Portuguese proverbs
Traditional saying. The library holds 515 of them. Here are the 60 most quoted; search the library in the maker for the rest.
Often about: wisdom, money, friendship, nature, family, faith
The 60 best known
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Out of the frying-pan into the fire.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
I renounce the friend who eats what is mine with me, and what is his own by himself.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Every one sings as he has the gift, and marries as he has the luck.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Chastise the good man, he will grow better; chastise the bad, and he will grow worse.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Children tell in the highway what they hear by the fireside.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Drink nothing without seeing it, sign nothing without reading it.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
The master’s eye makes the horse fat.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Better an ass that carries me than a horse that throws me.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Fit the foot to the shoe, not the shoe to the foot.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Marry, marry, and what about the housekeeping.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
The full-fed sheep is frightened at her own tail.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Despise your enemy and you will soon be beaten.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
The one-eyed is a king in the land of the blind.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
There’s no catching trouts with dry breeches.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
From a closed door the devil turns away.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
The fox knows much, but more he that catcheth him.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Good fruit never comes from a bad tree.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
The gentle calf sucks all the cows.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
A shut mouth keeps me out of strife.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Birds of prey do not flock together.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Peace with a cudgel in hand is war.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
An innocent heart suspects no guile.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
He doubts nothing who knows nothing.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Give orders, and do it yourself, and you will be rid of anxiety.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
I am on good terms with the friend who eats his bread with me.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
An empty purse, and a finished house, make a man wise, but too late.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Let every man mind his own business, and leave others to theirs.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
The ass embraced the thistle, and they found themselves relations.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Go not with every hunger to the cupboard, nor with every thirst to the pitcher.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
In war, hunting, and love, for one pleasure a hundred pains.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
It befits the king to be liberal, for he is sure of never falling into poverty.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Make the night night, and the day day, and you will have a pleasant time of it.
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A girl, a vineyard, an orchard, and a bean-field, are hard to watch.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
A rash man, a skin of good wine, and a glass vessel, do not last long.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Conceal not your secret from your friend, or you deserve to lose him.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
If you have a friend who is a physician, send him to your enemy’s house.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Whatever the bee sucks turns to honey, and whatever the wasp sucks turns to venom.
translated by Walter K. Kelly -
Before you marry reflect, for it is a knot you cannot untie.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Where shall the ox go bid he must labour, since he knows how?
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
He should not complain of being cheated who buys the cloth by the sample.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Better deserve honour and not have it, than have it and not deserve it.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
The beast that goes well never wants a rider to try its paces.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
The loss which your neighbour does not know is no real loss.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
I see by my daughter’s face when the devil lays hold of my son-in-law.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
An hour of play discovers more than a year of conversation.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Tell your friend a lie; if he keeps it secret tell him the truth.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
There is plenty of corn in Castile, but he who has none, starves.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
It is well to know how to be silent till it is time to speak.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Marry me forthwith, mother, for my face is growing wrinkled.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Make the night night, and the day day, and you will live pleasantly.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Go to your rich friend’s house when invited; to your poor friend’s without invitation.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Broken friendship may be soldered but can never be made sound.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
He is no friend that eats his own by himself, and mine with me.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Go not with every ailment to the doctor, nor with every plaint to the lawyer.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Neither trust or contend, nor lay wagers or lend, and you’ll have peace to your end.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Soft water constantly striking the hard stone, wears it at last.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Would you have me serve you, good king, give me the means of living.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
Rise early, and you will observe; labour, and you will have.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
If you would grow poor without perceiving it, employ workmen and go to sleep.
translated by Henry G. Bohn -
The pitcher that goes often to the well leaves its handle or its spout there.
translated by Henry G. Bohn