Be captain of your own ship.
Meaning: Assume responsibility for directing your life's course rather than passively accepting others' decisions.
Origin: Recorded in A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases, an undated collection published in London by Whittaker & Co. around 1880 and credited to Thomas Preston. Its earlier history hasn't been traced.
More proverbs about Wisdom
- Don't run away with more than you can carry. — Greed beyond capacity leads to dropping everything and gaining nothing.
- Tis easy to build castles in the air. — Imagination costs nothing, but translating dreams into reality requires effort and resour…
- Rolling in cash he can't use, like a cat in a corn-bin. — Abundance becomes worthless when it's fundamentally unsuited to one's nature or needs.
- The cat is hungry when a crust contents her. — Extreme hunger makes even the poorest sustenance—a mere crust—seem like a satisfying meal.
- The cat sees not the mouse ever. — A predator blinded by complacency allows its prey to escape unnoticed.
- When the cat winketh, little wots the mouse what the cat thinketh. — A predator's benign appearance masks hidden intentions; never trust surface calm from tho…
From our compliments & insults
- Du gehst mir auf den Keks — You're getting on my nerves.
- Schlaumeier — A smart aleck or know-it-all.
- 石頭 (Ishiatama) — A stubborn, inflexible person who won't budge.