D

Distance is not taken by haste.

Do as you would be done by.

Do good, if you expect to receive it.

Do well and have well.

Dogs bark but the caravan moves on. [Great achievements may not be prevented by barks. Or: Whatever is done or said, it may have no signifant effect on what happens or its the outcome].

Doing good to the evil is like doing evil to the good.

Don't be captivated by beauty; look for disposition. [A fragile gift is beauty.]

Don't be deceived by the look of a book or a man, rather look inside. [You cannot tell a book by its cover.]

Don't believe in foretellings but don't stay without them. [Some forms of foretelling, like prognoses and weather forecasts, hold benefits for different reasons.]

Don't call every crooked branch your bow and don't call everyone you see your uncle. [Don't seize on the first thing that looks good.]

Don't change the sour milk you know for the butter milk you don't know.

Don't climb higher than your boot. [Said to one who meddles with things he does not understand.]

Don't count your chickens before they are hatched.

Don't cry for the moon.

Don't cut off your nose to spite your face.

Don't cut the bough you are standing on.

Don't disclose your secret linen. [Don't wash your dirty linen in public. Wash your dirty linen at home.]

Don't foul the well you have drunk from.

Don't go into a matter you don't understand. [Partial]

Don't go too far in something.

Don't gossip while children are around. [Children have wide ears and long tongues.]

Don't halloo till you are out of the wood.

Don't let the box be opened; otherwise they will say bad things. [If you bring up a certain subject you risk hearingunpleasant things.]

Don't look at the envelope, but at what is inside. • None can guess the jewel by the casket.

Don't play with edged tools.

Don't promise what you cannot perform.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket. • Have two strings to your bow.

Don't put your hand between the bark and the tree. [i.e. Don't meddle in family quarrels.]

Don't rely on a man, he may die; don't lean on a tree, it may dry up, and don't lean on a wall, it may fall down. [If you trust before you try, you may repent before you die.]

Don't roll up your trousers before reaching the stream. [Wait till you come to the river before you pull off your shoes. - One should not be overly eager and optimistic about an outcome.

Don't say you have wheat until it is stocked in the barn, and don't say you have a son before you have experienced poverty.

Don't strip off too many clothes, or you may get cold. [Don't exceed your capabilities or you will suffer for it.]

Don't take a heavy burden, otherwise you may hurt your back. Forecast is better than work-hard.

Don't take for friends all who smile to your face.

Don't tell your secret to your friend; he will tell it to his friend.

Don't throw a lasso at stars in the sky. • It is no use crying for the moon.

Don't try to teach your grandmother to suck eggs.

Drawn wells are seldom dry.

Dress up a stick, and it does not appear to be stick.

Drive your business, don't let it drive you.

Drop by drop, it will make a lake. [Small savings can lead to substantial wealth. Used to encourage people to save.]

Drunken days have their tomorrows.

E

Each brave man eats yogurt in his own way. [Everyone has his own way of doing things.]

Eagles don't hunt flies.

Eat peas with the king, cherries with the beggar.

Empty vessels make the most noise. [A fool talks too much.]

Empty words don't fill one's stomach.

Empty words will not fill an empty stomach.

Envy eats nothing but its own heart.

Even if you know a thousand things, check it with an expert.

Even if you put a golden saddle on its back, a donkey is still a donkey. Though he endeavour all he can, an ape will never be a man.

Even too much praise is a burden.

Every bird loves to hear herself sing.

Every cock scratches around in his own garden.

Every cock will crow upon his own dunghill.

Every cook praises his own broth.

Every day of your life is a leaf in your history.

Every ditch is full of afterwit.

Every door may be shut, but death's door.

Every flower has a different smell.

Every man can rule an ill wife but him that has her.

Every man has a roll in his sleeve.

Every man has his faults.

Every man has his own way of eating yogurt. [A reminder that others may have a different way of doing things, and hence asking for some tolerance.]

Every man likes his own things best.

Every Muslim needs a wife [or more, up to four].

Every one knows best where the shoe pinches him.

Every potter praises his own pot.

Every rooster crows in its own pen.

Every tub must stand on its own bottom.

Everybody cries for his own dead.

Everyone burns according to his own sins.

Everyone takes advantage of a mild person.

Everyone's faults are not written on their foreheads.

Expect the worst, and any surprise will be a happy one.

F

Fair fall truth and daylight.

Fair without, false within. [Many are like that.]

Fair words butter no parsnips.

Fair words don't fill the belly.

Fair words will not make the pot play

False friends are worse than bitter enemies.

Familiarity breeds contempt.

Fear takes molehills for mountains.

Fetters of gold are still fetters. and silken cords pinch.

Few may play with the devil and win.

Fingers were made before forks.

First find your neighbour and then settle.

First impressions are most lasting.

First kill the bear then sell its skin. [Don't sell the skin till you have caught the bear.]

First learn, then discern.

Fish begins to stink at the head.

Fit and good activity can breed prosperity in the long haul.*

Flattery sits in the parlour when plain dealing is kicked out of doors.

For that which you can do yourself, rely not on another. - Rely on yourself alone.

For the birds that cannot soar, God has provided low branches.

Forced beauty won't quite do. [Mod]

Fortune favours those who use their judgement.

Friends criticise, foes flatter.

Friendship and business are two different things.

Friendship is a plant that must be often watered.