Spanish proverbs

Proverbs from all Spanish-speaking parts of the whole world.

A

 * A caballo regalado no se le mira el diente/colmillo/dentado/pelo or A caballo regalado no le mires los dientes.
 * English equivalent: Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
 * "Do not search for faults in a gift, as in don't try to guess the horse's age by looking at its teeth since it is free."


 * A cabo de cien años los reyes son villanos, A cabo de ciento-diez los villanos son reyes.
 * English equivalent: Every dog has his day.


 * A cada necio agrada su porrada.
 * English equivalentː Every fool is pleased with his own folly.


 * A cada pajarillo agrada su nidillo.
 * English equivalent: The bird loves her own nest.


 * A canas honradas no hay puertas cerradas.
 * English equivalent: Grey hairs are honorable.


 * A grandes males, grandes remedios.
 * English equivalent: Desperate diseases must have desperate remedies.
 * "Drastic action is called for – and justified – when you find yourself in a particularly difficult situation."
 * "The sick in soul insist that it is humanity that is sick, and they are the surgeons to operate on it. They want to turn the world into a sickroom. And once they get humanity strapped to the operating table, they operate on it with an ax."
 * Eric Hoffer, The Passionate State Of Mind, and Other Aphorisms (1955)
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:


 * A la burla dexarla quando mas agrada.
 * English equivalent: Leave a jest when it pleases you best.


 * A la ocasión la pintan calva.
 * English equivalent: Opportunity knocks only once.
 * "Never say ‘no’ to adventures. Always say ‘yes’, otherwise you’ll lead a very dull life."
 * Ian Fleming, Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang (1964)


 * A la tercera va la vencida.
 * English equivalent: Third time's the charm.


 * A lo hecho, pecho.
 * English equivalent: What's done is done.  Trim your sails and face the music.  Don't cry over spilled milk.


 * A mal nudo, mal cuño.
 * English equivalent: You must meet roughness with roughness.


 * ‘’A quien dan, no escoge.’’
 * English equivalent: Beggars can’t be choosers.
 * “We must accept with gratitude and without complaint what we are given when we do not have the means or opportunity to provide ourselves with something better.”


 * A quien deja el camino por el atajo, no le faltarán trabajos.
 * English equivalent: He that leaves the highway to cut short, commonly goes about.


 * A quien la pique, que se rasque.
 * English equivalent: If the shoe fits, wear it.
 * "Our enemies will tell the rest with pleasure."
 * Bishop Fleetwood, Preface to Sermons. Ordered burned by House of Commons, May, 1712.


 * A quien madruga, Dios le ayuda.
 * Alt: Al que madruga, Dios le ayuda.
 * Alt Variation: Al que madruga, Dios le ayuda; el que se apendeja Dios lo deja. (A play with words that rhyme)
 * Translations:
 * God helps those who get up early. / The early bird gets the worm.
 * Alt.Var:God helps those who get up early, and leaves those who are too late.
 * Interpretations:
 * Initiative will be rewarded.
 * Equivalent English proverbs:
 * 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:


 * Source:


 * A quien no pide consejo, darlo es de necios.
 * English equivalent: Give neither salt nor counsel till you are asked for it.


 * A quien se hace de miel las moscas le comen.
 * English equivalent: He that makes himself an ass must not take it ill if men ride him.


 * A seguro, le llevan preso.
 * For safety you are taken prisoner.


 * A donde el seto es bajo todos pasan.
 * English equivalent: Men leap over where the hedge is lower.


 * Al amigo más amigo, no le fíes tu secreto, y así nunca te verás, arrepentido o sujeto.
 * If you tell your secret to your friend, you will make him your master.


 * Al árbol por el fruto es conocido.
 * 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."


 * Al cuco no cuques y al ladrón no hurtes.


 * Al fin es debido el honor.
 * English equivalent: All is well that ends well.
 * "Problems and misfortunes along the way can be forgotten as long as the end is satisfactory."


 * Al freir de los huevos lo verá.
 * English equivalent: The proof of the pudding is in the eating.


 * Al hombre, en el hablar; y al pájaro, en el cantar.
 * English equivalent: The bird is known by his note, the man by his words.


 * Al hombre osado la fortuna le da la mano.
 * English equivalent: Fortune favours the bold.
 * Meaning: "Those who act boldly or courageously are most likely to succeed."
 * Source for meaning:


 * Al médico, confesor, y letrado, no le hayas engañado.
 * English equivalent: Hide nothing from thy minister, physician and lawyer.


 * Al mentiroso le conviene ser memorioso.
 * 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:


 * Al ratón de un sólo agujero presto le pilla el gato.
 * English equivalent: It is a poor mouse that has only one hole.
 * "Why don’t we just call plans what they really are: guesses."
 * Jason Fried and David Heinemeier, Rework (2009)


 * Al que mucho se le confía, mucho se le exige.
 * English equivalent: Everybody to whom much is given, much is expected.
 * Meaning: "More is expected of those who have received more - that is, those who had good fortune, are naturally gifted, or have been shown special favour."
 * Source for meaning and proverbs:


 * Amores, dolores y dineros, No pueden estar secretos.
 * English equivalent: Love, smoke and cough are hard to hide.


 * Antes de criticar pon la mano en tu mecho.
 * English equivalent: Everyone should sweep before his own door.


 * Antes de firmar, mirar.
 * Translation: Look before you sign.


 * Antes que te cases, mira lo que haces.

Alt: "Árbol que nace torcido, aunque le pongan cien piedras, nunca se endereza." Alt: A tree that is born twisted, though a hundred stones are placed (around it), never can be straightened.
 * Árbol que nace torcido, jamás su tronco endereza
 * A tree that is born twisted never grows straight.
 * Source:


 * ''A lo bueno, dejarlo estar.'
 * English equivalent: If it isn't broken, don't fix it.


 * A papaya puesta, papaya partida. (Colombian saying)
 * Alt: No hay que dar papaya...y a papaya puesta, papaya partida
 * Papaya that is served, papaya that is eaten
 * English equivalent: If you turn yourself into a doormat, others will walk over you.
 * Interpretation: If you leave yourself open to abuse, people will abuse you.
 * Source:


 * A falta de pan, buenas son tortas.
 * Alt: A falta de pan, galletas
 * Alt: A falta de pan, tortillas (Mexico, Guatemala)
 * Alt: A falta de pan, casabe (República Dominicana)
 * Translations:
 * If there's no bread, cakes will do.
 * In place of bread, cakes are good.
 * Alt. Trans.: If there's no bread, have crackers
 * Interpretations:
 * Settle for the next best thing.
 * Beggars can't be choosers.
 * In times of need, kindness is especially sweet.
 * Equivalent English proverb: Any port in a storm.
 * Source:


 * A donde fueres, haz lo que vieres
 * Alt: Allá donde fueres, haz lo que vieres
 * English proverb: When among wolves we must howl.


 * Antes con locos, que cuerdo a solas.
 * English equivalent: Better foolish by all than wise by yourself.


 * Agua blanda en piedra dura, tanto cavadura continua gotera cava la piedra.
 * English equivalent: Constant dropping wears the stone.
 * "A steady effort can achieve, little by little, a great effect, as many drops do by gradually dissolving and eroding the stone."


 * Apretados pero contentos.
 * English equivalent: The more the merrier.


 * Aprovecha el día presente.


 * Aunque la mona se vista 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


 * Al que Dios quiere castigar le quita la razón.
 * English equivalent: Whom God will destroy, he first make mad.


 * Alcalda del mes de enero.
 * New is of the month of January
 * English equivalent: New brooms sweep clean.
 * "We often apply it to exchanges among servants, clerks, or any persons employed, whose service, at first, in any new place, is very good, both efficient and faithful; but very soon, when all the new circumstances have lost their novelty, and all their curiosity has ceased, they naturally fall into their former and habitual slackness."


 * A todo cerdo le llega su San Martín.


 * Aquél es rico, que está bien con Dios.
 * 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).


 * Aquél va más sano, que anda por el llano.


 * Ara bien y hondo, cogerás pan en abando.
 * English equivalent: Plough deep while sluggards sleep, and you will have corn to sell and keep.

B

 * Bien predica quien bien vive.
 * English equivalent: Lead by example.


 * Buen yunque no teme el martillo.
 * English equivalent: A good anvil does not fear the hammer.

(French)

C

 * Callen barbas y hablen cartas.


 * Cada carnero de su pie cuelga.
 * English equivalent: Every tub must stand on its own bottom.


 * Cada cosa en su tiempo.
 * 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.


 * Cada oveja, con su pareja.
 * English equivalent: Like will to like.
 * "Every man loves well what is like to himself."


 * Costumbre adquirida en la mocedad, se deja muy mal en la vejez.
 * English equivalent: Old habits die hard.
 * Source:


 * Como canta el abad, así responde el sacristán.
 * Source:


 * Comprar gato en saco.
 * English equivalent: Let the buyer have a thousand eyes for the seller wants only one.
 * Theodore Sturgeon Venture (1957)


 * Con el agua de la bañadera echar también al niño.
 * English equivalent: Don't throw out the child with the bath water.
 * "Do not take the drastic step of abolishing or discarding something in its entirety when only parts of it is unacceptable."
 * Source for meaning:


 * Con el tiempo todo se consigue.
 * Swedish equivalent: Time heals all wounds.


 * Como midais sereis medidos.
 * English equivalent: Whatever measure you deal out to others will be dealt back to you.


 * Con la gente no es temible la muerte.


 * Consejo de quien bien te quiere, aunque te parezca mal, escríbele.
 * English equivalent: Write down the advice of him who loves you, though you like it not at present.


 * Corazón no es traidor.
 * English equivalent: The heart sees farther than the head.
 * "We are double in ourselves, so that what we believe we disbelieve, and cannot rid ourselves of what we condemn."
 * As quoted in The Complete Works of Michael de Montaigne (1877) edited by William Carew Hazlitt, p. 289


 * Quando amigo pide no hay mañana.
 * When a friend asks their is no to-morrow.
 * English equivalent: When thy friend asks, let there be no to-morrow.


 * Cuando el villano está en el mulo, no conoce a Dios, ni al mundo.
 * English equivalent: Set a beggar on horseback, and he'll ride to the Devil.


 * Cuando la cabeza duele todos los miembros duelen.
 * English equivalent: When the head is sick, the whole body is sick.
 * "Sickness is the first warning that we have made a wrong judgement. A healthy person is never unhappy."
 * George Ohsawa, in Essential Ohsawa : From Food to Health, Happiness to Freedom : Understanding the Basics of Macrobiotics (1994), p. 77


 * Cuando las barbas de tu vecino veas cortar, pon las tuyas a remojar.
 * Translation: When you see your neighbour's beard being cut, put yours in water.''
 * Meaning: Be cautious when you see disgraces to people near you.


 * Cuando todos dicen que eres asno, rebuzna y ponte rabo.
 * English equivalent: When all men say you are an ass, it is time to bray.


 * Cuando te dieren un condado, agárrale.
 * English equivalent: When the pig is proffered, hold up the poke.


 * Cuando una puerta se cierra, ciento se abren.
 * English equivalent: When one door closes another opens.
 * Meaning: "When baffled in one direction a man of energy will not despair, but will find another way to his object."
 * Source for meaning:


 * Cuanto menos se diga, mejor.
 * English equivalent: Least said, soonest mended.
 * Meaning: "In private animosities and verbal contentions, where angry passions are apt to rise, and irritating, if not profane expressions are often made use of, as we sometimes see to be the case, not only among neighbors, but in families, between husbands and wives, or parents and children, or the children themselves and other members of the household, - the least said, the better in general. By multiplying words, cases often grow worse instead of better."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:


 * Cuídame del agua mansa, que de la brava, yo sólo me cuidaré.
 * English equivalent: Still water runs deep.


 * Cuidado ajeno de pelo ruelga.
 * English equivalent: No one knows where the shoe pinches, but he who wears it.
 * Meaning: "Nobody can fully understand another person's hardship or suffering."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:

D

 * Dar al diablo lo que es debido.
 * English equivalent: Give the devil his due.
 * "Bad conduct soils the finest ornament more than filth."
 * Plautus, Mostellaria, I. 3. 133.


 * De buenas intenciones esta empedrado el camino al infierno.
 * English equivalent: The road to hell is paved with good intentions.


 * De grandes cenas están las sepulteras llenas.
 * English equivalent: Gluttony kills more than the sword.


 * De la abundancia del corazón habla la boca.
 * English equivalent: Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.


 * De malas costumbres nacen buenas leyes.
 * English equivalent: Good laws have sprung from bad customs.
 * "Socialism, like the ancient ideas from which it springs, confuses the distinction between government and society. As a result of this, every time we object to a thing being done by government, the socialists conclude that we object to its being done at all. We disapprove of . Then the socialists say that we are opposed to any education. We object to a . Then the socialists say that we want no religion at all. We object to a state-enforced equality. Then they say that we are against equality. And so on, and so on. It is as if the socialists were to accuse us of not wanting persons to eat because we do not want the state to raise grain."
 * Frédéric Bastiat, The Law (1850)å


 * Del mal el menos.
 * English equivalent: Of two evils choose the least.
 * "If you are forced to choose between two options, both of which are undesirable, all you can do is choose the one that is less undesirable than the other."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent: {{{cite book|author=Martin H. Manser|title=The Facts on File Dictionary of Proverbs|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=fgaUQc8NbTYC&pg=PA42|accessdate=3 August 2013|year=2007|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-0-8160-6673-5|page=42}}


 * De noche los gatos Todos son Pardos.
 * English equivalent: At night all cats are grey.


 * De vez en cuando dormita el gran Homero.
 * English equivalent: Even Homer sometimes nods.


 * Debajo del sayal hay mal.
 * 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)


 * Desconfía de los obsequios de tu enemigo.
 * English equivalent: Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.


 * Desde que no la veo, me muero de deseo.
 * English equivalent: Absence makes the heart grow fonder.


 * Despues de los años mil, Torna el agua a su carril.
 * English equivalent: It will all be the same a hundred years hence.


 * Devolver bien por mal.
 * English equivalent: If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
 * Meaning: Make something good out of bad things that has happened to you.


 * Del hombre necio a veces buen consejo.
 * English equivalent: A fool may give a wise man counsel.
 * "Even as the fingers of the two hands are equal, so are human beings equal to one another. No one has any right, nor any preference to claim over another. You are brothers."
 * Muhammad, The Last Sermon of Muhammad delivered on the Ninth Day of Dhul Hijjah 10 A.H (c. 630 AD)


 * Dichoso el varón que escarmienta en cabeça agena y en la suya non.


 * Dime con quién andas, y te diré quién eres.
 * English equivalent: A man is known by the company he keeps.


 * Dinero guardado, dinero capado.
 * Translation: The hidden things of wisdom and a treasure that is not seen, what profit is in them both?
 * English equivalent: Money is there to be spent.


 * Dios que de la llaga, de la medicina.
 * English equivalent: God who gives the wound gives the salve.


 * Dios me libre de hombre de un libro.
 * English equivalent: Fear the man of one book.
 * "Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so."
 * Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See (1990)


 * Dios mejora, las horas.
 * English equivalent: After rain comes sunshine.


 * Dios tarda, pero no olvida.
 * Translation: God is slow, but he does not forget.
 * English equivalent: Punishment is lame but it comes.


 * Dividar para reinar.
 * Translation: Divide to rule.
 * English equivalent: Divide and conquer.
 * Meaning: "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:


 * Dolor comunicado, dolor alviado.
 * English equivalent: A problem shared is a problem halved.


 * Donde faltó natura, allí va la mujer con su pintura.
 * English equivalent: Life imitates art.


 * Dueña yo dueña tu, ¿quién botará la puerca afuera?
 * Translation: You a lady, I a lady who is to drive out the sow?
 * English equivalent: There are too many chiefs and not enough indians.

E

 * Echar margaritas á puercos.
 * English equivalent: Do not throw pearls before swine.


 * El abismo llama al abismo
 * English equivalent: Deep calls to deep.
 * "((Orion) A hunter of shadows, himself a shade."
 * Homer, Odyssey, XI. 572. (~ 800 BC)


 * El arte es largo y la vida breve.
 * English equivalent: Life is short, and art long.


 * El mejor no vale nada.
 * English equivalent: Bad is the best choice.
 * "I always search good in bad. l also search bad in good."
 * Vennu Malesh, It's My Life (2012) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJa2kwoZ2a4

Make use of ev'ry friend—and ev'ry foe."
 * El peresozo siempre es menesteroso.
 * English equivalent: Poverty is the reward of idleness.
 * "Trust not yourself; but your defects to know,
 * Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism (1709)


 * ''El ciego no distingue colores."
 * English equivalent: A blind man should not judge of colours.
 * "An uneducated man cannot judge of the attainments of the learned."


 * El dìa que te casas, o te matas o te sanas.
 * English equivalents: Choose a wife rather by your ear than your eye.
 * "Use great prudence and circumspection, in choosing thy wife, for from thence will spring all thy future good or evil; and it is an action of life like unto a stratagem of war, wherein a man can err but once."
 * William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, Certain Precepts Or Directions for the Well-Ordering and Carriage of a Man's Life (c. 1584, first published 1617)


 * El favo es dulce, mas pica la abeja.
 * English equivalent: He that will not endure the bitter will not live to see the sweet.


 * El fruto no cae lejos del árbol.
 * 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."


 * El hijo de la gata ratones mata.
 * 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."


 * El hilo siempre se rompe por lo más delgado.
 * English equivalent: A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
 * "A weak part or member will affect the success or effectiveness of the whole."
 * Source for meaning:


 * El lenguaje de la verdad es sencillo.
 * English equivalent: Truth gives a short answer, lies go round about.
 * "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)


 * El mejor nadador es del agua.


 * El miedo no es tonto.
 * English equivalent: Discretion is the better part of valor.


 * El orin se come el hierro, y la envidia al mal sujeto.
 * English equivalent: Envy is its own torturer.


 * El peresozo siempre es menesteroso.
 * English equivalent: Poverty is the reward of idleness.


 * El perro ladra y la caravana pasa.
 * English equivalent: The dogs bark but the caravan passes on.
 * "Whatever any one does or says, I must be good."
 * Aurelius Antoninus, Meditations (161 BC)


 * El pez grande se come al chico.
 * English equivalent: Men are like fish; the great ones devour the small.
 * "Small organizations or insignificant people tend to be swallowed up or destroyed by those that are greater and more powerful."


 * El poeta nace, el orador se hace.
 * English equivalent: Poets are born, but orators are trained.


 * El que mucho habla, poco obra.
 * Big talkers are not big doers.
 * English equivalentː Great talkers are little doers.
 * "Well done is better than well said."
 * Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack (1737)


 * El que no es conmigo, contra mí es.
 * English equivalent: He who is not with me is against me.
 * "Friends are those who believe in us and who want to help us whatever it is that we are trying to achieve."
 * Aung San Suu Kyi, Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought Acceptance Speech by Aung San Suu Kyi, Strasbourg, 22 October 2013
 * Originally from the Bible, Luke 11:23 and Matthew 12:30. Specificed as a proverb in (Strauss, 1994 p. 974)


 * El que jugó, jugará.
 * English equivalent: Once a drunkard always a drunkard; Once a thief always a thief.
 * "People keep telling us who they are, but we ignore it - because we want them to be who we want them to be."
 * Lisa Albert, Janet Leahy, Matthew Weiner, Mad Men (2010)


 * El que no es envidiado, es que no es afortunado.
 * English equivalent: No enemies is a sign that fortune has forgotten you.


 * El ruin pajarillo, Descubra su nidillo.
 * 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."


 * El que se ahoga, se agarra a un perlo 
 * English equivalent: A drowning man plucks at a straw.


 * El que súbito se determina, súbito se arrepiente.
 * English equivalent: Hasty judgment leads to repentance.


 * El tiempo perdido los santos lo lloran.
 * English equivalent: Time is precious.
 * "Days are of the least pretension, and of the greatest capacity of anything that exists. They come and go like muffled and veiled figures sent from a distant friendly party; but they say nothing, and if we do not use the gifts they bring, they carry them as silently away."
 * Ralph Waldo Emerson, Works and Days. (1904)


 * El tiempo y la marea no esperan al rey.
 * English equivalent: Time and tide wait for no man.
 * "The negligent and unreflecting man 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. 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:


 * El trabajo según la paga.
 * English equivalent: You get what you pay for.
 * "The quality of goods and services is reflected in their price - cheap things are usually inferior and expensive things are usually superior."


 * En boca cerrada ni moscas ni nada.
 * English equivalent: A still tongue keeps a cool head.
 * "I have often regretted my speech, never my silence."
 * Publilius Syrus, Sententiae (100 B.C)


 * En casa del ahorcado, no se ha de mentar la soga.
 * English equivalent: Name not a rope in his house who hanged himself.


 * En casa del herrero, cuchillo de palo.
 * English equivalents: The shoemaker goes barefoot.
 * "Working hard for others one may neglect one's own needs or the needs of those closest to him."


 * En la duda, abstente.
 * English equivalent: When in doubt, don't.
 * "If you are unsure what to do, it is best to do nothing at all."


 * En la tardanza suele estar el peligroso.
 * English equivalent: Delays are dangerous.
 * "Hesitation or procastination may lead to trouble or disaster."


 * En tierra de ciegos, el tuerto es rey.
 * 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."


 * En toda cosa hay que considerar el fin.
 * English equivalent: Whatever you do, act wisely, and consider the end.


 * Entre dos muelas cordales nunca pongas tus pulgares.
 * English equivalent: Don't go between the tree and the bark.


 * Es más fácil ver la paja en ojo ajeno que la viga en el propio (taken from the Bible, Matthew, 7:3-5)
 * English equivalent: We see the mote in anothers eye but not the beam in our own.


 * Es un hombre sin honor, el que piense mal de esta acción.
 * English equivalent: Shame take him that shame thinketh.
 * "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."
 * Robert J. Hanlon, Murphy's Law Book Two : More Reasons Why Things Go Wrong! (1980)


 * Estar en Roma y no ver el papa.
 * English equivalent: He was in Rome and did not see the pope.


 * El mal escribano le echa la culpa a la pluma
 * English equivalent: A bad workman blames his tools.


 * El saber es fuerza.
 * English equivalent: Learning is the eye of the mind.
 * "An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you do know and what you don't."
 * William Feather As quoted in Telephony, Vol. 150 (1956), p. 23; the first two sentences of this statement began to be attributed to Anatole France in the 1990s, but without any citations of sources.


 * El que no oye consejo no llega a viejo.
 * English equivalent: Advice most needed is the least heeded.
 * Source:


 * El que tiene frio sopla el fuego.
 * English equivalent: Let him that is cold blow the coals.
 * "My definition of success is doing what you love. I feel many people do things because they feel they have to, and are hesitant to risk following their passion."
 * Tony Hawk, American businessman, entrepreneur, skateboard pro. Interviewed by Gary Cohn for Entrepreneur Magazine (October 2009)


 * Ése es mi amigo, el que muele en mi molinillo.
 * English equivalent: He is my friend that grinds at my mill.


 * Es cosa de dos.
 * English equivalent: It takes two to tango.


 * Es el tono que hace la música.


 * Es mejor tostón asegurado que dime apostado.
 * English equivalent: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
 * "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:


 * Es muy frecuente la risa en la boca del necio.
 * English equivalent: A fool is ever laughing.


 * Es peor el remedio que la enfermedad.
 * Translation: 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."


 * Excusa no pedida, la culpa manifesta.
 * 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."

F

 * Fray Modesto nunca llegó a ser prior del convento.
 * English equivalent: Faint heart never won fair lady.


 * Fue por lana y salió trasquilado.
 * (He/She) went looking for wool and came back shorn.
 * Interpretations:
 * If you go for something it might end up biting you
 * you woo someone but end up heartbroken.
 * you try to cheat someone but get cheated yourself.
 * Chasing glamour will get you fleeced.
 * All that glitters isn't gold.

G

 * Gato escaldato del aqua fria há miedo.
 * English equivalent: A burnt child dreads the fire.


 * Gobernar es prever.
 * English equivalent: An ounce of preventions is better than a pound of cure.


 * Guarda mozo, y hallarás viejo.
 * English equivalent: Diligent youth makes easy age.

H

 * Hay gato encerrado.


 * Haz lo que dice el fraile, y no lo que hace.
 * English equivalent: Preachers say: do as I say, not as i do.


 * Hacer de una pulga un elefante.
 * English equivalent: Don't make a mountain out of a molehill.


 * Hechos dan testimonio, que no las palabras.
 * 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:


 * Hijo de gato, caza ratón
 * English equivalent: Like father, like son.


 * Hombre prevenido vale por dos.
 * English equivalent: Forewarned is forearmed.
 * Source:


 * Hoy por mí y mañana por tí.
 * English equivalent: Today me, tomorrow thee.


 * Quien con el diablo haya de comer, larga cuchara ha menester.
 * English equivalent: He who sups with the devil must use a long spoon.
 * "I do not think life will change for the better without an assault on the establishment, which goes on exploiting the wretched of the earth. This belief lies at the heart of the concept of revolutionary suicide. Thus it is better to oppose the forces that would drive me to self-murder than to endure them. Although I risk the likelihood of death, there is at least the possibility, if not the probability, of changing intolerable conditions."
 * Huey P. Newton, Revolutionary Suicide (1973), p. 3

J

 * Jugar con fuego es peligroso.
 * English equivalent: Do not play with edged tools.

L

 * La barba no hace el filósofo.
 * English equivalent: It is not the beard that makes the philosopher.


 * La buena madre no dice quieres.
 * English equivalentː The good mother saith notː will you? but gives.


 * La carne más sabrosa es la que está junta al hueso.
 * English equivalent: The sweetest flesh is near the bones.


 * La dicha de la fea, la linda de la desea .
 * English equivalent: Handsome is that handsome does.
 * "People should be valued for their good deeds, not their good looks, also occasionally used of things, or as a warning not to be misled by an attractive appearance."


 * La envidia es la sombra de la gloria.
 * English equivalent: Envy always shooteth at a high mark.
 * "Envy is a kind of praise."
 * John Gay, Fables Fable XLIV, "The Hound and the Huntsman" (1727)


 * La envidia no muere jamás.
 * English equivalent: Envy takes no holiday.


 * La historia se repite.
 * English equivalent: History repeats itself.


 * La manzana podrida pudre a su vecina.
 * English equivalent: One rotten apple will spoil the whole barrel.


 * La mayoría es razón.
 * English equivalent: What everybody says must be true.


 * La mayor dicha o desdicha del hombre es la mujer.
 * English equivalent: A cheerful wife is the spice of life.


 * La mejor defensa es el ataque.
 * English equivalent: The best defence is a good offense.
 * "You are more likely to win if you take the initiative and make an attack rather than preparing to defend yourself."


 * La mejor salsa es el hambre.
 * English equivalent: Hunger is the best sauce.


 * La nave está más segura con dos anclas que no con una.
 * English equivalent: Good riding at two anchors, men have told, for if one break the other may hold.


 * La necesidad hace a la vieja trotar.
 * English equivalent: Necessity has no law.


 * La ropa sucia se lava en casa.
 * English equivalent: It's an ill bird that fouls its own nest.


 * La rueda de la fortuna nunca es una.
 * English equivalent: The wheel of fortune is forever in motion.


 * La salud ante todo.
 * English equivalent: Good health is above wealth.

(*) La salud no es conocida hasta que es perdida.
 * English equivalent: Health is not valued till sickness comes.


 * La sangre es más espesa que el océano.
 * English equivalent: Blood is thicker than water.


 * La serpiente se oculta en la hierba.
 * English equivalent: Look before you leap, for snakes among sweet flowers do creep.


 * La voz del pueblo es voz de Dios.
 * English equivalent: The voice of the people is the voice of god.


 * La segunda idea suele ser mejor.
 * English equivalent: Second thoughts are the best.
 * "It is often said that second thoughts are best. So they are in matters of judgment, but not in matters of conscience. In matters of duty, first thoughts are commonly best. They have more in them of the voice of God."
 * John Henry Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons: Volume IV (1838), Sermon 2


 * Las parablas no cuentan.
 * English equivalent: Eggs and oaths are soon broken.


 * La unión hace la fuerza.
 * English equivalent: United we stand, divided we fall; Union is strength.


 * Las ratas abandonan el barco que se hunde.
 * English equivalent: Rats desert a sinking ship.


 * Ladroncillo de agujeta, después sube a barjuleta.
 * English equivalent: He that steals an egg will steal an ox.


 * Lavandera mala no encuentra jamás buena piedra.
 * Translation: A bad washer doesn't ever find a good rock.
 * English equivalent: A bad craftsman blames his tools.
 * Source:


 * Las aguas quietas calan hondo.
 * Translation: Still waters run deep.
 * English equivalent: Still waters run deep.
 * Source for proverb:


 * Las aparencias engañan.
 * English equivalent: Appearances deceive.
 * Source:


 * En la variedad está el gusto.
 * English equivalent: Variety is the spice of life.


 * Lo barato cuesta caro.
 * English equivalent: If you buy cheaply, you pay dearly.


 * Lo que mal empieza, mal termina.
 * English equivalent: A bad beginning makes a bad ending.
 * "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."


 * Lo Ajeno dura Poco...
 * Lo que no mata, engorda.
 * Alt: Mugre (mierda) que no mata, engorda.
 * Alt: Veneno que no mata, engorda. (Peru)
 * E nglish equivalent: What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. (Nietzsche)
 * Source:


 * Lo mejor es enemigo de lo bueno.
 * English equivalent: The good is the enemy of the best.


 * ''Lo que puedes sólo, no esperes a otro.
 * English equivalent: For what thou canst do thyself, rely not on another.


 * Los grandes ingenios se encuentran.
 * English equivalent: Great minds agree.


 * Los primeros serán postreros.
 * English equivalent: The last will be first, and the first last.

M

 * Manos besa el hombre, que querria ver cortadas.
 * English equivalent: Many kiss the hand they wish cut off.


 * Mas de prisa, más despacio.
 * English equivalentː More haste less, speed.


 * Más lejos ven los sesos que los ojos.
 * English equivalent: The eye looks but it is the mind that sees.


 * Mas vale algo que nada
 * English equivalent: Better a lean jade than an empty halter.


 * Más vale andarse soltero que con mal compañero.
 * English equivalent: Better be alone than in bad company.


 * Más vale pájaro en mano que ciento volando.
 * English equivalent: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
 * Source:


 * Más vale un enemigo discreto que un amigo necio.
 * English equivalent: A wise enemy is better than a foolish friend.


 * Más vale un hecho que cien palabras.
 * English equivalent: Actions speak loudee than words.


 * Más vale un presente que dos después.
 * English equivalent: One today is worth ten tomorrows.


 * Mas valé punada de natural que almorzada de ciencia.
 * English equivalent: Nature is beyond all teaching.


 * Mas vale rodear que no ahogar.
 * English equivalent: Better go about than fall into the ditch.


 * Mas vale saber que hablar (haber).
 * English equivalent: A good mind possess a kingdom.


 * ‘’Mas vale tarde que nunca.’’
 * English equivalent: Better late than never.
 * "It is better that somebody arrives or something happens later than expected or desired, than not at all."


 * Más sabe el diablo por viejo que por diablo.
 * Alt: Sabe más el diablo por viejo que por diablo.
 * Translation: The devil knows more because he's old, than because he is devil.
 * Interpretations:
 * With age comes wisdom.
 * Source:


 * ¡Médico, cúrate a ti mismo!
 * English equivalent: Physician, heal yourself!


 * Mejor es doblar que quebrar.
 * English equivalent: Better bow than break.
 * "It is better to make some confession, or pay a little deference to others, our neighbors, friends, acquaintances, and especially our superiors, rather than lose our credit or break friendship."


 * Mejor es el fin que los medios.
 * English equivalent: Crooked logs make straight fires.


 * Menea la cola el can, no por ti, sino por el pan.
 * English equivalent: Dogs wags their tails, not so much to you as your bread.
 * "Women, like princes, find few real friends."
 * George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton, Advice to a Lady, Stanza 2. (1731)


 * Meted las manos en vuestro seno, veréis vuestro mal y no el ajeno.
 * English equivalent: Forget other faults remembering your own; Forgive and forget.


 * Mientras la hierba crece el caballo muere.
 * English equivalent: While the grass grows the steed starves.


 * Mirar antes de saltar.
 * English equivalent: Look before you leap.
 * "The man who thinks before he acts, is most likely to act with discretion, and have no future cause to repent of his conduct; but he who acts blindly, without any foresight, will probably suffer for his rashness."


 * Mucha paya y poco grano; es por vicio del verano.
 * English equivalent: Great cry and little wool.
 * "Much ado about nothing."


 * Muchos amenes al cielo llegan.
 * English equivalent: Short prayers reach heaven.


 * Mucho tiene que hacer quien ha de gustar á todos.
 * English equivalent: He had need rise early who would please everybody.
 * "It is impossible to do something that everybody will approve of."


 * Muchos golpes derriban un roble.
 * English equivalent: Little strokes fell great oaks.
 * "A difficult task, e. g. removing a person/group from a strong position, or changing established ideas cannot be done quickly. It can be achieved gradually, by small steps, a little at a time."

N

 * Nada hay nuevo debajo del sol.
 * English equivalent: Nothing is new.


 * Nadie da palos de balde.
 * English equivalent: You don't get nothing for nothing; The only free cheese is in the mouse trap.
 * "Everything has to be paid for, directly or indirectly, in money or in kind."


 * Nadie es indispensable.
 * English equivalent: No man is indispensable.


 * Nadie puede ser juez en causa propia.
 * English equivalent: No one can be the judge in his own case.


 * Necio es quien piensa que otros no piensan.
 * English equivalent: He is a fool that thinks not another thinks.
 * "Never hate your enemies, it clouds your judgement."
 * Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo, The Godfather Part III (1990), in a line for Michael Corleone.


 * Ni de amigo reconcilado, ni de manjar dos veces guisado.
 * English equivalent: Take heed of enemies reconciled and of meat twice boiled.


 * No dejes camino viejo por sendero nuevo.
 * English equivalent: A short cut is often a wrong cut.


 * No dejes para mañana lo que puedas hacer hoy.
 * English equivalent: Leave nothing for tomorrow what can be done today.


 * No fies mujer de fraile, ni barajes con alcade.
 * English equivalent: A king's favour is no inheritance.


 * No hay ausente justo.
 * English equivalent: The absent are always in the wrong.


 * No hay cerrudura, si es de oro la ganzua.
 * English equivalent: A golden key opens any gate but that of heaven.


 * No hay cosa secreta que tarde o temprano no se sepa.
 * English equivalent: There is nothing hidden that will not become public.


 * No hay enemigo pequeño.
 * English equivalent: There is no little enemy.


 * No hay mal que por bien no venga.
 * English equivalent: Every cloud has a silver lining.


 * No hay peor burla, Que la verdadera.
 * English equivalent: Many a true words are spoken in jest.
 * "A joke's a very serious thing."
 * Charles Churchill, The Ghost (1763), book iv, line 1386


 * No hay peor ciego que el que no quiere ver.
 * English equivalent: There are none so blind as they who will not see.
 * Source:


 * No hay peor sordo que el que no quiere oír.
 * English equivalent: None so deaf as those who will not hear.


 * No hay regla sin excepción.
 * English equivalent: There is no rule without an exception.


 * No hay que dejar lo segur por lo dudoso
 * English equivalent: He that leaves certainty and sticks to chance, When fools pipe, he may dance.


 * No hay que jugar con le salud.
 * English equivalent: Don't burn the candles at both ends.


 * No hay tal arte como el que oculta el arte.
 * English equivalent: The best art conceals art.


 * No hay tal ciencia como tener paciencia.
 * English equivalent: An ounce of patience is worth a pound of brains.


 * No hay tal razón como la del bastón.
 * English equivalent: Accusing is proving, when malice and force sit judges; The wolf finds a reason for taking the lamb.


 * No pidas perdon antes de ser acusado.
 * English equivalent: Never ask pardon before you are accused.


 * No se pierde todo lo que está en peligro.
 * English equivalent: Bitter pills may have blessed effects.
 * "Present afflictions may tend to our future good."


 * No te arrepientas nunca de haber comido poco.
 * English equivalent: Feed sparingly and defy the physician.


 * No todas las verdades son para dichas.
 * English equivalent: All truths are not to be told.


 * No todo es vero lo que suena el pandero.
 * English equivalent: A story never loses in the telling.


 * No todo lo que brilla es oro.
 * English equivalent: Not everything that glitters is gold.
 * Source:


 * No se cazan liebres al son del tambor.
 * English equivalent: Drumming is not the way to catch a hare.


 * No se está nunca tan bien que no se pueda estar mejor, ni tan mal que no se pueda empeorar.
 * English equivalent: Nothing so good but it might have been better.


 * No se pierde nada por esperar.
 * English equivalent: We shall lose nothing by waiting.


 * No se puede sacar agua de una piedre.
 * English equivalent: You cannot get blood from a stone.


 * No vendas la piel del oso antes de cazarlo.
 * English equivalent: Don't count your chickens before they hatch.


 * Non hay libro tan malo, que no tenga algo bueno.
 * English equivalent: No book was so bad, but some good might be got out of it.

O

 * Obra de comun, obra de ningun.
 * English equivalent: Everyone's business is no ones business.
 * "Matters that are of general concern, but are the responsibility of nobody in particular, tend to get neglected because everybody thinks that somebody else should deal with them."
 * Source for meaning:
 * Source for meaning:


 * Oro es lo que oro vale.
 * English equivalent: Everything is worth its price.

P

 * Para curar no basta la intencion.
 * English equivalent: It is not wise to open old wounds.


 * Para eurar no basta la intencion.
 * English equivalent: Least said, soonest mended.


 * Para todo hay comentario.
 * English equivalent: Every why hath its wherefore.
 * "Everything has an underlying reason."


 * Pato, ganso y ansarón, tres cosas suena y una son.
 * English equivalent: Goose, gander and gosling are three sounds but one thing.


 * Perro ladrador, poco mordedor.
 * English equivalent: Barking dogs seldom bite. / All bark, no bite.
 * "Threatening does not always lead to action: Harsh words may disguise a different feeling, intention or ability."


 * Peso y medida quitan al hombre fatiga.


 * Piedra sin agua no aguza en la fragua.
 * English equivalent: From nothing nothing can come.


 * Poner el carro antes los bueyes.
 * Translation: To set the cart before the horse.
 * English equivalent: Don't put the cart before the horse.
 * "It is important to do things in the right or natural order."


 * Preso por uno preso por ciento.
 * English equivalent: In for a penny in for a pound.


 * Presto hay un bastón para dar al perro.
 * English equivalent: A stick is easily found to beat a dog.


 * Por conservar amistad pared en medio.
 * English equivalentː A hedge between keeps friends green.


 * Por preguntar, nada se pierde.
 * English equivalent: Lose nothing for want of asking.


 * Por un gustazo, un trancazo.
 * Translation: Pride comes before fall.


 * Por una parte se pierde el todo.
 * English equivalent: A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

Q

 * Cual es Maria, tal hija cría .
 * 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 rarely."


 * Quien á mano agena espera, mal yanta y peor cena.
 * English equivalent: He that waits on another man's trencher, makes many a late dinner.


 * Quien calla, otorga. (El que calla, otorga.)
 * 'Silence is assent'
 * Interpretation: 'If you do not speak out against "it", that is equivalent to approving "it".'
 * You cannot keep silent in the face of injustice and then complain about it afterward.
 * English equivalent: Silence gives consent.


 * Quien mala cama hace, En ella se hace.
 * English equivalent: As you make your bed, so you must lie.
 * "You must put up with the unpleasant results of a foolish action or decision."


 * Qué bonito es ver la lluvia y no mojarse.
 * English equivalent: Criticism is easy, but art is difficult.
 * Source:


 * Quien acheja por agujero, ve su duelo.
 * English equivalent: Eavesdroppers hear no good of themselves.
 * "People who eavesdrop on the conversations of others risk hearing unfavorable comments about themselves; used as a warning or reprimand."


 * Quien bien ama, tarde se olvida.
 * English equivalent: True love never rusts.


 * Quien en año quiere ser rico, al medio le ahorcan.
 * English equivalent: No one gets rich quickly if he is honest.


 * Quien bien quiere a Pedro, no hace mal a su perro.
 * English equivalent: Love me, love my dog.


 * Quien da luego, da dos veces.
 * English equivalent: He gives twice, who gives in a trice.


 * Quien espera, desespera
 * English equivalent: Who lives by hope will die of hunger.


 * Quien mal siembra, mal coge.
 * English equivalent: Sow thin, shear thin.
 * "The success of most things depends upon knowing how long it will take to succeed."
 * Charles de Montesquieu, Pensées Diverses (1879)


 * Quien no adoba gotera, hace casa entera.
 * 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."


 * Quien no oye consejo, no llega a viejo.


 * Quien no tenga cabeza, que tenga pies.
 * English equivalent: A forgetful head makes a weary pair of heels.


 * Quien no tiene cabeza, debe tener piernas.
 * English equivalent: Who falls short in the head must be long in the heels.


 * Quien pájaro ha de tomar, no ha de ojear.
 * English equivalent: Deal gently with the bird you mean to catch.
 * "When people are just, they need friendship in addition."
 * Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics (c. 325 BC), Book VIII, 1155.a26


 * Quien pide no escoge.
 * Translate: He who asks does not get to choose.
 * English equivalent: Beggars must be no choosers.


 * Quien primero llega, ese la calza.
 * English equivalent: First come, first served.


 * Quien quiera peces, que moje el culo.
 * English equivalent: Birds fly not into our mouth ready roasted.
 * "One cannot (or should not) expect to benefit without making some effort."


 * Quien quiere celeste, que le cueste
 * Translation: He who wants the heavens must pay.
 * "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!"
 * The Bible, Isaiah 5:12 - 21.
 * Proverbs|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=fgaUQc8NbTYC&pg=PA267|year=2007|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-0-8160-6673-5|pages=267–}}
 * Source:


 * Quien saltar quiere lejos, debe medir la distancia.
 * English equivalent: One must step back to take a good leap.
 * "The superficiality of the American is the result of his hustling. It needs leisure to think things out; it needs leisure to mature. People in a hurry cannot think, cannot grow, nor can they decay. They are preserved in a state of perpetual puerility."
 * Eric Hoffer, The Passionate State of Mind (New York: 1954), #172


 * Quien tiene cola de paja no debe arrimarse al fuego.
 * English equivalent: He that hath a head of wax must not walk in the sun.


 * Quien tiene tejado de vidrio, no tire piedras al de su vecino.
 * English equivalentː People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.


 * Quien tiene hijos o ovejas, no le faltan quejas.
 * 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."


 * Quien cuando puede no quiere, cuando quiere no puede.
 * 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."


 * Quien vive esperando muere desesperando.
 * English equivalent: He that lives on hope will die fasting.

R

 * Roba bien quien a ladron roba.
 * English equivalent: Set a thief to catch a thief.

S

 * Saca agua de las piedras.
 * English equivalent: All is fish that comes to the net.
 * "Anything that comes along is accepted and turned to advantage."
 * a similar meaning: "… when we do not upbraid circumstances or indulge in self reproach, the mind is the mind and nothing untoward can occur. Chersterton rightly says 'An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly understood. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered'"
 * a similar meaning: "… when we do not upbraid circumstances or indulge in self reproach, the mind is the mind and nothing untoward can occur. Chersterton rightly says 'An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly understood. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered'"
 * a similar meaning: "… when we do not upbraid circumstances or indulge in self reproach, the mind is the mind and nothing untoward can occur. Chersterton rightly says 'An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly understood. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered'"


 * Si adelante no vas, altrasarás.
 * English equivalent: He who does not advance goes backwards.


 * Si cazares, no te alabes; si no cazares, no te enfades.
 * English equivalent: If fortune favours, beware of being exalted; if fortune thunders, beware of being overwhelmed.


 * Si el ciego guía al ciego, ambos caerán en la hoya.
 * English equivalent: If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.


 * Si el cielo se cae nos cojerá debajo.
 * English equivalent: If the sky falls, we shall catch larks.


 * Si el rio suena es porque piedras trae.
 * English equivalent: "where there's smoke there's fire."


 * Si la montaña no va a Mahoma, Mahoma íra a la montaña
 * Note: From an English proverb. The earliest appearance of the phrase is from Chapter 12 of the Essays of Francis Bacon, published in 1625.
 * English equivalent: If the mountain will not come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain.
 * "If you cannot get what you want, you must adapt yourself to the circumstances or adopt a different approach."


 * Si no como queremos pasamos como podemos.
 * English equivalent: Do as you may, if you can't do as you could.
 * "He that would please all, and himself too, Undertakes what none could ever do."
 * Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia (1732)


 * Si vale la pena hacerlo, vale la pena hacerlo bien.
 * English equivalent: If a job is worth doing, it is worth doing well.
 * "Duty makes us do things well, but love makes us do them beautifully."
 * Phillips Brooks, as quoted in Primary Education (1916) by Elizabeth Peabody, p. 190


 * Sin razón se queja del mar quien otra vez navega.
 * English equivalent: He complains wrongfully at the sea that suffer shipwreck twice.


 * Sin tentacion no hay victoria.
 * English equivalent: Without temptation there is no victory.


 * Duerme en ello, y tomarás consejo
 * English equivalent: Take counsel of one's pillow.


 * Sol que mucho madruga, poco dura.
 * English equivalent: Early ripe, early rotten.


 * Sólo se tiran piedras al árbol cargado de fruto.
 * English equivalent: if you have no enemies it is a sign that fortune has forgotten you; People throw stones only at trees with fruit on them.
 * "Of whom to be disprais'd were no small praise."
 * John Milton, Paradise Regained (1671), Book III, line 56

T

 * Tal padre, tal hijo.
 * 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."


 * Todo camino vá á Rome.
 * English equivalent: All roads lead to Rome.


 * Toma las cosas como vienen.
 * English equivalent: Take things as you find them.
 * "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)

U

 * Un clavo saca a otro clavo.
 * English equivalent: One nail drives out another.
 * "As one nail by strength drives out another, So the remembrance of my former love Is by a newer object quite forgotten."
 * William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice (1592)


 * Una golondrina no hace verano.
 * English equivalent: A swallow doesn't make summer.


 * Una manzana diaria aleja al médico de casa.
 * English equivalent: An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

V

 * Vale más huir, que morir.
 * 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."


 * Visteme despacio, que tengo prisa.
 * English equivalent: Make haste slowly.

Z

 * Zapatero, a tus zapatos.
 * English equivalent: Shoemaker, stick to your last or Cobbler, stick to thy last.