Vietnamese proverbs

Proverbs from all Vietnamese speaking parts of the world.

A

 * ''Ăn miếng trả miếng
 * Eat one, pay one. Tit for tat.
 * Measure for measure . An eye for an eye . A tooth for a tooth.

B

 * Bắt cá hai tay.
 * Translation: You catch fish with both hands.
 * English equivalent: Between two stools, you fall to the ground; To run with the hare and hold with the hound; Two timer; You have one cake but cannot eat it up.
 * Meaning: If you cannot make up your mind which of two things you should do, you are liable to get yourself into difficulties by doing neither.

C

 * Cái khó ló cái khôn.
 * English equivalent: Adversity is the mother of wisdom.
 * "I guess the only time most people think about injustice is when it happens to them."
 * Charles Bukowski, Ham on Rye (1982)


 * Cái nết đánh chết cái đẹp.
 * English equivalent: Handsome is as 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."
 * "Beauty comes from within, which kills good looks", in another perspective; being genuine human beings mean we should be less perceptive on other human beings, as it isn't their fault they were born with good looks. In conclusion, just be kind always. with or without deeds. where ever, when ever, how ever, and to whoever".


 * Cẩn tắc vô ưu.
 * Good watch prevents misfortune.
 * English equivalent: Harm watch is harm catch.


 * Càng đông càng vui.
 * English equivalent:The more, the merrier.


 * Cha nào, con nấy.
 * Like father, like son


 * Chậm mà chắc.
 * English equivalent: Slowly but surely


 * Cháy nhà mới ra mặt chuột
 * English equivalent: Rats desert a sinking ship.
 * Meaning: Only when something bad happens; the skeleton(s) in the closet will be revealed.


 * Chết vinh còn hơn sống nhục
 * Better die a beggar than live a beggar.
 * Better die on your feet than live on your knees.




 * Chín người, mười ý.
 * Translation: "Nine people, ten ideas"
 * Meaning: The more people you include, the more opinions and debates you will have.


 * Chở củi về rừng.
 * English equivalent: To carry wood back into the forest.
 * Meaning: Doing something unnecessary.


 * Chó sủa là chó không cắn.
 * Translation and English equivalent: Barking dogs seldom bite


 * Chơi chó, chó liếm mặt Familiarity breeds contempt.


 * Chưa đỗ ông nghè đã đe hàng tổng.
 * Catch the bear before you sell his skin
 * English equivalent: Sell not the bear's skin before you have caught him.


 * Chứng nào tật nấy.
 * Who drinks, will drink again


 * Có chí làm quan, có gan làm giàu.
 * English equivalent: Fortune favors the brave.
 * "The pain of letting yourself down is much greater than anything someone else can say."
 * Neil Strauss, The Rules of the Game (2007)


 * Có công mài sắt có ngày nên kim.
 * Practice makes perfect
 * Translation: If you put in the work to sharpen the steel, it will eventually turn into needles.
 * English equivalent: Persevere and never fear.
 * Meaning: Persistence pays.


 * Có mới nới cũ
 * New one in, old one out


 * Có tật giật mình
 * He who excuses himself, accuses himself.


 * Có chí thì nên.
 * English equivalent: Where there's a will, there's a way.
 * Meaning: "If you are sufficiently determined to achieve something, then you will find a way of doing so."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:
 * Stone, J. R. (2005). The Routledge Dictionary of Latin Quotations: The Illiterati's Guide to Latin Maxims, Mottoes, Proverbs and Sayings, Routledge. p. 351


 * Còn nước, còn tát
 * While there's life, there's hope.


 * Con sâu làm rầu nồi canh.
 * Con sâu làm rầu nồi canh - Một người làm đĩ xấu danh đàn bà .
 * One drop of poison infects the whole of wine


 * Chim sợ cành cong.
 * English equivalent: once bitten, twice shy


 * Chở củi về rừng
 * return the wood to its jungle


 * Chưa đỗ ông nghè đã đe hàng tổng


 * Chưa khỏi vòng đã cong đuôi.
 * Meaning: Don't celebrate until you are 100 % sure there is a reason to do so.


 * Có còn hơn không.
 * English equivalent: Something is better than nothing


 * Có thực mới vực được đạo.
 * English equivalent: It's no use preaching to a hungry man
 * Meaning: Having food (energy/money) is the prerequisite to achieve anything.


 * Có tiền mua tiên cũng được.
 * English equivalent: Money talks. If you have money, can you buy even fairies.
 * Meaning: Money makes things easier.


 * Của thiên, trả địa.
 * Translation: (That which) Belongs to heaven, returns to earth.
 * English equivalent: Ill gotten, ill spent. (Mr. B Lam)


 * Cùng tắc biến, biến tắc thông
 * When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.


 * Cười người hôm trước, hôm sau người cười.
 * Translation: Laughs at others today, (and) tomorrow others will laugh at you''
 * English equivalent: He who laughs last, laughs best.
 * Meaning: "Minor successes or failures along the way are of no significance – the person who is ultimately triumphant is the only real winner."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:

D

 * Dể được, dể mất
 * English equivalent: Easy come, easy go.
 * Meaning: "Things that are easily acquired, especially money, are just as easily lost or spent."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:


 * Dĩ độc trị độc.
 * English equivalent: Fight fire with fire.
 * Meaning: "The best way to deal with an opponent is to fight back with similair weapons or tactics."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:


 * Dĩ hoà vi quý.
 * Translation: Making peace is treasured.
 * Closest English equivalent: Make love, not war.


 * Dục tốc bất đạt.
 * English equivalentː Haste makes waste.

Đ

 * Đã trót thì phải trét.
 * If you sell the cow, you will sell her milk too


 * Đánh chết cái nết cũng không chừa.
 * Translation: You can't kill someone's habit.
 * English equivalent: Old habits die hard.


 * Đầu xuôi đuôi lọt.
 * English equivalent: A good beginning makes a good ending.
 * Meaning: "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."
 * Source for meaning:


 * Đèn nhà ai nấy sáng.
 * Half the world not know how the other half lives


 * Đen tình, đỏ bạc.
 * Lucky at cards, unlucky in love


 * Đi một ngày đàng, học một sàng khôn.
 * Travelling forms a young man
 * Travelling widens one's horizon.


 * Đi với bụt mặc áo cà sa, đi với ma mặc áo giấy.
 * Pay a man back in the same coin


 * Điếc không sợ súng.
 * Translation: He that knows nothing doubts nothing.


 * Đoàn kết thì sống, chia rẽ thì chết.
 * English equivalentː United we stand, divided we fall


 * Đời cha ăn mặn, đời con khát nước.
 * Translation: When the father's generation eats salt, the child's generation thirsts for water.
 * Chinese equivalent: Father's debt, son to give back.


 * Đông tay vỗ nên kêu


 * Đồng thanh tương ứng, đồng khí tương cầu.
 * Đồng thanh tương ứng, đồng khí tương cầu. Ngưu tầm ngưu, mã tầm mã
 * English equivalent: Birds of a feather flock together.
 * Meaning: Similar people often become friends.


 * Đừng chế nhạo người
 * Laugh and the world will laugh with you


 * Đừng xét đoán người qua bề ngoài
 * Do not judge the book by its cover
 * Do not judge people by their appearance


 * Được đằng chân, lân đằng đầu.

G

 * Gần mực thì đen, gần đèn thì rạng.
 * Translation: If near ink, you will be black, if near light, you will shine.
 * English equivalent: Tell me with whom though goest, and I will tell what though doest.


 * Gậy ông đập lưng ông.
 * Translation: Using the old man's cane to hit his own back.
 * English equivalent: Hoist with his own petard.


 * Giận hóa mất khôn.
 * Hatred is as blind as love


 * Gieo gió gặp bão.
 * What you reap shall reap


 * Gieo gió gặt bão.
 * We reap as we sow

H

 * Hoạ vô đon chí.
 * Translation: Misfortunes never come singly.
 * English equivalent: Misery loves company.


 * Hữu xạ tự nhiên hương.
 * English equivalent: Good wine needs no bush.
 * Meaning: "A good product does not need advertising."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:

I

 * Im lặng là vàng.
 * English equivalent: Silence is golden.


 * Im lặng tức là đồng ý.
 * Translation: Silence gives consent.

K

 * Không biết thì dựa cột mà nghe
 * Translation: If you don't know something listen.
 * This refers to students leaning against a pillar of a classroom to listen to a teacher


 * Không có lửa làm sao có khói
 * Không có lửa sao có khói.
 * Translation and English equivalent: There is no smoke without fire.
 * Meaning: "There is no effect without some cause." or "It is supposed that if there is a rumour, there must be some truth behind it."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:


 * Không vào hang cọp sao bắt được cọp con.
 * Translation: Can't catch a tiger without going into its cave.
 * Neck or nothing


 * Kiên nhẫn là mẹ thành công.
 * Translation: patience is mother of success.


 * Kiêu ngạo đi trước, bại hoại theo sau. (Kinh Thánh)
 * Fall comes after pride. (the Bible) Mr. B

L

 * Lắm mối tối nằm không.
 * If you run after two hares, you'll catch none


 * Lời nói không đi đôi với việc làm.
 * Do as I say, not as I do.
 * Translation: Words don't match with actions.
 * Meaning: The person referred to in the proverb is a hypocrite; he says one thing but does another.
 * English equivalent: Preachers say: Do as I say, not as I do.


 * Lời nói là bạc, im lặng là vàng
 * Speech is silver, silence is gold


 * Lực bất tòng tâm.
 * So much to do, so little done.

O

 * Ở hiền gặp lành.
 * One good turn deserves another

M

 * Mỗi thời, mỗi cách
 * Other times, other ways


 * Một giọt máu đào hơn ao nước lã.
 * English equivalent: Blood is thicker than water.
 * "In case of need relatives usually help each other more than strangers. – The bonds of relationship are more binding than other bonds."


 * Miệng hùm, gan sứa.
 * If you cannot bite, never show your teeth


 * Máu chảy, ruột mềm.
 * When the blood sheds, the heart aches


 * Muộn còn hơn không
 * Better late than never


 * Mưu sự tại nhân, thành sự tại thiên.
 * English equivalent: Man proposes, god disposes.
 * Meaning: Things seldom turn out as you have planned.


 * Một câu nhịn chín câu lành.
 * Translation: Better a lean peace than a fat victory.


 * Méo mó có hơn không.
 * English equivalent: Half a loaf is better than no bread.

N

 * Nói dễ, làm khó.
 * Easier said than done.


 * No bụng đói con mắt.
 * His eyes are bigger than his belly


 * Ngưu tầm ngưu, mã tầm mã
 * English equivalent: Birds of a feather flock together.


 * Nhân nào, quả nấy.
 * Translation: For every seed a corresponding fruit.
 * English equivalent: You reap what you sow.


 * Nói trước bước không qua.
 * English equivalent: Don't count your chickens before they're hatched. (Mr. B Lam)


 * Nước chảy đá mòn.
 * Translation: Water flows, rock erodes.
 * English equivalent: Constant dripping wears the stone.
 * "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 book s."
 * (Giordano Bruno, Il Candelaio)


 * Ngọt mật chết ruồi.
 * Translation: You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar.

O

 * Ở hiền gặp lành.
 * One good turn deserves another

P

 * Phi thương,bất phú.
 * Translation: Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
 * Meaning: It is necessary to take risks in order to achieve something.

R

 * Rượu vào, lời ra.
 * Drunkenness reveals what soberness conceals.

S

 * Sinh nghề tử nghiêp.
 * English equivalent: Live by the sword, die by the sword. (the Bible)Mr. B
 * "Those who engage in aggression or violence will meet their death in a similar way."
 * Sinh sự, sự sinh.
 * English equivalent: Never trouble trouble till trouble troubles you.
 * Sinh sự, sự sinh.
 * English equivalent: Never trouble trouble till trouble troubles you.

T

 * Tai vách, mạch rừng.
 * English equivalent: Walls have ears.
 * Meaning: "What you say may be overheard; used as a warning."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:


 * Tay làm hàm nhai
 * Translation: The hand works, the mouth (is allowed to) chew.
 * English equivalent: He that does not work shall not eat.
 * "Without due effort one is not entitled to the fruits of the work."


 * Tham thì thâm.
 * English equivalent: Grasp all, lose all.


 * Thấy đỏ tưởng chín.
 * Translation: Mistaking red for ripe.


 * Tiền nào của đó.
 * Translation: You get what you paid for.
 * English equivalent: If you buy cheaply, you pay dearly; If you buy quality you only cry once.
 * "What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing."
 * Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan (1892)


 * Trèo cao, té đàu.
 * Translation: The higher you climb, the greater you fall.
 * Meaning: Slip-ups becomes more consequential, the more influence you have.


 * Thất bại là mẹ thành công.
 * English equivalent: Failure is the mother of success.


 * Tư Tưởng Lớn Gặp Nhau.
 * Great minds think alike.
 * Tư Tưởng Lớn Gặp Nhau

U

 * Uống nước nhớ nguồn
 * uống hộ

Translation: Remember the source when you drink

V

 * Vụng chèo khéo chống
 * Translation: A poor workman blames his tools.


 * Vạn sự khởi đầu nan.
 * It is the first step that counts


 * Việc người thì sáng, việc mình thi quáng
 * Men are blind in their own cause


 * Vắng chủ nhà, gà mọc vọc niêu tôm.
 * When the cat is away, the mice will play


 * Việc gì làm được hôm nay chớ để ngày mai.
 * Make hay while the sun shines.

X

 * Xa mặt, cách lòng.
 * Translation: Out of sight, out of mind.
 * English equivalent: "Long absent, soon forgotten" and also "Out of sight, out of mind."


 * Xem việc biết người.
 * English equivalent: A workman is known by his chips.

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