Turkish proverbs

Proverbs from all Turkish speaking parts of the world.

A

 * Acele işe şeytan karışır.
 * English equivalent: Haste makes waste.


 * Al elmaya taş atan çok olur.
 * English equivalent: No enemies is a sign that fortune has forgotten you.
 * "Heh, heh... Thanks... You're nice. Umm... Can I ask... a question? The right thing... What is it? I wonder... If you do the right thing... Does it really make... everybody...happy?"
 * Said by Child wearing Gyorg's mask in Majora's Mask (2000), directed by Eiji Aonuma


 * Altın kılıç her kapıyı açar.
 * English equivalent: Money opens all doors except those to heaven.


 * Ateş olmayan yerden duman çıkmaz.
 * English equivalent: No smoke without fire.

B

 * Babası oğluna bir bağ bağışlamış, oğul babaya bir salkım üzüm vermemiş.
 * the father bequeathed a vineyard to his son, but the son denied his father even a bunch of grapes.
 * The father donated a vineyard to his son, the son didn't give a single bunch of grapes to the father.
 * Note: Used when a person does something ungrateful and selfish to another person who made good deeds for him.


 * Baba nasılsa oğlu da öyledir.
 * 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."


 * Bir vurmakla ağaç devrilmez.
 * English equivalent: A tree won't fall with a single blow.
 * "A difficult task, e. g. removing a person or 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."


 * Bilmemek değil, öğrenmemek ayıptır.
 * English equivalent: There is no shame in not knowing something; the shame is in not being willing to learn.

Ç

 * Çıkmayan candan umit kesilmez.
 * English equivalent: Hope springs eternal.

D

 * Demir tavında dövülür.
 * You should hammer your iron when it's glowing hot.
 * English equivalent: Strike while the iron is hot.


 * Dost kara günde belli olur.
 * A friend is known on black (i. e bad days).
 * English equivalent: A friend in need is a friend indeed.

E

 * Armut dibine düşer.
 * 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."

G

 * Gözden uzak olan gönülden de uzak olur.
 * English equivalent: Out of sight, out of mind.
 * Out of sight ,out of hearth


 * Gülü seven, dikenine katlanır.
 * English equivalent: the one who loves a rose, should put up with the thorns.


 * Güneşte yanmayan gölgenin kıymetini bilmez.
 * unless one gets a sunburn, one may not appreciate the shade
 * English equivalent: He knows good best who has experienced evil.

H

 * Havlayan köpek ısırmaz.
 * English equivalent: Barking dogs seldom bite.
 * "People who make the most or the loudest threats are the least likely to take action."


 * Herkes kendi yıldızının demircisi.
 * English equivalent: Every man is the smith of his own fortune.

I

 * Isıracak köpek dişini göstermez.
 * English equivalent: The biting dog does not show it's teeth.


 * İt ürür, kervan yürür.
 * English equivalent: The dogs bark, but the caravan passes on.
 * "Whatever must be misrepresented, to be ridiculed, is praised. Ridicule - a fool's first and last argument. The ridiculous is what fools remember longest. Deists, in general, attack Christianity by ridicule. This is their most powerful, and perhaps their most successful weapon. All persons can laugh, but all cannot reason. This mode of attacking Christianity answers purposes which can be effected in no other way: for ridicule is unanswerable. Who can refute a sneer? It is independent of proof, reason, or argument; and may as well be used against facts as against falsehood."
 * Charles Simmons, Laconic Manual and Brief Remarker (1852)


 * İyi bașlamak yarı bitirmektir.
 * English equivalent: Well begun, is half done.
 * "Starting properly ensures the speedy completion of a process. A beginning is often blocked by one or more obstacles (potential barriers), the removal of which may ensure the smooth course of the process."

N

 *  Ne Arap'ın zekeri, ne Şam'ın şekeri.
 * Neither the Arab's penis, nor sweets of Damascus.
 * English equivalent: Want none of it/that


 * Ne ekersen onu biçersin.
 * English equivalent: What you reap, is what you sow.

S

 * Sabır acıdır, meyvesi tatlıdır.
 * English equivalent: Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.

T

 * Yuvarlanan taş yosun tutmaz.
 * English equivalent: A rolling stone gathers no moss.
 * "There are a Set of People that are of such restless Temper, that before they are well settled in one Habitation, always dip into another. Such Persons fall under the Doom of this Proverb, which is design’d to fix the Volatility of their Tempers, by laying before them the ill Consequences of such fickleness."
 * Divers Proverbs, Nathan Bailey, 1721

Z

 * Zorla güzellik olmaz.
 * Forced beauty won't do.
 * English equivalent: Forced love and self-made colors do not last.
 * "Love is like a lost fart. If you have to force it, it's probably shit.”
 * Stephen K. Amos, I Used to Say My Mother Was Shirley Bassey (2012)