura que chacotea clavo le falta—A clattering hoof means a nail gone.

Hilo y aguja, media vestidura—Needle and thread are half clothing.

Hizonos Dios, y maravillámonos nos—God made us, and we admire ourselves.

Hombre pobre todo es trazas—A poor man is all schemes.

Hurtar el puerco, y dar los pies por Dios—To steal the pig, and give away the feet for God’s sake.

If folly were a pain, there would be crying in every house.

Il sabio muda conscio, il nescio no—A wise man changes his mind, a fool never.

Il villano en su tierra, y el hidalgo donde quiera—The clown in his own country, the gentleman where he pleases.

In frosty weather a nail is worth a horse.

Ir por lana, y volver trasquilado—To go for wool and come back shorn.

It is courage that conquers in war, and not good weapons.

Jest so that it may not become earnest.

Jurado ha el vano de lo negro no hacer bianco—The bath has sworn not to wash the black man white.

Justa razon engañar el engañador—It is fair to cheat the cheater.

Justicia, mas no por mi casa—Justice by all means, but not in my own house.

Kill, and thou shalt be killed, and they shall kill him who kills thee.

La buena vida padre y madre olvida—Prosperity forgets father and mother.

La verdad es hlia de Dios—Truth is the daughter of God.

La verdad es sempre verde—Truth is always green.

Las manos blancas no ofenden—White hands cannot harm one.

Late children are early orphans.

Let him who sleeps too much borrow the pillow of a debtor.

Let that which is lost be for God.

Listeners never hear good of themselves.

Lo ageno siempre pia por su dueño—What is another’s always chirps for its master.

Lo que hace el loco á la derreria, hace el sabio á la primeria—What the fool does at length the wise man does at the beginning.

Lo que no acaece en un año, acaece en un rato—A thing that may not happen in a year may happen in two minutes.

Love abounds in honey and poison.

Madruga y verás, trabaja y habrás—Rise betimes, and you will see; labour diligently, and you will have.

Marry and grow tame.

Mas vale buen amigo que pariente primo—A good friend is better than a near relation.

Mucho sabe la zorra, pero mas el que la toma—The fox is cunning, but he is more cunning who takes him.

Mudar costumbre a par de muerte—To change a custom is next to death.

Nace en la huerta lo que no siembra el hortelano—More grows in the garden than the gardener ever sowed there.

Necio es quien piensa que otros no piensan—He is a fool who thinks that others don’t think.

Neither sign a paper without reading it, nor drink water without seeing it.

No diga la lengua par do pague la cabeza—The tongue talks at the head’s cost.

No hay dulzura sin sudor—No sweetness without sweat.

No hay tal razon como la del baston—There is no argument like that of a stick.

No leaf moves but as God wills it.

No mata la carga sino la sobrecarga—Not the load, but the overload kills.

Obreros a no ver dineros a perder—Not to watch your workmen is to lose your money.

One “Take this” is better than two “I will give you.”

Palabra de boca, piedra he honda—A word from the mouth is as a stone from a sling.

Palabra y piedra suelta no tiene vuelta—A word and a stone once launched cannot be recalled.

Poco dâno espanta, y mucho amansa—A little loss alarms one, a great loss tames one down.

Por mucho madrugar, no amanéce mas aina—Early rising does not make the day dawn sooner.

Puridad de dos, puridad de Dios; puridad de tres, de todos es—A secret between two is God’s secret; but a secret between three is all men’s.

Quando Dios amanece, para todos amanece—When God’s light rises, it rises for all.

Quando el Español canta, ó rabia, ó no tiene blanca—If a Spaniard sing, he’s either mad or without money.

Quando vierás tu casa quemar llegate á escalentar—When thou seest thy house in flames, go warm thyself by it.

Quien da la suyo antes de morir aparajese a bien sufrir—Who parts with his own before he dies, let him prepare for death.

Quien larga vida vive mucho mal vide—To live long is to see much evil.

Quien mas sabe mas calla—Who knows most says least.

Quien no va á carava, no sabe nada—He who does not mix with the crowd knows nothing.

Quien se muda, Dios le ayuda—God assists him who reforms himself.

Quien tiene arte, va por toda parte—Who has a trade may go anywhere.

Quixadas sin barbas no merecen ser honradas—Chins without beards deserve no honour.

Riñen las comadres y dicense las verdades—Gossips quarrel and tell the truth.

Sanan llagas, y no malas palabras—Wounds heal, but not ill words.

Sirve a señor, y sabras que es dolor—Serve a great lord, and you will know what sorrow is.

The hare leaps out of the bush where we least look for her.

The king goes as far as he may, not as far as he would.

The wife that expects to have a good name / Is always at home as if she were lame; / And the mind that is honest, her chiefest delight, / Is still to be doing from morning till night.

The wise man knows that he does not know; the ignoramus thinks he knows.

“This comes of walking on the earth.” The Spanish swell, as he picked himself up from the ground.

Uno levanto la caza, y otro la mata—One starts the game, and another carries it off.

What is much desired is not believed when it comes.

When God gives light he gives it for all.

When the ass is given thee, run and take him by the halter; and when good luck knocks at the door, let him in, and keep him there.

Where there is no hook, to be sure there will hang no bacon.

Where wilt thou go that thou wilt not have to plough?

Where you see your friend, trust to yourself.

While a man gets he never can lose.