Polish proverbs

Polish proverbs are short expressions of popular wisdom from all Polish speaking parts of the world.

A

 * Ani kura za darmo nie gdacze.
 * Even the hen doesn't lay for free.
 * English equivalent: Nothing for nothing.
 * Za dziękuje nic się nie kupuje. (See in the Z section)
 * Your "Thank you" is fine but it will not help me pay my bills.
 * English equivalent: Nothing for nothing.


 * Anielskie usta a szatanskie serce.
 * English equivalent: A honey tongue and a heart of gall.

B

 * Bez potrzeby wymówka, gotowe oskarżenie.
 * English equivalent: A guilty conscience needs no accuser.
 * "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:


 * Biada bez dzieci, biada i z dziećmi.
 * English equivalent: Children are uncertain comforts but certain cares.
 * "Children are bound to cause their parents anxiety, and may or may not also bring them joy."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:


 * Bierze wilk i liczone owce.
 * English equivalent: Cats eat what hussies spare.
 * "What a person tries to keep back through meanness is just as likely to be wasted anyway."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:


 * Bóg nie opuści, kto nań się spuści.
 * English equivalent: He who serves God has a good master.


 * Bóg trójcę lubi.
 * English equivalent: All good things are three.


 * Bogaty rzadko sprawiedliwy albo sam, albo jego przodek.
 * English equivalent: No one gets rich quickly if he is honest.


 * Bogu świeczkę, a diabłu ogarek.
 * English equivalent: A fair face and a foul heart.
 * Meaning: Through appeasement, one tries to be friends with opposite sides. One tries to stay neutral when both sides argue/fight/quarrel.


 * Bogu ufaj, a ręki przykładaj.
 * Bóg pomaga temu, który sam rozwiązuje własne problemy.
 * English equivalent: God helps those who help themselves.
 * "When in trouble first of all every one himself should do his best to improve his condition."
 * Source for meaning:
 * Source:


 * Broda nie czyni filozofa.
 * English equivalent: If the beard were all, the goat might preach.


 * Byl w Rzymie, a papieża nie widzial.
 * English equivalent: He was in Rome and did not see the pope.

C

 * Chociaż w ciasnocie, ale w zgodzie.
 * English equivalent: The more the merrier.


 * Chudoba cnoty nie traci.
 * English equivalent: Poverty does not lose its virtue.


 * Ciekawość to pierwszy stopień do piekła. "
 * English equivalent: Curiosity killed the cat.


 * Cierpieć z drugimi lżej.
 * Meaning: Shared misfortune has lesser impact on each individual involved.
 * English equivalent: Misery loves company.


 * Co było, nie wróci.
 * Translation: What was, won't come back.
 * English equivalent: You can't go back there.


 * Okazja na nikogo nie czeka.
 * Meaning: Wait too long and the opportunity is sure to vanish.
 * English equivalent: Time and tide waits for no man.


 * Co lekko przyszło, lekko pójdzie.
 * Łatwo przyszło, łatwo poszło.
 * English equivalent: Easy come, easy go.
 * Meaning: Something good that enters your life easily, will also often leave quickly.


 * Co mnie dziś, tobie jutro.
 * English equivalent: Today me, tomorrow thee.
 * "We make fun of those we're most scared of becoming."
 * Neil Strauss, Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life (2009)


 * Co z jabłoni spadnie, niedaleko upadnie.
 * Niedaleko spada jabłko od jabłoni.
 * 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 meaning:
 * Source for meaning:


 * Coś posiał – zbieraj
 * Kto sieje wiatr, zbiera burzę.
 * Tak się wyśpisz, jak sobie pościelesz.
 * Translation: What you reap is what you sow.
 * Meaning: It is only you who can blame or praise yourself for your ups and downs in life.


 * Cudze ręce lekkie, ale niespore.
 * Translation: Someone else's hands are light, but not big.
 * English equivalent: For what thou canst do thyself, rely not on another.
 * Latin equivalent: Ne quid expectes amicos, quod tute agere possis.
 * Translation: Expect nothing from friends, do what you can do yourself.


 * Cudze wady rychlej niż swoje obaczamy.
 * Meaning: Somebody else's faults and misdeeds are so much easier to spot that our own.
 * English equivalent: First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother's eye.


 * Czasowi ludzie służą.
 * English equivalent: Gnaw the bone which is fallen to thy lot.

D

 * Daj krowie w żłobie, to ona da tobie.
 * English equivalent: It's by the head that the cow gives the milk.


 * Dar za dar, słowa za słowa.
 * English equivalent: You must meet roughness with roughness.


 * Dla chcącego nic trudnego.
 * English equivalent: If there is a will, there is a way.
 * Source needed


 * Do odważnych świat należy.
 * English equivalent: Fortune favours the bold.
 * "Those who act boldly or courageously are most likely to succeed."


 * Do tanga trzeba dwojga.
 * English equivalent: It takes two to tango.
 * "There is a line from the New Testament that does say do not cast pearls before swine. It means that if people are not listening to you, stop talking to them. [When talking to] The one's who aren't listening, pull back. You are devaluing what you have to say by offering it to an audience that does nothing but reject it."
 * Jordan Peterson, Jordan B. Peterson on The 12 Rules of Life (2018)
 * Furiassi, C. The Anglicization of European Lexis, John Benjamins Publishing Company.


 * Dobra psu i mucha.


 * Doczeka się sierpa pokrzywa.
 * Kto pod kim dołki kopie, ten sam w nie wpada.
 * He who digs a pit for others, will fall in it himself.


 * Domowe psy, choć się kąsają, wilka ujrzawszy nań się rzucają.


 * Dobra wola za uczynek stoi.
 * English equivalent: Take the will for the deed.


 * Dobre daleko słychać, a złe jeszcze dalej.
 * Meaning: Good deeds are remembered but bad ones are etched in our memory.
 * Translation: Ingratitude is the world's reward.
 * Source:


 * Dobry początek to połowa roboty.
 * English equivalent: A good beginning makes a good ending; Well begun is half done.
 * "Starting properly ensures the speedy completion of a process. A – beginning is often blocked by one or more obstacles (potential barriers) the removal of which may ensure the smooth course of the process."


 * Dobrymi chęciami jest piekło wybrukowane.
 * English equivalent: The road to hell is paved with good intentions.


 * Doktorze, sam się wylecz!
 * English equivalent: Physician, heal yourself!


 * Dziecko, pijany i głupi zawsze prawdę powie.
 * English equivalent: Children, fools and drunken men tell the truth.
 * "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:

G

 * Gdy idziesz zabijać muchę, nie zabieraj ze sobą armaty.
 * Translation: When out to kill a (house) fly, don't roll out a cannon to accomplish it.
 * Meaning: Adjust your means to your goals. Don't overreact there where less drastic action(s) will suffice.


 * Gdy się człowiek spieszy, to się diabeł cieszy
 * Gdzie człowiek się śpieszy, tam diabeł się cieszy.
 * Translation (loose): There where a man is in a hurry, the devil has a ball/ the devil can score big.
 * Translation: When a man is in a hurry, the devil is merry.
 * English equivalent: Haste makes waste.


 * Gdzie nie można przeskoczyć, tam trzeba podleźć.
 * English equivalent: Skill is better than strength.


 * Gdzie pana kochają, tam i jego pieska głaszczą.
 * Critical remark: This is not a Polish proverb. It is merely an interpretation of the English proverb written in Polish.
 * English equivalent: Love me, love my dog.

''
 * Głaszcz ty kotowi skórę, a on ogon wzgórę.
 * The more you stroke the cat, the more he raises his tail.
 * English equivalent: The more you stroke the cat's tail, the more he raises his back.
 * Głos ludu, głos Boga.'''
 * English equivalent: The voice of the people is the voice of god.


 * Gotowe zdrowie, kto chorobie powie.
 * English equivalent: A problem shared is a problem halved.


 * Gwiazdki z nieba się zachciewa.
 * English equivalent: There is no building bridges across the ocean.
 * "You can't go around building a better world for people. Only people can build a better world for people. Otherwise it's just a cage."
 * Terry Pratchett, Witches Abroad (1991)

H

 * Historia się powtarza.
 * Historia lubi się powtarzać.
 * English equivalent: History repeats itself.

I

 * I cyprysy mają swoje kaprysy.
 * English equivalent: Every fool is pleased with his own folly.


 * I uczony Homer drzemał czasem.
 * English equivalent: Even Homer sometimes nods.

J

 * Jacy rodzice, takie dzieci.
 * English equivalent: As the old cock crows, so crows the young.


 * Jak dają, to bierz.
 * English equivalent: When the pig is proffered, hold up the poke.


 * Jak sobie pościelesz, tak się wyśpisz.
 * English equivalent: As ye sow, so shall ye reap.


 * Jaka matka, taka Katka.
 * English equivalent: Like mother, like daughter.
 * "Daughters may look and behave like their mothers. This is due to inheritance and the example observed closely and daily."


 * Jaką miarką mierzysz, taką ci odmierzą.
 * English equivalent: Judge not lest ye be judged.


 * Jaka płaca, taka praca.
 * Meaning: Higher wages yield better results.
 * English equivalent: You get what you pay for.
 * Similar proverb: Jaka praca, taka płaca.
 * Meaning: Antonym of the above proverb; you are paid well, if you work well.


 * Jaki do jedzenia, taki do roboty.
 * English equivalent: Quick at meat, quick at work.


 * Jaki ojciec, taki syn.
 * English equivalent: Like father, like son.
 * "Sons may look and behave like their fathers. This is due to inheritance and the example observed closely and daily."


 * Jakie przyczyny, takie też skutki.
 * Another proverb in Polish reflecting the same meaning: "Nie ma dymu bez ognia."
 * Translation: Where there is smoke, there is fire.
 * English equivalent: Every why has its wherefore.
 * "Everything has an underlying reason."


 * Jakie pytanie, taka odpowiedź.
 * English equivalent: Just as one calls into the forest, so it echoes back.


 * Kto chce wygrać gąsiora, trzeba ważyć kaczora.
 * English equivalent: Set a herring to catch a whale.


 * Jedna Jaskółka wiosny nie sprawi.


 * Jeśliś szewc, pilnuj swego kopyta!
 * English equivalent: A blind man should not judge of colours.
 * "An uneducated man cannot judge of the attainments of the learned."


 * Jeża nie dotykaj, bo ukłuje.
 * English equivalent: Do not play with edged tools.

K

 * Kłamcy dobrej pamięci i dowcipu prędkiego potrzeba.
 * English equivalent: A liar should have a good memory.
 * "Liars must remember the untruths they have told, to avoid contradicting themselves at some later date."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:


 * Kogo Pan Bóg stworzy, tego nie umorzy.
 * English equivalent: Each day brings it own bread.


 * Komu nie ma rady, temu nie ma pomocy.
 * English equivalent: He that will not be counseled cannot be helped.


 * Kozła doić próżno.
 * English equivalent: You can't milk a bull.


 * Ksiądz prałat tłumaczy, a żyje inaczej.
 * English equivalent: Preachers say: do as I say, not as i do.


 * Kto łaskę pańską szacuje, coś w sobie niepewnego czuje.
 * English equivalent: A king's favour is no inheritance.


 * Kto czeka, ten się doczeka.
 * English equivalent. He that can have patience can have what he will.
 * "If it is humanly possible, consider it within your reach."
 * Marcus Antonius, On Essays and Meditations (180 BC)


 * Kto dwa zające goni, żadnego nie złapie.
 * English equivalent: Grasp all, lose all


 * Kto ma żytko, ma wszystko.
 * English equivalent: Plough deep while sluggards sleep, and you will have corn to sell and keep.
 * "A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labour and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which."
 * L. P. Jacks, Education through Recreation (1932), p. 1.


 * Kto nie idzie naprzód, ten się cofa.
 * English equivalent: He who does not advance goes backwards.


 * Kto nie ma w głowie, musi mieć w nogach.
 * English equivalent: Who falls short in the head must be long in the heels.


 * Kto prawdę gada, wiele slow nie potrzebuje.
 * English equivalent: Truth gives a short answer, lies go round about.
 * "Any author who uses mathematics should always express in ordinary language the meaning of the assumptions he admits, as well as the significance of the results obtained. The more abstract his theory, the more imperative this obligation."
 * Maurice Allais La formation scientifique, Une communication du Prix Nobel d’économie, Maurice Allais (1997).


 * Kto prawdzie dzwoni, taki na guz goni.
 * English equivalent: All truths are not to be told.


 * Kto rano wstaje, temu Pan Bóg daje.
 * German: Morgenstund hat Gold im Mund.
 * English equivalent: Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
 * Meaning: "A lifestyle that involves neither staying up late nor sleeping late is good for body and mind and leads to financial success."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:


 * Kto łaskę pańską szacuje, coś w sobie niepew nego czuje.
 * English equivalent: A king's favour is no inheritance.


 * Kogo Bóg chce skarać, wtedy mu rozum odejmie.
 * English equivalent: Whom God will destroy, he first make mad.


 * Nie kupuj kota w worku.
 * English equivalent: Let the buyer have a thousand eyes for the seller wants only one.


 * Kropla drąży kamień.
 * English equivalent: Constant dropping wears the stone.


 * Kto się ożeni, to się odmieni.
 * English equivalent: Marry and grow tame.


 * Kuj żelazo, póki gorące.
 * English equivalent: Strike while the iron is hot.

L

 * Łakomy wszystkim zły, sobie najgorszy.
 * English equivalent: The covetous man is good to none and worst to himself.


 * Lekarstwo podczas, cięższe niż choroba.
 * English equivalent: The remedy is often worse than the disease.
 * "Action taken to put something right is often more unpleasant or damaging than the original problem."


 * Lepiej nie dosolić, nie przesolić.
 * Translation: Better not to add salt than oversalt.
 * English equivalent: Better underdone than overdone.


 * Lepiej pózno, niż wcale.
 * Translation: Delayed is preferable to never.
 * 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:


 * Lepiej umrzeć stojąc niż żyć na kolanach.
 * Translation: It is better to die standing than to live on your knees.
 * English equivalent: "Death before dishonour."


 * Lepsze jedno dziś, niż dwoje jutro.
 * Translation: Better one today, than two tomorrow.
 * English equivalent: One today is worth two tomorrows.


 * ''Lepsze jest wrogiem dobrego.'
 * English equivalent: "Better is the enemy of good."
 * Meaning: The aim for perfection or mastery might slow down progress.


 * Lepsze imię dobre niźli bogactwa hojne.
 * English equivalent: A good name is the best of all treasures.


 * Lepszy grosz dany niż złoty obiecany.
 * English equivalent: Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow.


 * Lepszy własny chleb niż pożyczona bułka.
 * English equivalent: Dry bread at home is better than roast meat abroad.


 * Lepsza rozwaga niż odwaga.
 * English equivalent: Discretion is the better part of valor.
 * "Confront your enemies, avoid them while you can."
 * Englishman in New York (198X)


 * Lepsze zdrowie niż pieniądze.
 * 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)


 * Lepszy wróbel w garści niż gołąb na dachu
 * Translation: A sparrow in the hand is better than a pigeon on the roof.
 * English equivalent: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.


 * Ludzi słuchaj, a swój rozum miej.
 * Translation: Listen to people, but keep your own wits.
 * English equivalent: Though thou hast ever so many counsellors, yet do not forsake the counsel of thy own soul.

M

 * Mowa wiatr, a pismo grunt.
 * English equivalent: Paper is forbearing.
 * "Paper, they say, does not blush, but I assure you it’s not true and that it’s blushing just as I am now, all over. "
 * Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov (1879–1880)


 * Mowa pospolita, pospolicie prawdziwa.
 * English equivalent: Common fame is seldom to blame.
 * "EVIL. That which one believes of others. It is a sin to believe evil of others, but it is seldom a mistake."
 * H. L. Mencken, A Book of Burlesques (1924), p. 203.


 * Myśl długo, czyń prędko.
 * English equivalent: A closed mouth catches no flies.

N

 * Na grubą gałąź trzeba grubego klina.
 * Example: If someone treats you poorly, you should treat him equally poorly.


 * Na kulawym koniu daleko nie zajedziesz.
 * English equivalent: Take heed of enemies reconciled and of meat twice boiled.


 * Nie chwal dnia przed zachodem słońca.
 * Translation: Don't praise the day before sunset.
 * Meaning: Don't celebrate until you are absolutely sure there is a reason to do so.


 * Nie ma reguły bez wyjątku.
 * English equivalent: There is no rule without an exception.


 * Nie od pracy, ale od złej doli głowa boli.
 * English equivalent: Fretting cares make grey hairs.
 * Source for proverb:


 * Nieza to biją, że ukradł, ale źle schował.
 * English equivalent: The sin is not in the sinning but in the being found out.


 * Nie trzeba dowierzać.
 * English equivalent: Diffidence is the right eye of prudence.


 * Nie wierz słowom, a czynom.
 * Translation: Bear witness to facts, not words.
 * English equivalent: No need of words, trust deeds.
 * Meaning: "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:


 * Nad możność nikogo nie pociagają.
 * English equivalent: Do as you may, if you can't do as you could.


 * Niech się najbardziej wysmuknie sowa, przecie nie dojdzie sokoła.
 * English equivalent: Judge not a man and things at first sight.
 * "No good Book, or good thing of any sort, shows its best face at first."
 * Thomas Carlyle, Essays, "Novalis" (1829)


 * Niecnotliwa zazdrość, chyba w niebie jej nie masz.
 * English equivalent: Envy takes no holiday.


 * Niedaleko pada jabłko od jabłoni.
 * 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:


 * Nie potrzeba ognia do ognia przydawać.
 * 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:


 * Nie przyszła góra do Mahometa, Mahomet przyszedł do góry.
 * English equivalent: If the mountain will not come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain.
 * Meaning: "If you cannot get what you want, you must adapt yourself to the circumstances or adopt a different approach."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:


 * Nie pytaj starego, pytaj bywałego.
 * Translation: Do not ask the old – ask the experienced.


 * Na pochyłe drzewo wszystkie kozy skaczą.
 * Translation: All goats jump onto leaning trees.
 * Meaning: If you leave yourself open to abuse, others will abuse you.
 * English equivalent: If you turn yourself into a doormat, everyone will walk over you.


 * Nic nowego pod słońcem.
 * English equivalent: Nothing is new (under the sun).
 * Meaning: Absolutely everything has been done before.


 * Nie dziel skóry na niedźwiedziu.
 * Translation: Don't share the skin while it's still on the bear.


 * Nie mów „hop”, póki nie przeskoczysz.
 * Translation: Don't say 'up', before you have jumped.
 * English equivalent: Walk the walk, then talk the talk.
 * "I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself."
 * Oscar Wilde, The Good Husband (1895)


 * Nie trzeba dowierzać.
 * English equivalent: Diffidence is the right eye of prudence.
 * Meaning: When forming a belief be doubtful; no one is always right, after all.


 * Nie trzeba dowierzać.
 * English equivalent: Distrust is the mother of safety.
 * Meaning: Trust no one except yourself, and don't trust yourself entirely either. Trust, but verify.


 * Nie wszystko złoto, co się świeci.
 * 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:


 * Nim słońce wzejdzie, rosa oczy wygryzie.
 * English equivalent: While the grass grows the steed starves.
 * Meaning: Dreams or expectations may be realized too late.


 * "Nosił wilk razy kilka, ponieśli i wilka".
 * English equivalent: Long goes the pitcher to the well before it gets broken at last.


 * Nowa miotła dobrze zamiata.
 * English equivalent: "New brooms sweep clean."
 * Meaning: Newcomers are the most ambitious.

O

 * Obiecianki - cacanki.
 * English equivalent: Eggs and oaths are soon broken.


 * Od przybytku głowa nie boli.
 * English equivalent: A store is no sore; Keep a thing seven years and you'll find a use for it.
 * Meaning: "An object that seems useless now may be just what you need at some future time, so do not discard it."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:


 * Od wymysłów jeszcze nikt nie umarł.
 * English equivalent: Hard words break no bones.


 * Odmiana słodzi rzeczy.
 * English equivalent: Variety is the spice of life.
 * Source:


 * Okazja łysa z tyłu, z przodu ją brać trzeba.
 * English equivalent: Opportunity knocks only once.

P

 * Pieniądze szczęścia nie dają.
 * English equivalent: Wealth rarely brings happiness.
 * Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness (1930)


 * Piosnka najprzyjemniejsza każdemu, gdy go chwalą.
 * English equivalent: There is no sound more pleasing than one's owns praises.


 * Po to są pieniądze, aby je wydawać.
 * English equivalent: Money is there to be spent.


 * Poznać błazna i bez dzwonków.
 * Translation: A fool does not need any bells.
 * English equivalent: A tongue of a fool carves a piece of his heart to all that sit near him.


 * Postawić wszystsko na jedną kartę.
 * English equivalent: Don't put all your eggs in the same basket.
 * Meaning: "Spread your risks or investments so that if one enterprise fails you will not lose everything."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:


 * Prawda nie głaszcze.
 * English equivalent: Not all truths are proper to be told.


 * Prawda w winie.
 * English equivalent: In wine there is truth.
 * Latin equivalent: In vino veritas.
 * Meaning: Alcohol consumed removes the inhibition against telling the truth that occasionally one would like to keep secret.
 * Source for meaning and proverbs:


 * Przecież się nie pali.
 * English equivalent: We shall lose nothing by waiting.


 * Kto buja wysoko, bywa próżny.
 * English equivalent: It is not the cow that shouts the loudest that gives the most milk (French).
 * Meaning: It is not he who advertises for himself the most that can achieve the greatest results.


 * Prosta droga najkrótsza.
 * Translation: Fortune favours the bold.


 * Punktualność jest grzecznością królów.
 * English equivalent: Punctuality is the virtue of princes.
 * Tardo amico nihil est quidquam iniquius.
 * "Nothing is more annoying than a tardy friend."
 * Plautus, Panulus, III. 1. 1.


 * Pychy niedobry koniec bywa.
 * Translation: Pride comes before fall.

R

 * Rannego wstania, rannej siejby i rannego ożenienia jeszcze nikt nie żałował.
 * English equivalent: Who has not served cannot command.
 * Meaning: One must have been controlled in the same situation one wishes to properly control others.

S

 * Serce nie kłamie.
 * English equivalent: The heart sees farther than the head.
 * English equivalent: Trust your instincts.
 * Julia Louis-Dreyfus, How She Broke the Seinfeld Curse, Redbook Magazine (2010)


 * Słowa myśl pochłaniają, słowa myśli kłamią.
 * English equivalent: Men talk only to conceal the mind.
 * Source:


 * Słyszy czujny, choć śpi.
 * English equivalent: An ounce of patience is worth a pound of brains.


 * Szanuj honor od młodu.
 * Translation: Old habits die hard.
 * Source:


 * Śpiesz się powoli.
 * English equivalent: Make haste slowly.
 * Latin equivalent: Festina lente.


 * Stara miłość nie rdzewieje.
 * English equivalent: True love never grows old.


 * Starość, nie radość.
 * English equivalent: Age and poverty are ill to bear.


 * Szewc bez butów chodzi.
 * 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:

T

 * Ten się drapie, kogo swędzi.
 * English equivalent: If the shoe fits, wear it.
 * "Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning."
 * Bill Gates, Business @ The Speed of Thought (1999)


 * Ten się śmieje, kto się śmieje ostatni
 * English equivalent: he who laughs last, laughs longest.


 * Tonący brzytwy się chwyta 
 * English equivalent: A drowning man plucks at a straw.


 * Trafiła kosa na kamień.
 * The scythe has met the stone


 * Trudno naturę odmienić.
 * English equivalent: What is bred in the bone will not go out of the flesh; The leopard cannot change his spots.
 * "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."


 * Tu leży pies pogrzebany.
 * English equivalent: To smell a rat.

U

 * Uwaga! Stary pies szczeka.
 * English equivalent: An old dog barks not in vain.

W

 * Wchodząc między wrony, krakaj jak i one.
 * Kiedy wszedłeś między wrony, musisz krakać jak i one
 * Translation: When among the crows, caw as the crows do.
 * English Equivalent: When in Rome, do as the Romans do.


 * Więcej ludzi utonęło w kieliszku niż w morzu.
 * English equivalent: Wine has drowned more than the sea.


 * Więcej słuchaj, a mniej mów - zawsze szkodzi zbytek słów.
 * English equivalent: Keep your mouth shut and your ears open.


 * Wielcy złodzieje małych wieszają.


 * Wolno bogatemu biednie żyć.
 * English equivalent: His own desire leads every man.

Z

 * Z deszczu pod rynnę
 * From rain and under the gutter.
 * English equivalent: Out of the frying pan and into the fire.


 * Z niczego, nic nie będzie.
 * English equivalent: From nothing, nothing will be
 * Meaning: If you don't do anything, nothing will come to you.


 * Za dziękuję nic się nie kupuje.
 * Meaning: Your "Thank you" is fine but it will not help me pay my bills. Saying "Thank you" to someone sounds louder if reinforced with money.
 * English equivalent: ?


 * Złej baletnicy przeszkadza rąbek u spódnicy
 * Translation: A bad dancer blames the hem of her skirt.
 * English equivalent: A bad workman always blames his tools.


 * Żaden w swej sprawie sędzią być nie może.
 * English equivalent: No one can be the judge in his own case.


 * Złego początku, zły koniec.
 * English equivalent: A bad beginning makes a bad ending.
 * Meaning: "It is as impossible that a system radically erroneous, once commenced, should end well, as it is that a mathematical problem, commenced wrong, should come out right."
 * Source for meaning: