Italian Proverbs Love work Friendship
Who excuses himself accuses himself.
He who tells his own affairs will hardly keep secret those of others. |
One knife keeps another in its sheath. |
From shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations. |
Tell your secret to your friend and he will set his foot on your neck. |
He who sleeps catches no fish. |
He would sell even his share of the sun. |
Don't judge a horse by its harness. |
Stretch your arm no further than your sleeve will reach. |
A drowning man would catch at razors. |
Save something for the man that rides on the white horse. |
Starlings are lean because they go in flocks. |
Patience is a flower that grows not in everyone's garden. |
Some many heads, so many brains. |
Open thy mouth that I may know thee. |
So good that he is good for nothing. |
Look not out for dead men's shoes. |
It is easy robbing when the dog is quieted. |
The bucket goes so often to the well that it leaves its handle there. |
Far from the eyes, far from the heart. |
The tree is not felled at one blow. |
He who enjoys good health is rich, though he knows it not. |
The gown does not make the friar. |
Sweet meat requires sour sauce. |
Evil be to him who evil thinks. |
That is pleasant to remember which was hard to endure. |
Learned fools are the greatest fools. |
Some who just tell tales of themselves. |
A braying ass eats little hay. |
He who has no patience, has nothing at all. |
He who sups with the devil must have a long spoon. |
Glowworms are not lanterns. |
One pair of ears would exhaust a hundred tongues. |
Take care you don't let your tail be caught in the door. |
Italian Saying in English |
Once resolved, the trouble is over. |
A cage made of gold does not feed the bird inside of it. |
Measure three times and cut once. |
He that is kinder than he was wont hath a design upon thee. |
It is not for the blind to give an opinion on colors. |
Don't sell the bearskin before you have caught the bear. |
He that exceeds his commission must answer for it at his own cost. |
Who cannot beat the horse let him beat the saddle. |
An old ox makes a straight furrow. |
Drop by drop wears away the stone. |
He that marries a widow with four children marries four thieves. |
Beware the person with nothing to lose. |
He takes out a nail and puts in a pin. |
Where there is nothing to gain, there is a lot to lose. |
A solitary man is either a beast or an angel. |
He knows where the devil carries his tail. |
Eating and drinking Shouldn't keep us from thinking. |
It is too late to come with water when the house is burnt down. |
A doctor and a clown know more than a doctor alone. |
Who paints me before blackens me behind. |
Boil stones in butter, and you may sip the broth. |
He that reckons without his host must reckon again. |
A good horse cannot be of a bad color. |
Who throws a stone at the sky, it falls back on his head. |
He preaches well who lives well. |
Beware of one who has nothing to lose. |
A small woman always seems newly married. |
Knowledge has bitter roots but sweet fruits. |
An old dog does not grow used to the collar. |
Break the legs of an evil custom. |
Wise men learn by other men's mistakes, fools by their own. |
He that seeks to have many friends never has any. |
Empty vessels make most noise. |
A living dog is been than a dead lion. |
A beautiful woman smiling, bespeaks a purse weeping. |
He knocks boldly at the door who brings good news. |
Buy the bed of a great debtor. |
He that will not strive in this world should not have come into it. |
Even a fly has its spleen. |
Wolves have howled at the moon for centuries, yet it is still there. |
A drop of water breaks a stone. |
When the tree is down every one runs to it with a hatchet to cut wood. |
A thing done has a head. |
Between two cowards, the first to detect the other has the advantage. |
Words are female, deeds are male. |
He that would have the fruit, must climb the tree. |
A fools knows his own business better than a wise man knows that of others. |
He who eats alone dies alone. |
He is the world's master who despises it, its slave who prizes it. |
Anger can be an expensive luxury. |
He who sleeps well does not feel the fleas. |
He who blows dust fills his eyes with it. |
By lamplight every country wench seems handsome. |
You cannot damage a wrecked whip. |
Even among the apostles there was a Judas. |
Between the hand and the mouth the soup is spilt. |
Life is half spent before we know what it is. |
When his head is broken he puts on his helmet. |
He who buys by the pennyworth keeps his own house and other men's too. |
Better untaught than ill taught. |
He is not free who drags his chain after him. |
You must grease the wheels if you would have the car run. |
An ass's trot does not last long. |
Even old foxes are caught in the snare. |
A short tail won't keep off flies. |
Wealth is not his who makes it, but his who enjoys it. |
By their marks the bales are known. |
He who chastises one threatens a hundred. |
A good thing lost is valued. |
A blind man is not judge of colours. |
He is not a good mason who refuses any stone. |
Better to fall from the window than the roof. |
Look for the hog at the oak. |
Even the sea. great as it is, grows calm. |
A man's own opinion is never wrong. |
War makes robbers, and peace hangs them. |
He who does as he likes has no headache. |
Although the sun shines, leave not your cloak at home. |
He is in search of a ram with five feet. |
A traveler may lie with authority. |
Chastise the good and he will mend, chastise the bad and he will grow worse. |
Various are the roads to fame. |
He is a good dog who goes to church. |
A great man will not trample on a worm, nor sneak to an emperor. |
He who doth the injury never forgives the injured man. |
Every bird thinks its own nest beautiful. |
Any water will put out fire. |
He who serves the public has a sorry master. |
Better one day as a lion than a hundred as a sheep. |
He is a fool who does not know from what quarter the wind blows. |
Trust not the praise of a friend nor the contempt of an enemy. |
Every ditch is full of your after-wits. |
Your enemy makes you wiser. |
A little stone overturns a great cart. |
He who excuses, accuses himself. |
Christmas comes but once a year. |
He hangs the May-branch at every door. |
A beetle is a beauty in the eyes of his mother. |
All the honey a bee gathers during its lifetime doesn't sweeten its sting. |
He devil tempts all, but the idle man tempts the devil. |
Arms carry peace. |
Consolation, for the condemned, is to be one of many. |
He who goes slowly goes safely and goes far. |
To have luck needs little wit. |
A gold key opens every door. |
Every glowworm is not a fire. |
Better is an enemy to well. |
Many a one leaves the roast who afterwards longs for the smoke of it. |
A mild sheep is suck by every lamb. |
Have two strings to your bow. |
A sailor must have his eye trained to the rocks and sands as well as the north star. |
Credit is dead, bad pay killed it. |
Hatred renewed is worse than at first. |
He that would heal a wound must not handle it. |
A book whos sale's forbidden all men rush to see, and prohibition turns one reader into three. |
Every man is nearest himself. |
Marriages are not as they are made, but as they turn out. |
Better give a penny then lend twenty. |
It is no use crying over spilt milk. |
He who has a glass roof should not throw stones at his neighbour's. |
A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions. |
Hard with hard makes not the stone wall. |
A voluntary burthen is no burthen. |
Every one can navigate in fine weather. |
Three women and a goose make a market. |
Happiness that lasts too long spoils the heart. |
As the snow melts the filth shows through. |
Criticizing another's garden doesn't keep the weeds out of your own. |
A liar is sooner caught than a cripple. |
Grief pent up will burst the heart. |
Every one gives himself credit for more brains than he has, and less money. |
He who has a tongue, may go to Rome. |
Better be the head of a cat than the tail of a lion. |
Misfortune does not always result in harm. |
There's no smoke with fire. |
A bad agreement is better than a good lawsuit. |
Speak not ill of the year until it is past. |
Great cry and little wool, as the man said who shaved the sow. |
Curses are like processions: they return to whence they set out. |
Every one thinks himself without sin because he has not those of others. |
Many are brave when the enemy flies. |
He who has money to throw away, let him employ workmen, and not stand by. |
Misfortunes, when asleep, are not to be awakened. |
A rakish bachelor makes a jealous husband. |
Mouth shut and eyes open. |
Every rose has its thorn. |
A mouse will scare a thief. |
For the flying enemy a golden bridge. |
Faith in a lord, a cap for the fool. |
Love knows not labour. |
Love me love my dog. |
Love rules without law. |
Love is master of all arts. |
Love rules without rules. |
Love levels all inequalities. |
Love is blind but sees afar. |
Lovers think others are blind. |
Love me little and love me long. |
Love your friend with his faults. |
Love kills time and time kills love. |
Love is an excuse for its own faults. |
Love and lordship like no fellowship. |
Lovers' purses are tied with cobwebs. |
Love demands faith, and faith firmness. |
Love rules his kingdom without a sword. |
Love, a cough, and smoke, are hard to hide. |
Love is the true price at which love is bought. |
Love's merchandise is jealousy and broken faith. |
Love begins with song and music and ends in a sea of tears. |
Love, should i escape your snares, i doubt that i can be trapped by any other means. |
Who loves the tree loves the branch. |
A lover's anger is short-lived. |
Who loves, fears. |
Who loves, believes. |
Anger increases love. |
True love never grows old. |
Where love is there the eye is. |
He loves well who does not forget. |
Counsel is nothing against love. |
As is the lover so is the beloved. |
Let him not be a lover who has not courage. |
Absence is the enemy of love. |
Likeness is the mother of love. |
There is no love like the first love. |
Who loves well chastises well. |
He who is not impatient is not in love. |
He saith little that loveth much. |
The man who loves is easy of belief. |
In the war of love who flies conquers. |
There is no love without jealousy. |
Who suffers from love, feels no pain. |
Who loves to roam may lose his home. |
We love the treason but hate the traitor. |
The cat loves fish, but is loth to wet her feet. |
Choose neither a lover nor linen by candlelight. |
Happy is she who is in love with an old dotard. |
Who has no children does not know what love is. |
The more physical the love, the more sublime. |
Everyone loves justice in the affairs of another. |
Absence is a foe to love; out of sight out of mind. |
Where there is great love there is great pain. |
Who has love in his heart has spurs in his sides. |
Does your neighbour love you? Lend him a sequin. |
You will not be loved if you think of yourself alone. |
The purse of loved ones is tied with a gossamer thread. |
It is better to have a husband without love than jealous. |
It is all one whether you die of sickness or of love. |
Where there is equality there never can be perfect love. |
In a thousand pounds of law there is not one ounce of love. |
If you want to buy love, love itself is the price you'll have to pay. |
Absence is a foe to love; away from the eyes, away from the heart. |
A woman who loves to be at the window is like a bunch of grapes on the wayside. |
Vexations, duly borne, Are but as trials, which heaven's love to man Sends for his good. |
Hard work never did anyone any harm. |
A cask of wine works more miracles than a church full of saints. |
He who would rest must work. |
Every excuse is good, if it works. |
All saints do not work miracles. |
He who works by himself does the work of three. |
If I sleep, I sleep for myself; if I work, I know not for whom. |
The workman is known by his work. |
If you would have your work ill done, pay beforehand. |
The end praises the work. |
It is not the long day, but the heart that does the work. |
Don't believe in the saint unless he works miracles. |
At the end of the work you may judge of the workmen. |
The saint has no believers unless he works miracles. |
If the hours are long enough and the pay is short enough, someone will say it's women's work. |
He cries wine, and sells vinegar. |
A meal without wine is like a day without sunshine. |
When wine sinks, words swim. |
Thick wine is better than clear water. |
Beware of the vinegar of sweet wine. |
Sometimes the lees are better than the wine. |
When wine enters modesty departs. |
Beware of vinegar made of sweet wine. |
In wine there is truth. |
Wine is old men's milk. |
Good wine needs no bush. |
The cask can give no other wine that that it contains. |
Drink water like an ox, wine like the king of Spain. |
He who likes drinking is always talking of wine. |
When the wine is in, the wit is out. |
Good wine makes good blood. |
Old wine and friends improve with age. |
When wine comes in, modesty leaves. |
He that makes himself dirt is trod on by the swine. |
Strong is the vinegar of sweet wine. |
Drink wine and let water go to the mill. |
When the wine's in the wit's out. |
He is a fool who boasts of four things: that he has good wine, a good horse, a handsome wife, and plenty of money. |
Friends tie their purses with a spider's web. |
Friends are known in time of need. |
Friendships are cheap when they can be brought by doffing the hat. |
Friendship should be unpicked, not rent. |
Friends are like fiddle-strings; they must not be screwed too tight. |
Friends in need are friends indeed. |
Better one true friend than a hundred relatives. |
To preserve friendship, one must build walls. |
A true friend, is one that will take a bullet for you in the war. |
Peel a fig for your friend, a peach for your enemy. |
Give your friend a pig and your enemy a peach. |
Who would have many friends let him test but few. |
A clear bargain, a dear friend. |
The unfortunate know who are their real friends. |
God keep me from my friends, from my enemies I will keep myself. |
Rather have a little one for your friend, than a great one for your enemy. |
Everybody's friend, nobody's friend. |
When a friend asks, there is no tomorrow. |
Beat the churl and he will be your friend. |
Reconciled friendship is a wound ill salved. |
The priest's friend loses his faith, the doctor's his health, and the lawyer's his fortune. |
It is good to have friends everywhere. |
You will never have a friend if you must have one without faults. |
A friend is not known till he is lost. |
Money and friendship break the arms of justice. |
One enemy is too many, and a hundred friends are too few. |
Save us from our friends. |
When good cheer is lacking, our friends will be packing. |
A friend, and look to thyself. |
One enemy is too much for a man, and a hundred friends too few. |
Where shall a man have a worse friend than he brings from home. |
Speak well of your friend; of your enemy neither well nor ill. |
Old friends are always new. |
Beat the rogue and he will be your friend. |
The friendship of the great is fraternity with lions. |
One enemy is too much, and a hundred friends are not enough. |
The poor is hated by his neighbour, but the rich hath many friends. |
You can live without a brother but not without a friend. |
Small rain lays a great wind. |
Everyone thinks his own cross is heaviest. |
God helps him who helps himself. |
A cat that licks the spit is not to be trusted with roast meat. |
Even the fool says a wise word sometimes. |
Secrecy is the beginning of tyranny. |
He that is busy is tempted but by one devil, he that is idle by a legion. |
A man of words and not of deeds Is like a garden full of weeds. |
Don't play with the bear if you don't want to be bit. |
It is no time to play chess when the house is on fire. |
Blessed is the misfortune that comes alone. |
Who has never done thinking never begins doing. |
A gift delayed, and long expected, is not given, but sold dear. |
He that has time, has life. |
Who excuses himself accuses himself. |
A closed mouth catches no flies. |
Every ten years one man has need of another. |
Good watch prevents misfortune. |
Better alone than in bad company. |
Delays are dangerous. |
There goes more to marriage than four bare legs in a bed. |
He who holds a ladder is as bad as the thief. |
Never do that by proxy which you can do yourself. |
A jade eats as much as a good horse. |
The house completed, possession defeated. |
Every time history repeats itself the price goes up. |
Asking costs little. |
Dirty water will quench fire. |
If only I were a bird! Ah, but eating caterpillars? If someone betrays you once, it's his fault. If he betrays you twice, it's your fault. |
If the young man knew, if the old man could, there is nothing but would be done. |
The world is for him who has patience. |
Good company on the road is the shortest of short cuts. |
He who is born with a weak intellect and a goiter can never be cured. |
All is not butter that comes from the cow. |
For an honest man half his wits are enough; the whole is too little for a knave. |
I will do what I can, and a little less, to be able to continue at it. |
Never rub your eye but with your elbow. |
A woman who cries, a man who swears, a horse that sweats, all imposture. |
The tongue goes to where the tooth aches. |
Bend the tree while it is young. |
God sends us the meat, but it is the Devil who sends us cooks. |
Every vine must have its stake. |
He who is the offender is never the forgiver. |
A heavy shower is soon over. |
I protect myself from my enemies; may God protect me from my friends. Italian Proverb in English |
The same fire purifies gold and consumes straw. |
Do not give the dog bread every time he wags his tail. |
God save me from him who studies but one book. |
No day in which you learn something is a complete loss. |
Hunger is the best sauce. |
A good anvil fears no hammer. |
Fools live poor to die rich. |
A new net won't catch an old bird. |
He who knows nothing doubts nothing. |
Everything is good for something. |
Blows are not given upon conditions. |
Imagination gallops, judgment merely walks. |
The pitcher that goes often to the fountain leaves there either its handle or its spout. |
At a great pennyworth pause awhile. |
Fortune comes to him who strives for it. |
No sooner is the law made than its evasion is discovered. |
The apple does not fall far from the tree. |
Honest men marry soon, wise men never. |
God heals and the doctor has the thanks. |
Because of a period, Martin lost his post. |
The just man may sin with an open chest of gold before him. |
He who laughs too much, is hiding his grief. |
Flies don't light on a boiling pot. |
Hell is crowded with ungrateful wretches. |
A burden which one chooses is not felt. |
Four eyes see more than two. |
Does your neighbor bore you? Lend him some money. |
The hardest step is that over the threshold. |
Everything must have a beginning. |
Hear the other side, and believe little. |
Not everything that is bad comes to hurt us. |
Go early to market and as late as you can to battle. |
A fat kitchen, a lean testament. |
One door never shuts but another opens. |
The fortress that parleys soon surrenders. |
Feed a cold and starve a fever. |
He who loses is always in fault. |
Evil does are evil dreaders. |
Giving is fishing. |
Rather an ass that carries than a horse that throws. |
Of three things the devil makes a salad: advocate's tongues, notaries' fingers, and a third that shall be nameless. |
He would slaughter a bug to drink its blood. |
At table bashfulness is out of place. |
Friends may meet, but mountains never greet. |
Pay beforehand was never well served. |
Preventing someone from falling is better than helping him get up. |
The dog that is quarrelsome and not strong, woe to his hide. |
Be the same thing that ye wa'd be ca'd. |
He would be a good one to send for death. |
A hundred years cannot repair a moment's loss of honour. |
He who mentions Siena mentions the Palio. |
Give the priest drink, for the clerk is thirsty. |
Dogs bark at hose they don't know. |
The best is the enemy of the good. |
He who would enjoy the feast should fast on the eve. |
Savings are the first gain. |
Pluck the rose and leave the thorns. |
Experience without learning is better than learning without experience. |
A proud pauper and a rich miser are contemptible beings. |
It is a bad thing to be a knave, but worse to be known for one. |
Self exaltation is the fool's paradise. |
The back door robbeth the house. |
He who says nothing never lies. |
One cannot drink and whistle at the same time. |
Don't break your shins on your neighbors' pots. |
He who wants milk should not sit in the middle of a field and wait for a cow to back up to him. |
Gifts are often losses. |
Poverty wants many things, and avarice all. |
After the storm ends, the sun will shine. |
That priest is a fool who decries his relics. |
Only a fool asks, "What do you want with my wife?" |
The dog that quits barking can get some sleep. |
Six of one, and half a dozen of the other. |
Fair promises bind fools. |
The soldier is well paid for doing mischief. |
Dress up a stick and it does not appear to be a stick. |
Bad is the wool that cannot be died. |
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