Czech proverbs

The Czech Republic is a country in central Europe.

B

 * Ber rád, když dávají.
 * English equivalent: When the pig is proffered, hold up the poke.
 * "Seize the bargain."


 *  Bez práce nejsou koláče.
 * English equivalent: No pain, no gain; Nothing ventured, nothing gained; Without work - there are no kolaches.
 * Source: Šedivý, Ivo Bez práce nejsou koláče (1982)


 * Bude-li v holubníku krm, holubi se sletí.
 * English equivalent: He that makes himself an ass must not take it ill if men ride him.
 * "People get to upset when you don't let them use you."
 * ''Hurt Feelings'", Facebook-blog (2019)


 * Hlubší voda kalná, jen když se mele.
 * English equivalent: Crooked logs make straight fires.


 * Bůh dá den, Bůh dá pokrm.
 * English equivalent: Each day brings it own bread.


 * Bůh neopustí toho, kdo se naň spustí.
 * English equivalent: He who serves God has a good master.
 * "The greatest weakness of all weaknesses is to fear too much to appear weak."
 * Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, Politique Tirée de l'Écriture Sainte (Politics Drawn from the Very Words of Holy Scripture) (1679 - published 1709).


 * Bůh območí, Bůh též osuší.
 * English equivalent:God who gives the wound gives the salve.
 * "Of what use to destroy the children of evil? It is evil itself we must destroy at the roots."
 * Eleanor Farjeon, Martin Pippin in the Apple Orchard (1922)
 * Allen Newell and Herbert Simon, (1975) Computer Science as Empirical Inquiry: Symbols and Search. Turing Award Lecture. p. 122


 * Bůh trojici miluje.
 * English equivalent: All good things are three.-


 * Byl v Říme a papeže neviděl.
 * English equivalent: He was in Rome and did not see the pope.

C

 * Chudoba cti netratí.
 * English equivalent: Poverty is no crime.


 * Chudobná to myš, co jen jednu díru má.
 * English equivalent: It is a poor mouse that has only one hole.


 * Chceš-li z pole bráti, musíš na ně dáti.
 * English equivalent: Plough deep while sluggards sleep, and you will have corn to sell and keep.
 * "Never give in — never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."
 * Winston Churchill, Speech given at Harrow School, Harrow, England, October 29, 1941. Quoted in Churchill by Himself (2008), ed. Langworth, PublicAffairs, 2008, p. 23 ISBN 1586486381


 * Co je napsáno, to nesmyješ.
 * English equivalent: The written word remains.


 * Co máme, rádi dáme.
 * English equivalent: You are welcome to all we have.
 * "With the surge of refugees, the mission field is coming to us, and many of those who come are from nations closed to traditional missions. Wouldn’t it be just like God to turn a bad situation into something good and full of glory?"
 * Got questions? Retrieved 23-10-2017


 * Co můžeš udělat dnes, neodkládej na zítřek.
 * English equivalent: Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.


 * Co se doma uvaří, má se doma sníst.
 * English equivalent: It is an ill bird that fouls its own nest; Don't wash your dirty linen in public.
 * "Those who are late to act, arrive, or get up tend to miss opportunities already seized by those who came earlier."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:


 * Co se lehce nabude, snadno se pozbude.
 * English equivalent: Easy come, easy go.
 * "Things that are easily acquired, especially money, are just as easily lost or spent."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:


 * Co si naseješ, to žáti budeš.
 * English equivalent: What you reap is what you sow.


 * Co oči nevidí, srdce nebolí.
 * What eyes don´t see, heart doesn´t hurt.

Č

 * Čas jsou peníze.
 * English equivalent: Time is money.

Č

 * Častá krůpěj kameny proráží.
 * English equivalent: Frequent hail breaks through the stone.
 * Quoted in 7 Czech Proverbs You’ve Probably Never Heard Of (2023).: Consistent and determined effort can overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles or challenges, just like the rain can break through the stone.


 * Čiň čertu dobře, peklem se ti odmění.
 * English equivalent: Ingratitude is the world's reward.
 * Source:


 * Čeho nelze předělati, darmo na to žehrati.
 * English equivalent: Take the world as you find it.
 * "We should not plan and then try to make circumstances fit those plans. Instead we should make plans fit the circumstances."
 * George S. Patton, War as I Knew It (1947)

D

 * Dlouhý jazyk, krátké ruce.
 * English equivalent: A long tongue is a sign of a short hand.


 * Dvakrát měř, jednou řež.
 * Measure twice, cut once.
 * Quoted in collected works of Karolina Světlá, p 155 (1903).: Measure twice, cut once; before you speak, think over again at least once what you intend to say.


 * Darovanému koni na zuby nehleď.
 * English equivalent: Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
 * Source for meaning:
 * Quoted in collected works of Jan Evangelista Purkyně, p 55 (1968): Einem geschenkten Gaul - a variant of the Czech proverb: Don't look at a gift horse's teeth.


 * Dáš-li prst, vezme hrst.
 * English equivalent: Give him an inch and he will take a yard.
 * Source:


 * Dobrá vůle stojí za skutek.
 * English equivalent: Take the will for the deed.


 * Dobré jméno, nejlepší dědictví.
 * English equivalent: A good name is the best of all treasures.


 * Do zavřených úst nevletí moucha.
 * English equivalent: A closed mouth catches no flies.

E

 * Čeho nelze předělati, darmo na to žehrati.
 * English equivalent: Gnaw the bone which is fallen to thy lot.

H

 * Hlas lidu, hlas boží.
 * English equivalent: The voice of the people is the voice of god.
 * "We have now reached the point where every goon with a grievance, every bitter bigot, merely has to place the prefix, 'I know this is not politically correct, but...' in front of the usual string of insults in order to be not just safe from criticism, but actually a card, a lad, even a hero. Conversely, to talk about poverty and inequality, to draw attention to the reality that discrimination and injustice are still facts of life, is to commit the sin of political correctness. Anti-PC has become the latest cover for creeps. It is a godsend for every curmudgeon and crank, from fascists to the merely smug."
 * Fintan O'Toole, The Irish Times, (1994)
 * Hul skéro.
 * English equivalent: Seize the day.
 * English equivalent: Seize the day.

CH

 * Chceš-li tajnou vĕc aneb pravdu vyzvĕdĕti, blázen, dítě, opilý člověk o tom umějí pověděti.
 * English equivalent: Children, fools and drunken men tell the truth.
 * Meaning: Children and fools have no inhibition, and alcohol consumed removes the inhibition against telling the truth that occasionally one would like to keep secret.
 * Source for proverbs and meaning:

J

 * Jablko nepadne daleko od stromu.
 * English equivalent: The apple does not fall far from the tree.
 * Meaning: Children observe daily and — in their behaviour — often follow the example of their parents.
 * Source for proverbs and meaning:


 * Jak k jídlu, tak i k dílu.
 * English equivalent: Quick at meat, quick at work.


 * Jak kdo zaseje, tak také sklidí.
 * English equivalent: As you sow, so shall you reap.


 * Jak se do lesa volá, tak se z lesa ozývá.
 * English equivalent: The way you call into a forest, the way it echoes back.


 * Jak chodí starý rak, mladý se učí tak.
 * Source:


 * Jaká matka, taková dcerka.
 * English equivalent: Like mother, like daughter.
 * Meaning: Daughters may look and behave like their mothers. This is due to inheritance and the example observed closely and rarely.
 * Source for meaning and proverb:


 * Jeden blázen deset jiných nadělá.
 * English equivalent: One fool makes many.


 * Jedna vlaštovka jaro nedělá.
 * English equivalent: A swallow makes no summer.


 * Jiné má na srdci a jiné na jazyku.
 * English equivalent: A honey tongue and a heart of gall.

K

 * Každý ptáček svým nosem se živí.
 * English equivalent: Every tub must stand on its own bottom


 * Kde tě nesvrbí, nedrbej.
 * English equivalent: If the shoe fits, wear it.
 * "It is a fool's prerogative to utter truths that no one else will speak."
 * Neil Gaiman, Dream Country. (1991)


 * Kdo chce příliš mnoho, nemívá nic.
 * English equivalent: Grasp all, lose all.


 * Kdo chce psa bít, hůl si vždycky najde.
 * English equivalent: A stick is easily found to beat a dog.


 * Kdo do nebe plije, na jeho vlastní tvář slina bije.
 * English equivalent: He who digs a pit for others, will fall in it himself.


 * Kdo dřív přijde, ten dřív mele.
 * English equivalent: First come, first served.
 * "Those who arrive or apply earliest are most likely to get what they want from a limited supply of things, such as tickets, discounted goods or refreshments."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:
 * Quoted by Božena Němcová in Babička (1855) (p 39 in 1950 reedition).


 * Kdo hosta rád vidí, i psa jeho nakrmí.
 * English equivalent: love me, love my dog.
 * Meaning: If you love someone, you will like virtually everything about him.


 * Kdo nemá v hlavĕ, musí míti v nohou.
 * English equivalent: Who falls short in the head must be long in the heels.


 * Kdo se směje naposled, ten se směje nejlépe.
 * English equivalent: He laughs best who laughs last.
 * "Minor successes or failures along the way are of no significance – the person who is ultimately triumphant is the only real winner."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:


 * Kdo si panskou lásku chválí, čímsi nejistým se šálí.
 * English equivalent: A king's favour is no inheritance.


 * Kdo uteče, ten vyhraje.
 * English equivalent: He who fights and runs away may live to fight another day.
 * "It is wiser to withdraw from a situation that you cannot win than to go on fighting and lose – by a strategic retreat you can return to the battle or argument with renewed energy at a later date."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:


 * Ke všem musíš rovnost míti, chceš-li spravedlivým soudcem býti.
 * English equivalent: Don't hear one and judge two.


 * Kočka myši nenechá, liška slepic a vlk ovec.
 * English equivalent: What is bred in the bone will not go out of the flesh.
 * Meaning: What is innate is not to be eradicated by force of education or self discipline: these may modify the outward manifestations of a man's nature, but not transmute the nature itself.
 * Source for meaning:
 * Source for meaning:


 * Kočku pohladíš-li, hned ocas zdvíhá.
 * English equivalent: The more you stroke the cat's tail, the more he raises his back.


 * Koho pán potrestati chce, nejprv mu rozum vezme.
 * English equivalent: Whom God will destroy, he first make mad.


 * Kolik jazyků znáš, tolikrát jsi člověkem.
 * As many languages you know, as many times you are a human being.
 * Meaning: The more languages you know, the broader is your mentality.
 * Translation of the original quote by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), German writer and statesman: Wie viele Sprachen du sprichst, sooft mal bist du Mensch. Wie viele Sprachen du sprichst, sooft mal bist du Mensch radio.cz[unreliable source?]
 * Translation by Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850–1937), co-founder and first president of Czechoslovakia. Quoted in Český jazyk a literatura (Czech Language and Literature), Volume 56, Issues 1-5, p 54 (2006): Masaryk's As many languages you know, as many times you are a human being does not refer only to the ability to communicate in different languages, but also the ability to share in various spiritual spheres of different cultures.


 * Komu není rady, tomu není pomoci.
 * English equivalent: He that will not be counseled cannot be helped.


 * Kovářova kobyla chodí bosa.
 * English equivalent: The shoemaker goes barefoot.
 * Meaning: "Working hard for others one may neglect one's own needs or the needs of those closest to him."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:
 * Quoted by Karel Poláček in Hedvika a Ludvík (1931) (p 41 in 1993 reedition)


 * Kradl zloděj, kradl, až z šibeničky spadl.
 * English equivalent: Punishment is lame but it comes.
 * "The truth can wait, for it lives a long life."
 * Arthur Schopenhauer, Willen in der Natur in the chapter Einleitung (1836).
 * "Some day Love shall claim his own Some day Right ascend his throne, Some day hidden Truth be known; Some day—some sweet day."
 * Lewis J. Bates, Some Sweet Day


 * Krátké porovnání lepŝí, než dlouhé sporování.
 * English equivalent: A bad compromise is better than a good lawsuit.


 * Kůn má čtyři nohy a klopýtne.
 * English equivalent: It is a good horse that never stumbles.

L

 * Láska prochází žaludkem.
 * English equivalent: The way to a man's heart is through his stomach.


 * Lékaři, uzdrav se sám!
 * English equivalent: Physician, heal yourself!


 * Lépe pozdě než nikdy.
 * English equivalent: Better late than never.


 * Lépe je více věděti a méně mluviti.
 * English equivalent: Keep your mouth shut and your ears open.


 * Lépe míti sto přátel, než jednoho nepřítele.
 * English equivalent: Do not think that one enemy is insignificant, or that a thousand friends are too many.


 * Lepší doma krajíc chleba než v cizině kráva celá.
 * English equivalent: Dry bread at home is better than roast meat abroad.


 * Lež má krátké nohy.
 * English equivalent: A lie has no legs.


 * Lepši jedno dnes, než dvoje zítra.
 * English equivalent: One today is worth two tomorrows.


 * Lepší málo, než nic.
 * English equivalent: Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow.


 * Lepší vrabec v hrsti než holub na střeše.
 * English equivalent A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
 * Meaning: "Something you have for certain now is of more value than something better you may get, especially if you risk losing what you have in order to get it."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:
 * Quoted in correspondence between Josef Florian and Staša Jílovská (1919-1922, published 1993, p 82).


 * Lépe jest v samotě býti, nežli spolek se zlými míti.
 * English equivalent: Better be alone than in bad company.
 * Source:


 * Lžeš-li, nepřepínej.
 * English equivalent: A liar should have a good memory.
 * Meaning: "Liars must remember the untruths they have told, to avoid contradicting themselves at some later date."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:

M

 * Malé ryby taky ryby.
 * English equivalent: Better a bad bush than no shelter.


 * Mnoho povolaných, málo vyvolených.
 * English equivalent: Many are called but few are chosen.
 * "It is not enough for a wise man to study nature and truth; he should dare state truth for the benefit of the few who are willing and able to think. As for the rest, who are voluntarily slaves of prejudice, they can no more attain truth, than frogs can fly."
 * Julien Offray de La Mettrie, Man a Machine (1747)


 * Modlí se před kaplí a čert mu sedí v kápi. (= Zdání klame.)
 * English equivalent: A fair face and a foul heart.

N

 * Na boha se spolehni, ale sám se přičiň.
 * English equivalent: Heaven helps those who help themselves.
 * Meaning: When in trouble first of all every one himself should do his best to improve his condition.
 * Source for meaning:
 * Source:


 * Na dluženém koni nedobře se jezdí.
 * English equivalent: Take heed of enemies reconciled and of meat twice boiled.
 * "I do believe, Induced by potent circumstances, that You are mine enemy; and make my challenge You shall not be my judge."
 * William Shakespeare, Henry VIII (c. 1613), Act II, scene 4, line 76.


 * Na každém šprochu pravdy trochu.
 * English equivalent: There is no smoke without fire.
 * Quoted by Jan Cimický in Trápení lásky, p 29 (2007): Why, in every piece of gossip is a bit of truth! Such a stupid affair! Is it possible at all to explain that it isn't true, that they are only writing it as they need something to write about, so as to earn more by banner headlines and sell the biggest possible print run of the tabloid?


 * Na pohled orel a rozum tetřeví.
 * English equivalent: Judge not a man and things at first sight.


 * Na ptáky lepem, ne cepem.
 * English equivalent: Deal gently with the bird you mean to catch.


 * Na tvrdý špalek tvrdý klín.
 * English equivalent: You must meet roughness with roughness.


 * Ne proto vlka biji, že šerý, ale proto že ovci snědl.
 * English equivalent: The sin is not in the sinning, but in the being found out.


 * Nebuď zvědavý, budeš brzy starý.
 * English equivalent: Curiosity killed the cat.
 * Meaning: "Inquisitiveness – or a desire to find about something – can lead you into trouble."


 * Nehas, co tě nepálí.
 * English equivalent: Mind your own business.
 * "There is nothing so easy as to be wise for others ; a species of prodigality, by the by — for such wisdom is wholly wasted."
 * Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Romance and Reality (1831), Vol. I chapter 15
 * Meaning: Don't get involved into other peoples' problems. The underlying meaning is either not to poke one's nose into other peoples' business, but more often it is meant as a controversial advice not to waste one's effort on issues that are indifferent to one (or might even cause hardship to one).


 * Nemoc na koni přijíždí a pěšky odchází.
 * English equivalent: Misfortune comes on horseback and goes away on foot.


 * Nekupuj zajíce v pytli.
 * English equivalent: Let the buyer have a thousand eyes for the seller wants only one.


 * Není štěstí bez závisti.
 * English equivalent: Envy always shooteth at a high mark.
 * "In a consumer society there are inevitably two kinds of slaves: the prisoners of addiction and the prisoners of envy."
 * Ivan Illich, Tools for Conviviality, Chapter 3 (1973).


 * Není všechno zlato, co se třpytí.
 * English equivalent: All that glitters is not gold.
 * Meaning: An attractive appearance may be deceptive. It may cover or hide a much less favourable content.
 * Source for meaning:


 * Nepřidávej oleje k ohni.
 * English equivalent: Don't add fuel to the fire.
 * Meaning: One should not make a bad situation even worse by an improper remark.
 * Source for meaning and proverbs:


 * Neptej se starého, ptej se zkušeného.
 * Do not ask the old, ask an experienced.


 * Nevěř slovům, věř skutkům.
 * English equivalent: No need of words, trust deeds.
 * "Actions may be, and indeed sometimes are deceptive in a measure though not as much so as words; and accordingly are received in general as more full and satisfactory proofs of the real disposition and character of persons than verbal expressions."
 * Source for meaning:


 * Nežeň se očima, ale ušima.
 * English equivalent: Choose a wife rather by your ear than your eye.
 * "The tragedy of marriage is that while all women marry thinking that their man will change, all men marry believing their wife will never change."
 * Len Deighton, London Match (London: Hutchinson, 1985) p. 18.
 * "By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher."
 * A quote parahrasing Socrates on why he was in a bad marriage.
 * Xenophone, Symposium (~ 360 BC)


 * Nové koště dobře mete.
 * English equivalent: New brooms sweep clean.
 * Meaning: Newcomers are the most ambitious.

O

 * Obecná řeč, obecná pravda.
 * English equivalent: What everyone says must be true.


 * Oko hledí daleko, a mysl ještě dále.
 * English equivalent: The eye looks but it is the mind that sees.
 * "How can I tell', said the man, 'that the past isn't a fiction designed to account for the discrepancy between my immediate physical sensations and my state of mind'?
 * Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #2) (1980)


 * Otep nepřelomíš, a po prutu všecku zlámeš.
 * English equivalent: United we stand, divided we fall; Union is strength.

P

 * Pes, který štěká, nekouše.
 * English equivalent: Barking dogs seldom bite.
 * Meaning: People who make the most or the loudest threats are the least likely to take action.
 * Source for meaning:


 * Plavce topí moře a nás zasypuje hoře.
 * English equivalent: Fretting cares make grey hairs.
 * Source for proverb:


 * Po bitvě je každý generálem.
 * After a battle everyone is a general.
 * English equivalent: If things were to be done twice, all would be wise.


 * Pozdě, ale přece.
 * English equivalent: Better late than never.
 * Meaning: "It is better that somebody arrives or something happens later than expected or desired, than not at all."
 * Source for meaning:


 * Prázdný klas vysoko hlavu nese.
 * English equivalent: It is not the hen that cackles the most that lay the most eggs.
 * Meaning: It is not the one who advertises for himself the most that can achieve the greatest results.


 * Pravdu každý chválí, ale nekaždý ji brání.


 * Pýcha předchází pád.
 * English equivalent: Pride comes before the fall.
 * "Of all the causes which conspire to blind Man's erring judgment, and misguide the mind; What the weak head with strongest bias rules, — Is pride, the never-failing vice of fools."
 * Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism (1711)

R

 * Ranní ptáče dál doskáče.
 * English equivalent: The early bird catches the worm.
 * Quoted by Robert Tilley in Fit for Business English, p 65 (2005).


 * Ráno moudřejší večera.
 * English equivalent: Morning is wiser than the evening.
 * Quoted by Miloslav Rechcígl in Czechmate: From Bohemian Paradise to American Haven, p 53 (2011)


 * Rozděl a panuj.
 * English equivalent: Divide and conquer.
 * "The best way to conquer or control a group of people is by encouraging them to fight among themselves rather than allowing them to unite in opposition to the ruling authority."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:


 * Ryba smrdí od hlavy.
 * English equivalent: A fish stinks from the head.
 * "A corrupting influence often spreads from a leader to the rest of the organization group."
 * Source for meaning:
 * Quoted by Ota Šik in Jarní probuzení - a skutečnost: iluze (1989) (p 152 in 1990 reedition): I often phrased it so that the reader could make out who I meant and that - according to a Czech proverb - a fish stinks from the head.

S

 * S chutí do toho a půl je hotovo.
 * English equivalent: Well begun is half done.


 * S poctivostí nejdál dojdeš.
 * English equivalent: Honesty is the best policy.
 * Meaning: "Being honest or telling the truth is always the wisest course of action."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:


 * Sám se udává, kdo se bez potřeby vymlouvá.
 * English equivalent: A guilty conscience needs no accuser.
 * Meaning: "People who know they have done wrong reveal their guilt by the things they say or the way they interpret what other people say."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:


 * Sdílené neštěstí je poloviční neštěstí.
 * English equivalent: Misery loves company.


 * Ševcova žena chodí bosá.
 * English equivalent: The cobbler's wife is the worst shod.
 * Meaning: "Working hard for others one may neglect one's own needs or the needs of those closest to him."
 * Source for proverbs and meaning:


 * Strach má velké oči.
 * Translation: Fear has big eyes.
 * "Let us be of good cheer, however, remembering that the misfortunes hardest to bear are those which never come."
 * James Russell Lowell, Democracy and Addresses, Democracy. (1884)


 * Strpení přináší spasení.
 * English equivalent: Salvation comes from the cross.

T

 * Tak dlouho se chodí se džbánem pro vodu, až se ucho utrhne.
 * Translation: One goes to fetch water with a jug for so long, until the handle breaks away.
 * English equivalent: The pitcher goes so often to the well that it is broken at last.
 * Meaning: One keeps doing something risky until the risk actually happens.
 * Quoted in Literární měsíčník (Literary Monthly), Volumes 1-5, p 111 (1988): Pavel Pípal kept trying to persuade the landlady that one day it would surely come out and argued using the popular slogan that one goes to fetch water with a jug for so long, until the handle breaks away.


 * Tichá voda břehy mele.
 * Translation: Silent water grinds the banks.
 * English equivalent: Still water runs deep.
 * Meaning: "Slow but steady work can achieve much." or "That a man says little does not mean that he does not think profoundly."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:
 * Quoted in Volume 14 of Collected Works of Josef Kajetán Tyl, p 60 (1859):  'But silent water grinds the banks,' the maid butted in, 'and I bet anything that Mr Vencl doesn't go to church so early each Sunday without a cause.' 


 * Tĕžko z kamene olej vytlačiti.
 * Translation: You cannot flay a stone.
 * English equivalent: You cannot get blood from a stone.


 * Tonoucí se i stébla slámy chytá.
 * English equivalent: A drowning man plucks at a straw.


 * Trpělivost růže přináší.
 * Translation: Patience brings roses.
 * English equivalent: Patience is the best remedy.
 * Quoted by Roman Chmel in Otázky a odpovědi o porodu (Questions and answers about childbirth), p 107 (2nd, amended and updated edition, 2008): They say that patience brings roses. Remember this proverb when pre-induction seems long to you.


 * Tvrd kozel dojiti.
 * English equivalent: You can't milk a bull.

V

 * V práci a vědění je naše spasení.
 * Translation: At work and knowledge is our salvation.


 * Važ si toho, co máš.


 * Ve dvou se to lépe táhne.
 * English equivalent: Many hands make light work.


 * Ve vlastní při nikdo soudcem býti nemůže.
 * Translation: No one can be the judge in his own trial.
 * English equivalent: No one can be the judge in his own case.


 * Vlas má svůj stín.
 * Translation: The hair has its shadow.
 * English equivalent: Every hair casts its shadow.


 * Vrána vráně oka nevyklove.
 * English equivalent: Crows do not pick out crow's eyes.
 * Meaning: "One belonging to a group having common interests is not likely to act against or find fault with another member of the same group. Solidarity may prevail over law, justice or truth."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:

Z

 * Z ničeho nebude nic.
 * English equivalent: From nothing nothing can come.


 * Za nic zas nic koupíš.
 * English equivalent: You can't get something for nothing.


 * Zakázané ovoce chutná nejlépe.
 * Translation: Forbidden fruit tastes best.
 * English equivalent: Forbidden fruit is sweet.
 * "Things that you must not have or do are always the most desirable."


 * Závist se po živých ráda vozí.
 * English equivalent: Envy takes no holiday.
 * "As we are — the world is. That is, if we are greedy, envious, competitive, our society will be competitive, envious, greedy, which brings misery and war. The State is what we are. To bring about order and peace, we must begin with ourselves and not with society, not with the State, for the world is ourselves … If we would bring about a sane and happy society we must begin with ourselves and not with another, not outside of ourselves, but with ourselves."
 * Jiddu Krishnamurti, Second Public Talk at Ojai (21 May 1944)


 * Zdání klame.
 * Translation: Appearances are deceiving.
 * English equivalent: Never judge by appearances; Judge not a man and things at first sight.
 * "Things are not always as they seem, and you can not necessarily trust the evidence of your eyes."


 * Zdraví je největší poklad.
 * English equivalent: Good health is above wealth.
 * "What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world – and loses his health?"
 * Dale Carnegie, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living (1948)


 * Zelezo rez sezira a zavistnik od zavisti umira.
 * English equivalent: Envy is its own torturer.


 * Zlá huba na šíji neuvízne.

Ž

 * Žízeň je věčná.
 * Translation: Thirst is eternal.
 * Žízeň je věčná