Portuguese proverbs

Proverbs from all Portuguese speaking countries.

A

 * A arte é longa e a vida breve.
 * English equivalent: Life is short, and art long.


 * A caridade começa em casa.
 * English equivalent: Charity begins at home.
 * "It is easier to love humanity as a whole than to love one's neighbor. There may even be a certain antagonism between love of humanity and love of neighbor; a low capacity for getting along with those near us often goes hand in hand with a high receptivity to the idea of the brotherhood of men. About a hundred years ago a Russian landowner by the name of Petrashevsky recorded a remarkable conclusion: 'Finding nothing worthy of my attachment either among women or among men, I have vowed myself to the service of mankind.' He became a follower of Fourier, and installed a phalanstery on his estate. The end of the experiment was sad, but what one might perhaps have expected: the peasants—Petrashevsky's neighbors—burned the phalanstery. Some of the worst tyrannies of our day genuinely are "vowed" to the service of mankind, yet can function only by pitting neighbor against neighbor. The all-seeing eye of a totalitarian regime is usually the watchful eye of the next-door neighbor. In a Communist state love of neighbor may be classed as counter-revolutionary."
 * Eric Hoffer, The Ordeal of Change (1963), Ch. 11: Brotherhood.


 * A curiosidade matou o gato.
 * English equivalent: Curiosity killed the cat (but inquisitiveness brought it back).
 * "Inquisitiveness – or a desire to find about something – can lead you into trouble."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:
 * "Remember Lot's wife."
 * Luke, XVII. 32. Reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 10-11.


 * A experiência é mãe da ciência.
 * English equivalent: Experience is the mother of wisdom.


 * A fome é o melhor tempero.
 * English equivalent: Hunger is the best sauce.


 * A História se repete.
 * English equivalent: History repeats itself.


 * A mal desesperado, remédio heróico.
 * English equivalent: Desperate diseases must have desperate remedies.
 * "It is not necessary to succeed in order to persevere. As long as there is a margin of hope, however narrow, we have no choice but to base all our actions on that margin. America and Russia have one interest in common which may override all their other interests: to be able to live with the bomb without getting into an all-out war that neither of them wants."
 * Leó Szilárd, as quoted in "Some Szilardisms on War, Fame, Peace", LIFE‎ magazine, Vol. 51, no. 9 (1 September 1961), p. 7


 * A melhor defesa é o ataque.
 * English equivalent: The best defence is a good offense.


 * A mentiroso, boa memória.
 * 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:


 * A mór pressa major vagar.
 * English equivalent: Haste makes waste.


 * A necessidade não tem lei, mas a da fome sobre todas pode.
 * English equivalent: Needs must go when the devil drives.


 * A pai guardador, filho gastador guardador .
 * English equivalent: A miserly father makes a prodigal son.


 * A pedra he dura, e a gota d'agoa he miuda, mas cahindo de continuo, faz cavadura.
 * English equivalent: Constant dropping wears the stone.


 * A preguiça é a chave da pobrez.
 * English equivalent: Poverty is the reward of idleness.


 * A quem sabe esperar ensejo, tudo vem a seu tempo e desejo.
 * English equivalent: He that can have patience can have what he will.
 * "Destiny grants us our wishes, but in its own way, in order to give us something beyond our wishes."
 * Johan Wolfgang von Goethe
 * "Blessings may appear under the shape of pains, losses, and disappointments; but let him have patience, and he will see them in their proper figures."
 * Joseph Addison The Guardian no. 117 25 July 1713.


 * A roupa suja lava-se em casa.
 * English Equivalent: Don't wash your dirty linen in public; It is an ill bird that fouls its own nest.
 * "Why wantonly proclaim one's own disgrace, or expose the faults or weaknesses of one's kindred or people?"
 * "It is considered contemptible to defy the rule of solidarity by revealing facts harmful to the group one belongs to."


 * A união faz a força.
 * English equivalent: United we stand, divided we fall; Union is strength.


 * Agarram-se os pássaros pelo bico e os homens pela língua..
 * English equivalent: The bird is known by his note, the man by his words.


 * Água mole em pedra dura, tanto dá até que fura.
 * English equivalent: Constant dropping wears the stone; Water dropping day by day wears the hardest rock away.
 * "A drop hollows out the stone by falling not twice, but many times; so too is a person made wise by reading not two, but many books."
 * (Giordano Bruno, Il Candelaio)


 * Actos falam mais do que palavras.
 * English equivalent: Actions speak louder than words.


 * Ainda que vistas a mona de seda, mona se queda.
 * English equivalent: A golden bit does not make the horse any better.
 * "To those who are given to virtue, the boast of titles is wholly alien and distasteful."
 * Petrarch, “On the Various Academic Titles,” De remediis utriusque fortunae, C. Rawski, trans. (1967), p. 73


 * Alcança quem não cansa.
 * English equivalent: Faint heart never won fair lady.
 * "Britain and France had to choose between war and dishonour. They chose dishonour. They will have war."
 * Winston Churchill to Neville Chamberlain in the House of Commons, after the Munich accords (1938).


 * Antes não começar que não acabar.
 * English equivalent: Better never begun than never ended; He that takes the devil into the boat must carry him over the sound.


 * Ao médico, ao letrado e ao abade, falar verdade.
 * English equivalent: Hide nothing from thy minister, physician and lawyer.


 * As aparências iludem. or, equivalently, As aparências enganam.
 * Translation: Looks can be deceiving.


 * Às vezes até o bom Homero dormita
 * English equivalent: Even Homer sometimes nods.
 * English equivalent: Even Homer sometimes nods.
 * English equivalent: Even Homer sometimes nods.


 * Antes só do que mal acompanhado. (Brazil and Portugal)
 * English equivalent: It's better to be alone than in bad company.


 * ''Amigos amigos, negócios à parte.’’
 * English equivalent: In trade there are no friends, nor are there enemies.


 * Amor, fogo, e tosse, A seu dono descobre.
 * English equivalent: Love, smoke and cough are hard to hide.


 * Amor verdadeiro, não envelhece.
 * English equivalent: True love never rusts.


 * Ajuda-te que Deus te ajudará.
 * English equivalent: Heaven help those who help themselves.
 * Hungarian Equivalent: Segíts magadon, Isten is megsegít.
 * "When in trouble first of all every one himself should do his best to improve his condition."
 * Source for meaning:


 * ''A sorte favorece os audazes.
 * Translation: Luck favours the bold.
 * Origin: Latin Virgil Audentes fortuna juvat Wikipedia


 * A pressa é inimiga da perfeição.
 * English equivalent: Haste makes waste.


 * ''A mentira tem perna curta.
 * English equivalent: Lies have short legs..


 * Antes de mil anos todos seremos brancos.
 * English equivalent: It will all be the same a hundred years hence.
 * "Trivial problems or mistakes of the present moment have no lasting significance or effect, so there is no point in worrying about them."
 * Source for meaning:


 * Até ao lavar dos cestos é vindima.
 * English Equivalent: Never say die.
 * "Do not anticipate the end of something; specifically, do not give up hope until you have actually lost or failed."
 * Source for meaning:


 * Ao bom varão, terras alheias pátria são.
 * English equivalent: Great minds agree.


 * Ao homem amado a fortuna lhe dá a mão.
 * English equivalent: Fortune favors the bold.
 * "Those who act boldly or courageously are most likely to succeed."
 * Source for meaning:


 * As paredes têm ouvidos.
 * English equivalent: The walls have ears.
 * "What you say may be overheard; used as a warning."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:


 * ''A noite é boa conselheira.
 * English equivalent: The pillow is a good advisor.


 * A verdade é clara e a mentira sombra.
 * English equivalent: Truth gives a short answer, lies go round about.
 * Quidquid præcipies esto brevis.
 * "Whatever advice you give, be short."
 * Horace, Ars Poetica (18 BC), CCCXXXV. Reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 10-11.
 * "You do so love to talk in riddles. Do you do that, I wonder as a substitute for having anything interesting to say?"
 * Dan Houser, Michael Unsworth and Christian Cantamessa, Read Dead Redemption (2010)

B

 * Bem parece o rego entre mim e meu compa nheiro.
 * English equivalentː A hedge between keeps friends green.


 * Bem sabe mandar quem bem sabe obedecer.
 * Translation: He who has not obeyed, cannot command.
 * English equivalent: Who has not served cannot command.


 * Boca de mel, coração de fel.
 * English equivalent: A honey tongue and a heart of gall.


 * Bom exemplo e boas razões avassalam os coracões.
 * English equivalent: Lead by example.

C

 * Cabeça que não tem juízo, quem o paga é o corpo.
 * English equivalent: A forgetful head makes a weary pair of heels.


 * Cada cabelo faz sua sombra na terra.
 * English equivalent: Every hair casts its shadow.


 * ''Cada carneiro por seu pé pende.
 * English equivalent: Each sheep hangs by its own foot.


 * Cada coisa a seu tempo.
 * English equivalent: Man proposes, God disposes.
 * "Plans are insulted destinies. I don't have plans, I only have goals."
 * Ash Chandler, Freudian Slip, Mumbai Mirror Buzz, April 2006.


 * Cão que ladra não morde.
 * Translation: Barking dog doesn't bite.
 * English equivalent: Barking dogs seldom bite.
 * "People who make the most or the loudest threats are the least likely to take action."


 * Cavallo, que voa, não quer espora.
 * English equivalent: Do not spur a willing horse.


 * Conforme a pergunta, assim a resposta. Tal voz, tal eco.
 * English equivalent: Just as one calls into the forest, so it echoes back.
 * Meaning: Do not expect friendly reply when being obnoxious.
 * Meaning: Bad language may have other causes than innate bad character.


 * Como canta o abade, assim responde o sacristão.
 * Translation: As the abbot sings, so the sacristan responds.
 * Source:


 * Como me medires assim te medirei.
 * English equivalent: Whatever measure you deal out to others will be dealt back to you.
 * English equivalent: What goes around comes around.


 * Conselho de quem bem te quer, ainda que te pareça mal, escreve o.
 * English equivalent: Write down the advice of him who loves you, though you like it not at present.

D

 * Da abundância do coração fala a boca.
 * English equivalent: Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.


 * Dá honra a quem a tem.
 * English equivalent: Give credit where credit is due.


 * De amigo reconciliado e de caldo requentado, nunca bom bocado.
 * English equivalent: Take heed of enemies reconciled and of meat twice boiled.
 * "Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge."
 * Paul Gauguin, Avant et Après (1903), from Paul Gauguin's Intimate Journals, trans. (1923) Van Wyck Brooks [Dover, 1997, ISBN 0-486-29441-2], p. 2.


 * De boas intenções está o Inferno cheio.
 * Translation: Hell is full of good intentions.
 * English equivalent: The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.


 * De boi manso me guarde Deus, que de mau eu me guardarei.
 * English equivalent: A man's worst enemies are often those of his own house.


 * De casta vem ao galgo ter o rabo longo.
 * English equivalent: The apple does not fall far from the tree.
 * "Children observe daily and — in their behaviour — often follow the example of their parents."


 * De grandes ceias estão as sepulturas cheias.
 * English equivalent: Gluttony kills more than the sword.


 * De maus costumes nascem boas leis.
 * English equivalent: Good laws have sprung from bad customs.
 * "Most things were constructed or established for a purpose, and it is unwise to dismantle or destroy them unless you are certain that they are no longer required".


 * De noite todos os gatos são pardos.
 * English equivalent: At night all cats are grey.


 * Dê ao Diabo o que é dele.
 * English equivalent: Give the devil his due.
 * "Sansa Stark: True knights protect the weak. , "The Hound": There are no true knights, no more than there are gods. If you can't protect yourself, die and get out of the way of those who can. Sharp steel and strong arms rule this world, don't ever believe any different. Sansa Stark: You're awful. , "The Hound": I'm honest. It's the world that's awful."
 * George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings, (1998)


 * Debaixo de bom saio está o homem mau.
 * 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)


 * ''Deitar cedo e cedo erguer dá saúde e faz crescer.
 * Translation: Early sleep and early wake up, gives health and makes you grow.
 * Ironic variant rarely used: Deitar cedo e cedo erguer dá saúde e faz sono. ([...] and makes you sleepy.)
 * English Equivalent: Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
 * "A lifestyle that involves neither staying up late nor sleeping late is good for body and mind and leads to financial success."


 * Deus dá do seu bem.
 * 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).


 * Deus está sempre de lado dos mais fortes.
 * English equivalent: God is on the side of the strongest battalions.


 * Devagar, que tenho pressa.
 * English equivalent: Make haste slowly.


 * "Diz-me com quem andas, dir-te-ei que manhas tens.
 * English equivalent: A man is known by the company he keeps.


 * "Diz o roto ao nu: Porque não te vestes tu?"
 * The ragged says to the naked: why don't you get dressed?
 * English equivalent: The pot calling the kettle black.


 * Do contado come o lobo.
 * English equivalent: Cats eat what hussies spare.
 * "What a person tries to keep back through meanness is just as likely to be wasted anyway."


 * Do mal, o menos.
 * English equivalent: Of two evils choose the least.


 * Do néscio às vezes bom conselho.
 * English equivalent: A fool may give a wise man counsel.

E

 * È frequente o riso, na boca de quem não tem siso.
 * English equivalent: A fool is ever laughing.


 * Em boca fechada as moscas não têm entrada.
 * Translation: Into a closed mouth no flies ever entered.
 * English equivalent: A close mouth catches no flies.


 * Em casa de ferreiro o pior apeiro.
 * English equivalent: Cobblers' children are worst shod.


 * Em terra de cegos, quem tem um olho é rei.
 * English equivalent: Among the blind, the one-eyed is king.
 * "People of only limited capability can succeed when surrounded by those who are even less able than themselves."
 * ''Entre marido e mulher não se mete a colher.
 * Translation: Between husband and wife, one doesn't put the spoon.
 * Variant: Entre marido e mulher não metas a colher.
 * English Equivalent: Don't go between the dog and the tree.
 * Variant: Entre marido e mulher não metas a colher.
 * English Equivalent: Don't go between the dog and the tree.


 * Enquanto há vida, há esperança.
 * Translation: While there's life, there's hope.


 * É de pequenino que se torce o pepino.
 * Translation: It's when it's small that the cucumber gets warped.
 * Meaning: Bad habits acquired during early life last long; Children should learn good habits from a tender age.
 * English Equivalent: Soon crooks the tree that good gambrel would be.


 * É meu amigo o que moi no meu moinho.
 * English equivalent: He is a friend that grinds at my mill.

F

 * Facilmente acreditamos naquilo que desejamos.
 * English equivalent: The wish is father to the thought.


 * Falar, falar não enche barriga.
 * English equivalent: Fine words butter no parsnips.
 * Source for meaning:
 * Source for meaning:


 * Fazei-vos mel, comer-vos-ão as moscas.
 * English equivalent: He that makes himself an ass must not take it ill if men ride him.


 * Fazer da necessidade virtude.
 * English equivalent: Make a virtue out of necessity.
 * "The best way to handle an undesirable situation is to turn it to your advantage."

G

 * "Gato escaldado tem medo de água fria."
 * Variant: "Gato escaldado, de água fria tem medo."
 * Translation: "A cat that has been scalded is afraid of cold water." A scalded cat is afraid of cold water.
 * Equivalence: "Once bitten, twice shy."
 * Equivalence: A burned child dreads the fire.
 * Equivalence in French: Chat échaudé craint l'eau froide.


 * Génio e figura, até à sepultura.
 * English equivalent: What is bred in the bone will not go out of the flesh.


 * Guarda moço, acharás velho.
 * English equivalent: Diligent youth makes easy age.


 * Gostos não se discutem.
 * You don't discuss tastes.
 * English Equivalent: There is no accounting for taste.

H

 * Hoje por mim, amanhã por ti.
 * Today for me, and tomorrow for you.
 * English equivalent: Today me, tomorrow thee.


 * Homem apercebido, meio combatido.
 * English equivalent: Forewarned is forearmed.


 * Huim roim se toma com outro roim.
 * English equivalent: Set a thief to catch a thief.

L

 * Longe dos olhos, longe do coração. (can also be Longe da vista (sight), longe do coração)
 * Far from the eyes, far from the heart.
 * English equivalent: Out of sight, out of mind.
 * Variation: O que os olhos não vêem, o coração não sente. (What the eyes don't see, the heart doesn't feel.)

M

 * Mais vale andar só que mal acompanhado.
 * It is better to be alone than to be in bad company.
 * English equivalent: Better be alone than in bad company.


 * Mais vale tarde do que nunca.
 * Delayed is preferable to never.
 * English equivalent: Better late than never.
 * Hungarian Equivalent: Jobb későn, mint soha.
 * "It is better that somebody arrives or something happens later than expected or desired, than not at all."


 * Mal me querem as comadres porque lhes digo as verdades.
 * English equivalent: All truths are not to be told.


 * Mais vale saber que haver e dar que receber.
 * English equivalent: A good mind possesses a kingdom.
 * "What a man is by himself, what accompanies him into solitude, and what no one can give to him or take from him is obviously more essential to him than everything he possesses, or even what he may be in the eyes of others. A man of intellect, when entirely alone, has excellent entertainment in his own thoughts and fancies, whereas the continuous diversity of parties, plays, excursions, and amusements cannot ward off from the dullard the tortures of boredom."
 * Arthur Schopenhauer, “Aphorisms on the Wisdom of Life,” Parerga und Paralipomena, E. Payne, trans. (1851) Vol. 1, pp. 318-319.


 * Mais vale um pássaro na mão do que dois a voar.(Portugal)
 * Mais vale um pássaro na mão do que dois voando.(Brazil)
 * A bird in the hand has more worth than two flying.
 * English Equivalent: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
 * Hungarian Equivalent: Jobb ma egy túzok, mint holnap egy veréb.
 * "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."


 * Mais vale tarde do que nunca. (Portugal)
 * Antes tarde do que nunca. (Brazil)
 * Better late than never.
 * English equivalent: Better late than never.


 * Mais vale pão duro que nenhum.
 * English equivalent: Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow.
 * "Better be courted and jilted Than never be courted at all."
 * Thomas Campbell, The Jilted Nymph. (1859)


 * Mais vale prevenir do que remediar. (Portugal)
 * É melhor prevenir do que remediar. (Brasil)
 * It's best to prevent than to have to remedy (or fix).
 * English equivalent: Better safe than sorry; An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.


 * Mãos beija o homem que quisera ver cortadas.
 * English equivalent: Many kiss the hand they wish to see cut off.


 * Melhor o diabo conhecido que o diabo desconhecido.
 * English equivalent: Better the devil you know.


 * Melhor é curar goteira, que casa inteira.
 * English equivalent: A stitch in time saves nine.
 * "No one needs to be told that a vast deal of labor is expended unnecessarily. This is occasioned, to a great extent, by the neglect of seasonable repairs."


 * Mete a mão em teu seio, não dirás do fado alheio.
 * English equivalent: Forget other faults remembering your own; Forgive and forget.


 * Mil amigos, pouco; um inimigo, demais.
 * Thousand friends, little, an enemy, too much.
 * English equivalent: Do not think that one enemy is insignificant, or that a thousand friends are too many.


 * Muita palha e pouco grão.
 * English equivalent: Much bran and little meal.
 * "Much ado about nothing."

N

 * Não chore sobre o leite derramado.
 * English equivalent: It is no use crying over spilt milk.


 * Não deites fora o bebê junto com a água do banho.
 * English equivalent: Don’t throw out the child along with the bathwater.


 * Não deixes para amanhã o que podes fazer hoje.
 * Don't leave for tomorrow what you can do today.


 * Não faças nada sem consultar a almofada.
 * English equivalent: Take counsel of one's pillow.
 * http://books.google.se/books?id=PoegtDpAomoC&pg=PT246&dq=take+counsel+of+one%27s+pillow&hl=es&sa=X&ei=ZZXHUNrRLoX54QTuhYGICg&redir_esc=y


 * Não fies, nem porfies, nem filho doutro cries.
 * English equivalent: Diffidence is the right eye of prudence.


 * Não há bom que não possa ser melhor, nem mau que não possa piorar.
 * English equivalent: Nothing so good but it might have been better.


 * Não há galinha gorda por pouco dinheiro.
 * there are no fat chicken for little money (for cheap).


 * Não há duas sem três.
 * There's no two without a three.


 * Não há glória sem inveja.
 * English equivalent: Envy always shoots at a high mark.


 * Não há pior cego que o que não quer ver.
 * English equivalent: There are no worse blinds than those who do not want to see.


 * Não há pior surdo que o que não quer ouvir.
 * English equivalent: None so deaf as those who will not hear.


 * Não há regra sem excepção.
 * There exists no rule without exceptions.
 * English equivalent: There is no rule without an exception.


 * Não mate a galinha dos ovos de ouro.
 * English equivalent: Don't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.


 * Não se atiram pedras senão às árvores que têm fruto.
 * Translation: Rocks are only thrown at the trees who bear fruit.
 * English equivalent: People throw stones only at trees with fruit on them.
 * "It is the practice of the multitude to bark at eminent men, as little dogs do at strangers."
 * Seneca the Younger, Of a Happy Life (1990)


 * Não se caçam lebres tocando tambor.
 * English equivalent: Drumming is not the way to catch a hare.


 * Não se muda de cavalo no meio de banhado.
 * Horses are not to be changed in the middle of the current.
 * English equivalent: Don't change horses in midstream.
 * "It is often wise not to quit an undertaking already begun."


 * Nem tudo que reluz é ouro.
 * Variant: Nem tudo o que brilha é ouro.
 * Not everything that shines is gold.
 * English equivalent: All that glitters is not gold.
 * Hungarian Equivalent: Nem mind arany, ami fénylik.
 * "An attractive appearance may be deceptive. It may cover or hide a much less favourable content."


 * Ninguém perde nada por perguntar.
 * English equivalent: Lose nothing for want of asking.


 * Nunca Deus fecha uma porta que não abra outra.
 * English equivalent: When one door closes another opens.
 * "When baffled in one direction a man of energy will not despair, but will find another way to his object."

O

 * O Diabo cita a Bíblia a seu favor.
 * English equivalentː The devil can cite the Scripture for his purpose.


 * O homem se conquista pelo estômago.
 * English equivalent: The way to a man's heart is through his stomach.


 * O melhor é inimigo do bom.
 * English equivalent: The good is the enemy of the best.


 * O passarinho ama o seu ninho.
 * English equivalent: The bird loves her own nest.


 * Os cães ladram mas a caravana passa.
 * Translation: Dogs bark, but the caravan keeps on.


 * Onde se ganha o pão, não se come a carne.
 * Where you earn your bread, you don't eat the meat.
 * English Equivalent: You don't shit where you eat.


 * O que os olhos não vêem, o coração não sente.
 * Translation: What the eyes don't see the heart doesn't feel.
 * English Equivalent: Out of sight, out of mind.
 * Variation: Longe dos olhos, longe do coração. (Far from the eyes, far from the heart.)


 * O que se aprende no berço sempre dura.
 * Translation: Old habits die hard.
 * Source:


 * O barato sai caro.
 * Variant: O que é barato sai caro.
 * What is cheap is costly.
 * English equivalent: If you buy cheaply, you pay dearly.


 * Onde vai mais fundo o rio, aí faz menos ruído.
 * English equivalent: Still waters run deep.


 * Os invejosos mais sentem os bens alheios que os males proprios.
 * English equivalent: Envy is its own torturer.


 * Ouro é o que ouro vale.
 * English equivalent: Everything is worth its price.


 * Ouve, ve, o calla, se queres, vievez em pas.
 * Latin equivalent: Hear, see, be silent, if you wish to live (in peace).

P

 * Paciência excede sapiência.
 * With patience you go beyond knowledge.
 * English equivalent: An ounce of patience is worth a pound of brains.


 * Pior é ter mau médico que estar enfermo.
 * English equivalent: The remedy is often worse than the disease; Burn not your house to rid it off the mouse.
 * "Action taken to put something right is often more unpleasant or damaging than the original problem."


 * Primeiro a obrigação, depois a devoção.
 * English equivalent: Business before pleasure.
 * Hungarian Equivalent: Előbb a munka, aztán a szórakozás.

Q

 * Qual é Maria, tal filha cria.
 * Mary will foster a daughter like herself.
 * 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."


 * Quando mais apartado, mais desejado.
 * English equivalent: Absence makes the heart grow fonder.


 * Quando o amigo pede não há amanhã.
 * English equivalent: When thy friend asks, let there be no to-morrow.


 * Quando o bem te chegar, mete-o em casa.
 * English equivalent: Opportunity knocks only once.


 * Quem conta um conto, acrescenta um ponto.
 * Translation: Who tells a tale adds on a little.
 * English equivalent: A tale never loses in the telling.
 * Variant translation: "he who tells a tale, adds a detail".
 * Variant translation: "he who tells a tale, adds a detail".


 * Quem espera, desespera.
 * English equivalent: He that lives on hope will die fasting.


 * Quem está bem, deixa-se estar.
 * English equivalent: Better is the enemy of good.


 * Quem ama o Beltrão, ama seu cão (irmão).
 * He who loves Beltrão, loves his dog (brother).
 * English equivalent: Love me, love my dog.


 * Quem muito fála pouco faz.
 * Big talkers are not big doers.
 * English equivalent: Great talkers are little doers.
 * "Well done is better than well said."
 * Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack (1737)


 * Quem não pode como quer, queira como pode.
 * English equivalent: Do as you may, if you can't do as you could.


 * Quem se afoga, às palhas se agarra.
 * English equivalent: A drowning man plucks at a straw.


 * Quem tem telhado de vidro não atira pedras [no telhado do vizinho]. (Portugal)
 * Quem tem telhado de vidro não joga pedra [no telhado do vizinho]. (Brazil)
 * English equivalent: People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
 * "I am not a critic; to me criticism is so often nothing more than the eye garrulously denouncing the shape of the peephole that gives access to hidden treasure."
 * Djuna Barnes, in "The Songs of Synge : The Man Who Shaped His Life as He Shaped His Plays", in New York Morning Telegraph (18 February 1917).


 * Quem muito abarca pouco abraça.
 * He who grasps at too much loses everything.
 * English Equivalent: Grasp all, lose all.


 * Quem não arrisca não petisca.
 * He who doesn't take a chance won't nibble.
 * English Equivalent: Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
 * Hungarian Equivalent: Aki nem játszik, az nem is nyer.
 * Quem não quer ser lobo não lhe vista a pele.
 * Translation: He who doesn't want to be a wolf shouldn't wear it's hide.
 * If you don't want to be treated like a [something], don't act like one.
 * Quem está no convento é que sabe o que lhe vai dentro.
 * Translation: [Only] He who is in the convent knows what goes on inside.
 * English equivalent: No one knows where the shoe pinches, but he who wears it.
 * "Nobody can fully understand another person's hardship or suffering."


 * Quem boa cama faz nela se deita.
 * Translation: He who makes a good bed sleeps on it.
 * Alternative meaning: You did a good thing, now use it.
 * English Equivalent: As you make your bed, so you must lie in it.


 * Quem quando pode não quer, quando quer não pode.
 * English equivalent: He that will not when he may, when he will he may have nay.
 * "Take advantage of an opportunity when it presents itself, even if you do not want or need it at the time, because it may no longer be available when you do."


 * Quem troca caminhos por atalhos, não lhe faltam trabalhos.
 * English equivalent: He that leaves the highway to cut short, commonly goes about.


 * Quem vive à toa não tem tempo para nada.
 * English equivalent: Idle people have the least leisure.


 * Quanto mais depressa mais devagar.
 * The faster, the slower.
 * Variation: Quantas mais pressas mais vagares.
 * English equivalent: More speed, less haste.
 * Usage: About things made fast (or in haste) that end up being done slower than usual.


 * Quando a esmola é demais, até o santo desconfia.
 * When the alms is too large, even a saint will be suspicious.
 * English equivalent: When something seems too good to be true, usually it is.
 * Variation: Quando a esmola é muita, o pobre desconfia.
 * Translation: When the alms is too much, the poor will be suspicious.
 * Variant: Quando a esmola é grande o santo desconfia.


 * Quanto mais depressa, mais devagar.
 * English equivalentː More haste less, speed.


 * Quem o pássaro quer tomar, não o há-de enxotar.
 * English equivalent: Deal gently with the bird you mean to catch.


 * Quem segura a enguia pelo rabo e a mulher pela palavra, pode dizer que nada segura.
 * English equivalent: You might as well try to hold an eel by the tail.


 * Quem vê cara não vê coração.
 * Translation: He who looks at the face doesn't see the heart.
 * Variant: Quem vê caras não vê corações. (Port.)
 * Translation: He who sees faces doesn't see hearts.
 * Meaning: You can't know what goes inside people by just looking.
 * English Equivalent: You can't tell a book by its cover.

R

 * ''"Ri melhor quem ri por último."
 * English equivalent: Let those laugh who win.

S

 * São mais as vozes do que as nozes.
 * English equivalent: Great cry and little wool.


 * Se a barba fosse tudo, podia o bode pregar.
 * English proverbs: If the beard were all, the goat might preach.


 * Se caçares, não te gabes; se não caçares, não te enfades.
 * English equivalent: If fortune favours, beware of being exalted; if fortune thunders, beware of being overwhelmed.
 * "If a man's fortune does not fit him, it is like the shoe in the story; if too large it trips him up, if too small it pinches him."
 * Horace, Epistles, I. 10. 42. (14 BCE)


 * Se Maomé não vai à montanha, a montanha vai a Maomé.
 * Translation: If Mohammad won't go to the mountain, the mountain will go to Mohammad.
 * 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:


 * Se um cego guia outro, ambos cairão no fosso.
 * English equivalent: If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.


 * Serve o senhor e saberas o que é dor.
 * English equivalent: A king's favour is no inheritance.


 * Sol que muito madruga, pouco dura.
 * English equivalent: Early ripe, early rotten.
 * Meaning: Precocious children will mean much trouble later on.


 * Se queres ser bom juiz, ouve o que cada um diz. Ouve a outra parte.
 * English equivalent: Don't hear one and judge two.

T

 * Tal pai, tal filho.
 * Translation: Such father, such son.
 * English equivalent: Like father, like son.
 * Meaning: Sons may look and behave like their fathers. This is due to inheritance and the example observed closely and daily.
 * Source for meaning and proverb:


 * Tal tronco, tal acha.
 * English equivalent: You must meet roughness with roughness.
 * Example: If someone treats you poorly, you should treat him equally poorly.


 * Tarde dar e negar estão a par
 * English equivalent: He gives twice, who gives in a trice.


 * Tempo e maré, não esperam por ninguém.
 * English equivalent: Time and tide waits for no man.
 * Meaning: "Take, for illustration, the case of the negligent and unreflecting man. He resolves to accomplish a certain important object at some future period; but in the intervening time, some preparatory, though in itself comparatively trifling business, is indispensable. He defers this business; [...] At length the period for accomplishing the ultimate object arrives: but, alas! the prerequisite, so absolutely connected and essential, is neglected And then, vain man!
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:


 * Todos os caminhos levam a Roma.
 * English equivalent: All roads lead to Rome.


 * Todos somos filhos de Adão ( e Eva ); só a vida nos differença.
 * English equivalent: We are all descended from Adam.

U

 * Uma ovelha má põe o rebanho a perder.
 * Translation: A bad sheep puts the herd to waste.
 * Meaning: A bad person can influence many others to behave in a bad way.
 * English Equivalent: one bad apple ruins the bunch.


 * Um homem prevenido vale por dois.
 * Translation: A forewarned man is worth two (men).
 * English Equivalent: Forewarned is forearmed.
 * See: Homem prevenido vale por dois.


 * Uma desgraça nunca vem só.
 * Translation: a misfortune never comes alone.
 * English equivalent: Misery loves company.
 * Hungarian Equivalent: A baj nem jár egyedül.


 * Uma maçã podre apodrece um cento.
 * English equivalent: One rotten apple will spoil the whole barrel.

V

 * Vassoura nova varre sempre bem.
 * English equivalent: New brooms sweep clean.
 * Meaning: Newcomers are the most ambitious.


 * Vai muito do dizer ao fazer.
 * Translation: There's a long way from saying to doing.
 * English Equivalent: Easier said than done.


 * Vida sem amigo, morte sem castigo.
 * English equivalent: Without friendship life is nothing.
 * "Todd Finkle [in article based on an interview with Warren Buffet] said many comments made a deep impression on him as well, but one he’ll never forget was in response to Finkle’s own question about the most influential people in Warren Buffett’s life. Among those Warren Buffett named was a friend who was a Polish Jew, taken to a World War II concentration camp after an acquaintance reported the friend’s hiding place to the Germans.  Warren Buffett said ever since hearing that story, when he would begin friendships, he would ask the question: 'Would this person hide me from the Nazis?' Warren Buffett then went on to say that one of the most important things [if not the most important] was unconditional love.  If you can find two or three people who love you unconditionally, you are a lucky person."
 * Warren Buffet, "Day with Warren Buffett enriching to University of Akron students" (2010)
 * John Webster, Westward Ho, Act V, scene 3, line 345.


 * Voz do povo, voz de Deus.
 * Translation: The people's voice is God's voice.
 * Meaning: You had better heed when many people gather spontaneously about some cause.
 * Meaning: The voices of gossipers in the marketplace are God's own
 * Meaning: what you can hear here and there is unquestionable because everybody is saying it