Great Throughts Treasury

"Don't spend the evening in a house where you can't spend the night. A good name is better than good perfume. After the hyena has gone, the dog barks."

"Don't demand that what you write in the Nile will be read in the desert."

"Don't catch a leopard by the tail, but if you do, don't let it go."

"Don't spend the evening in a house where you can't spend the night."

"Even if Christ's death could have been prevented, Judas would still be a traitor."

"Eat when the food is ready; speak when the time is right."

"Even over cold pudding, the coward says: It will burn my mouth."

"Evil enters like a needle and spreads like an oak tree."

"Evil penetrates like a needle and then becomes like an oak tree."

"Evil gotten, evil spent."

"He who digs too deep for a fish, may come out with a serpent."

"Fifty lemons are a load for one person, but for fifty persons they are perfume."

"He who knows much does not speak much."

"Great men have big hearts."

"Give advice; if people don't listen, let adversity teach them."

"He who learns, teaches."

"He who has nothing to do, scatters and gathers."

"He who lives with an ass, sounds like an ass."

"He who wants to barter, usually knows what is best for himself."

"He, who learns, teaches."

"His mouth talks about Sheik Hussein but his hands are stretched up to the tree."

"I paid a goat because I blabbed."

"I have a cow in the sky, but cannot drink her milk."

"Her horns are too heavy for the cow."

"Horns are not too heavy for the cow."

"If a friend hurts you, run to your wife."

"If one is not in a hurry, even an egg will start walking."

"If relatives help each other, what evil can hurt them?"

"If the heart is sad, tears will flow."

"If they speak, they are wind; if they are silent, they are gourds."

"If relatives help each other, what harm can be done to them?"

"If you are going to go where corn grows, take a cutting tool with you."

"If you are planning to travel where corn grows, you should take a sickle with you."

"If you offend, ask for pardon; if offended, forgive."

"If you see that a town worships a calf, then cut the grass and feed it."

"It is better to be the cub of a live jackal than of a dead lion."

"Invite him as not to antagonize him, shove him off as not to let him eat."

"If you gladly stoop to the ground don't be surprised if they trample over you."

"It is foolhardy to start a fire just to see the flames."

"Living is worthless for one without a home."

"Little by little an egg will walk."

"It is like using a spoon to get water from the Nile"

"It is easy to become a monk in oneÂ’s old age."

"It is foolish for someone to remain thirsty when he is in the midst of water."

"Men fear danger, women only the sight of it."

"Mock the palm tree only when the date harvest is over."

"No better witnesses than your own eyes."

"Move your neck according to the music."

"No one knows what the dawn will bring."

"O, sheep if I do not eat you, you will eat me, said the hyena."