- A bachelor and a dog can do anything.
- A dead man’s will is the mirror of his life.
- A doctor will take care of the rich man; the poor man is cured with work.
- A fool stands always in the rain.
- A good appetite needs no sauce.
- A good painter need not give a name to his picture, a bad one must.
- A guest hammers a nail in the wall even if he stays only one night.
- A guest sees more in an hour than the host in a year.
- All times are good when old.
- An iron peace is better than a golden war.
- A noisy cow gives little milk.
- A person who is always nice is not always nice.
- A poor dancer will be disturbed even by the hem of her skirt.
- Beauty does not season soup.
- Better to be paying the baker than the chemist.
- Both the cross and the gallows are made of wood.
- Capitalism is the exploitation of man by man.
- Communism is the complete opposite.
- Corn will look better in your neighbor’s field.
- Do not push the river, it will flow by itself.
- Eat in Poland, drink in Hungary, sleep in Germany, and make love in Italy.
- Even a clock that does not work is right twice a day.
- Even if a chef cooks just a fly, he would keep the breast for himself.
- Even the goats will jump on a slanted tree.
- Every bubble bursts.
- Every error has its excuse.
- Fish, to taste good, must swim three times: in water, in butter, and in wine.
- Friends sleep when misfortune knocks on the door.
- From someone else’s cart you have to get off halfway.
- Get married and you will be happy for a week; slaughter a pig and you will be happy for a month; become a priest and you will be happy for the rest of your life.
- God grant me a good sword and no use for it.
- God promised me a fur coat and I’m already sweating.
- Great things can best be said in silence.
- He who climbs a ladder, must have his brains in his feet.
- He who tickles himself can laugh whenever he wants.
- Hunger will lead a fox out of the forest.
- Hungry bellies have no ears.
- If everyone swept in front of his house, the whole town would be clean.
- If it were not for the hands, the clock would be useless.
- If the farmer is poor then so is the whole country.
- If you are going to fight, pray once; if you are going to sail, pray twice; if you are getting married, then pray thrice.
- In Russia as you must, in Poland as you like.
- In a game it’s difficult to know when to stop.
- In church, in the taverns, and in coffins all men are equal.
- In every little house there is a little louse.
- Ink, if not used, will dry up.
- Innocence itself sometimes hath need of a mask.
- Innocence plays in the backyard of ignorance.
- It is a poor parish where the priest has to ring his own bells.
- It is easier to take a couple of drinks than to refuse them.
- It is easier to watch over one hundred fleas than one young girl.
- Love enters a man through his eyes, woman through her ears.
- Love is like the moon: now full, now dark.
- “Love one another” said Christ, but he didn’t mention anything about preferences.
- Love without jealousy is like a Pole with no moustache.
- Never seek the wind in the field. It is useless to try and find what is gone.
- Nowadays you have to go to heaven to meet an angel.
- Old truths, old laws, old friends, old books, and old wine are best.
- One may teach another to speak, but none can teach another to hold his peace.
- Stroke the horse until it is saddled.
- That which everybody guards will soon disappear.
- The Italian invents it; the Frenchman makes it; the Germans sell it; the Pole buys it and the Tartar plunders it.
- The bell is loud because it is empty.
- The devil can swallow a woman but he can’t digest her.
- The doctor demands his fees whether he has killed the illness or the patient.
- The doorstep of the palace is very slippery.
- The farmer is a born philosopher, the aristocrat has to learn how.
- The giver should forget, but the receiver should remember forever.
- The greatest love is a mother’s, then a dog’s, then a sweetheart’s.
- The greatest oaks have been little acorns.
- The liar will travel the world over, but chooses not to go back home.
- The locksmith is the guilty one, but the blacksmith hangs.
- The real unlucky one will sprain his thumb when he blows his nose.
- There are a thousand paths to every wrong.
- There will be no bread from that flour.
- The woman cries before the wedding and the man after.
- The world is a big place but there is so little room in it.
- The worst devil is the one who prays.
- Time has no respect for beauty.
- To believe in certainty, we must begin by doubting.
- Truth will not make you fat but you won’t choke on a lie.
- Truth will take you everywhere — even to jail.
- Under capitalism man exploits man; under socialism the reverse is true.
- Watch the faces of those who bow low.
- Water teaches us to weep, wine teaches us to sing.
- What I believe in is all that is mine.
- What little Johnny has not learned, big John will not know.
- What reaches the mother’s heart will only reach the father’s knees.
- When I had money everyone called me brother.
- When a girl is born it is like having six thieves invade the house.
- When a woman knows no more how to answer, she must be dried up.
- When the master has a cold the servants sneeze.
- Where the body wants to rest, there the legs must carry it.
- Where there is butter there are flies.
- Wherever you go, you can’t get rid of yourself.
- Words must be weighed, not counted.
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