List of Polish Proverbs Sayings

The woman cries before the wedding and the man after.

Every error has its excuse.

Conscience is the voice of the soul.

Where six cooks are, there is nothing to eat.

Even the goats will jump on a slanted tree.

A bitter centipede if eaten in a pleasing berry pie will taste sweet.

God promised me a fur coat, and I am already sweating.

Time has no respect for beauty.

Fortune goes like a wheel.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

God pays, but not weekly wages.

Too many cooks spoil the broth.

He is rich enough that wants nothing.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

What reaches the mother's heart will only reach the father's knees.

A beggar talked to a picture, but picture answered nothing.

For a ducat brother will sell brother.

What a young absorbs, the old loses.

He who gives quickly gives twice.

The greatest love is a mother's, then a dog's, then a sweetheart's.

If you love him, don't lend him.

What Johny wont learn, John wont know.

Rome wasn't built in a day.

East or West home is best.

When you are amongst the crows, caw like them.

He who has none hates those that have much.

The locksmith is the guilty one, but the blacksmith hangs.

Running away makes you guilty.

A bad workman always blames his tools.

Fate throws fortune, but not everyone catches.

Who wakes up early, Lord God provides him.

Say only good things about the dead.

Better no doctor at all than three.

He who laughs last, laughs longest.

A pretty person looks pretty in every clothing.

One may teach another to speak, but none can teach another to hold his peace.

Cracow wasn't built at once.

Better late than never.

The man who can not dance thinks the band is no good.

He who tickles himself can laugh whenever he wants.

Where devil cannot go, he will send a woman.

A bachelor and a dog can do anything.

Self-help is the best help.

Home, sweet home.

Better is one lady than 4 widows.

One hand washes the other.

What Jimmy did to God, God does to Jimmy.

Beauty does not season soup.

The news of a good deed travels far, but the news of a bad one travels even farther.

Nowadays you have to go to heaven to meet an angel.

How you make your bed, thus will you rest.

Beautifully decorated plate won't feed anyone.

The Italian invents it; the Frenchman makes it; the Germans sell it; the Pole buys it and the Tartar plunders it.

Fortune is a giver and a taker.

On a thief, the hat's on fire.

Shavings fly where wood is being chopped.

An iron peace is better than a golden war.

Hungry bellies have no ears.

With a bottle and a girl one does not count the hours.

The real unlucky one will sprain his thumb when he blows his nose.

If everyone swept in front of his house, the whole town would be clean.

All's well that ends well.

Speak well of the dead or not at all.

What little Johnny has not learned, big John will not know.

I'm human; nothing that is human is strange to me. A good run is better than a bad fight.

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

All times are good when old.

Still waters are the deepest; Still waters run deep.

If each person would sweep before his own house, the city would soon be clean.

Old truths, old laws, old friends, old books, and old wine are best.

Man is man's wolf.

All that glitters is not gold.

The rich man gets his ice in the summer and the poor man gets his in the winter.

Don't divide the fur on the bear.

Where two are fighting, a third one wins.

If it were not for the hands, the clock would be useless.

Strike while the iron is hot.

All roads lead to Rome.

There are a thousand roads to every wrong.

Great things can best be said in silence.

Of the dead, nothing but good.

If we let people see that kind of thing, there would never again be any war.

What I believe in is all that is mine.

Add up your pennies, and buy a hen.

Stroke the horse until it is saddled.

If you are going to fight, pray once; if you are going to sail, pray twice; if you are getting married, then pray thrice.

Pray once if you are going to fight, pray twice if you are going to sail, and pray thrice if you are going to get married.

Talk of a wolf and the wolf appears.

A good bargain is a pick-purse.

Talk of the devil - and the devil appears.

Where the body wants to rest, there the legs must carry it.

A whistling priest has a demon in his belly.

He who climbs a ladder, must have his brains in his feet.

In a game it's difficult to know when to stop.

Not everything that's allowed is best.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

A sparrow in your hand is better than a pigeon on the roof.

In church, in the taverns, and in coffins all men are equal.

Water teaches us to weep, wine teaches us to sing.

Folly lives next door to knowledge.

A sore finger and a headache are standard excuses for not going to school.

The doctor demands his fees whether he has killed the illness or the patient.

When toads wrestle, the flies dance.

It is easier to take a couple of drinks than to refuse them.

Not all that glitters is gold.

In Russia as you must, in Poland as you like.

A poor dancer will be disturbed even by the hem of her skirt.

The ill wind that blows is probably your mother-in-law farting.

He who lies once is never believed again.

Guest coming into house - God coming into house.

Ink, if not used, will dry up.

A person who is always nice is not always nice.

The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

Nowadays you must go to heaven to meet an angel.

Tasty fish have to swim three times: once in the water, then in butter, and finally in wine.

My home is my castle.

Both the cross and the gallows are made of wood.

Innocence itself sometimes hath need of a mask.

A noisy cow gives little milk.

Where there is butter there are flies.

The apple does not fall far from the tree.

It is worse to be sick in the soul than in body.

That which everybody guards will soon disappear.

Better to be paying the baker than the chemist.

Watch the faces of those who bow low.

It is a poor parish where the priest has to ring his own bells.

Never seek the wind in the field. It is useless to try and find what is gone.

A man is a wolf to another man.

The world is a big place but there is so little room in it.

With gold in your pocket you are wise, you are handsome, and you dance well too.

Man shoots, God carries the bullets.

Did hogs feed here or did Lithuanians have a feast here?

Hunger will lead a fox out of the forest.

A jug carries water until its handle breaks off.

It is better to give than to lend and it costs about the same.

The worst devil is the one who prays.

Without salt the feast is spoiled.

Don't count your chickens before they hatch.

The bell is loud because it is empty.

A guest sticks a nail in the wall even if he stays but one night.

Under capitalism man exploits man; under socialism the reverse is true.

Kill two birds with one stone.

Fortune's wheel is ever turning.

Don't praise the day before sunset.

It is easier to watch over one hundred fleas than one young girl.

A guest sees more in an hour than the host sees in a year.

One ducat before the trial is worth three afterwards.

Time is money.

Without work there won't be any bread in your mouth.

If the farmer is poor then so is the whole country.

A guest hammers a nail in the wall even if he stays only one night.

Two heads are better than one or When two,not one.

Don't talk about others, they won't talk about you.

Keep learning because knowledge is the key to power.

Words must be weighed, not counted.

It's easier for the horses when the woman gets off the cart.

The liar will travel the world over, but chooses not to go back home.

A good painter need not give a name to his picture, a bad one must.

You can't teach an old dog new tricks.

The best asset is a clean conscience.

When a girl is born it is like having six thieves invade the house.

The doorstep of the palace is very slippery.

A good joke is a penny worth.

In every little house there is a little louse.

Don't talk with your mouth full.

You can't heal stubbornness.

Joy must have sorrow.

There are a thousand paths to every wrong.

A good appetite needs no sauce.

In healthy body healthy spirit.

What can't be cured, must be endured.

Even a clock that does not work is right twice a day.

One ticket, one seat.

Tommy, please, stay at your own place.

When the master has a cold the servants sneeze.

Love is like the moon: now full, now dark.

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Love without jealousy is like a Pole with no moustache.

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Love enters a man through his eyes, woman through her ears.

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Eat in Poland, drink in Hungary, sleep in Germany, and make love in Italy.

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Where there is love, there is happiness.

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The devil seduced Eve in Italian. Eve mislead Adam in Bohemian. The Lord scolded them both in German. Then the angel drove them from paradise in Hungarian.

A friend to all is a friend to none.

Innocence plays in the backyard of ignorance.

The grunts of pigs never make it to heaven.

When a man hurries, the devil smiles.

There is no place like home.

Light a candle for God and another for the devil.

A fool stands always in the rain.

You will see something as surely as a pig will see Heaven.

When the cat's away the mice will play.

The devil can swallow a woman but he can't digest her.

Seek and ye shall find.

It was Blacksmith's guilt, but the Gypsy was hanged.

From someone else's cart you have to get off halfway.

A fault confessed is half redressed.

Truth will not make you fat but you won't choke on a lie.

Wherever you go, you can't get rid of yourself.

There will be no cream from that spoiled milk.

Still waters erode the shore or Still waters run deep.

To believe with certainty, we must begin by doubting.

A doctor will take care of the rich man; the poor man is cured with work.

With unity there is strength.

The greatest oaks have been little acorns.

You can wait till the cows come home. *

That which the flesh likes, makes the soul lost.

A dead man's will is the mirror of his life.

Even if a chef cooks just a fly, he would keep the breast for himself.

When a woman knows no more how to answer, she must be dried up.

There will be no bread from that flour.

Being ignorant of law is no excuse.

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.

The devil lives beneath a slattern woman's skirts.

When I had money everyone called me brother.

A crow won't bite a crow.

Do not push the river, it will flow by itself.

The good won't be spoiled in an inn, so the bad won't be mended in a church.

Fish, to taste good, must swim three times: in water, in butter, and in wine.

The farmer is a born philosopher, the aristocrat has to learn how.

Capitalism is the exploitation of man by man.

When February comes, hobnail your shoes.

You have a lifetime to work, but children are only young once.

A bush does note grow berries in winter.

The early bird gets the worm.

Eagles fly alone, but sheep flock together.

Everyone is tempted to evil.

Caught between a rock and a hard place.

Without work there is no dinner.

The news of a good deed travels far, but the news of a bad one travels even farther.

Drop after drop, there will be an ocean.

God grant me a good sword and no use for it.

The end justifies the means.

Do not reprimand the alien, do not praise your own.