Proverbs from Around the World

Explore a living collection of over 1,900 proverbs from more than 50 cultures. Discover timeless wisdom in English, French, Spanish, and Japanese — each saying with its meaning, origin, and literal translation.

The pen is mightier than the sword — Writing and ideas have more influence than violence. (The line comes from Edward Bulwer-Lytton's play Richelieu (1839). The Cardinal, a churchman who cannot take up arms, discovers a plot against him and realizes his signature can do what soldiers cannot: "Beneath the rule of men entirely great, / The pen is mightier than the sword." Writers had long set the power of words against the power of weapons, but Bulwer-Lytton's wording is the one that stuck.)
Where there's a will, there's a way — Determination will help you find a solution. (The idea was already proverbial in the 17th century: George Herbert's collection Outlandish Proverbs (1640) gives it as "To him that will, ways are not wanting." The brisker modern wording took over in the 19th century. It is a close cousin of "Nothing is impossible to a willing heart.")
Blood is thicker than water — Family bonds are stronger than other relationships. (German proverb, first recorded in the 12th century.)
Two heads are better than one — Collaboration and diverse perspectives lead to better solutions. (The thought is ancient — Ecclesiastes 4:9 opens with "Two are better than one" — and it was current in English by the late Middle Ages. John Heywood fixed the familiar wording in his 1546 Dialogue of proverbs, the first great anthology of English sayings. It is said when two people solve together what neither could manage alone.)
No pain, no gain — You must work hard to achieve results. (Exercise motto popularized in the 1980s, roots in Benjamin Franklin's writings.)
What goes around comes around — Your actions will eventually return to affect you. (An American expression thought to have grown out of African-American speech in the mid-20th century. Its earliest known appearance in print is in a 1974 book by Eddie Stone, and it spread widely in the 1970s. It is often compared to karma, though it has no direct link to Hindu or Buddhist teaching.)
Silence is golden — Sometimes it's better to say nothing. (Arabic proverb, popularized in English by Thomas Carlyle in 1831.)
The grass is always greener on the other side — What others have always seems better than what you have. (Latin origin, popularized in English literature by the 16th century.)
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush — It's better to have something certain now than to risk it for something uncertain in the future. (Medieval Latin proverb, recorded in English by the 15th century.)
Practice makes perfect — Repeated practice leads to mastery. (Latin proverb, adapted into English by the 16th century.)
Birds of a feather flock together — People with similar interests or characteristics tend to associate with each other. (The first known English appearance is in William Turner's pamphlet The Rescuing of the Romish Fox (1545), which says that birds of one kind and color flock and fly together. The thought goes back further, to Ecclesiasticus 27:9: "The birds will resort unto their like." "Of a feather" means of the same plumage, and so of the same kind.)
When the going gets tough, the tough get going — Strong people don't give up when faced with challenges. (A coaching motto from American football. The earliest printed examples, from 1953 and 1954, quote the coaches John Thomas and Frank Leahy. It is often credited to Joseph P. Kennedy, father of President John F. Kennedy, but no evidence confirms that. It plays on two senses of "going": conditions become hard, so the hardy get moving.)

From the blog: False Friends: The Words That Will Get You in Trouble Abroad

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