Turkish Proverbs

A hungry bear won't dance. - To work, one needs incentives that matter.

A hungry hen sees herself in a wheat silo. - Visualize and improve your performance . . .

A low donkey is easy to ride on. /

A pear will fall to the root of the tree - Children may turn out like their parents in more ways than one.

A small key opens big doors.

A thousand regrets do not cancel one debt.

A true word should never need any oath [Mod].

After the conflagration remain ruins. /

All work and no play will make such a dull boy. /

Cut your coat according to your cloth. /

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

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 tell your secret to your friend; he will tell it to his friend.

Even too much praise is a burden.

Every man has his own style of eating yogurt. - Used to remind that others may have a different way of doing things and hence asking for tolerance.

Fish begins to stink at the head. /

Good actions are rarely all lost. [TK]

Good advice is given; good esteem is no given.

Grace should be natural. [Mod] /

He may give heartily who gives merely little [Mod]. /

If a dog’s prayers were answered, bones would rain from the sky.

If the imam farts, the whole congregation will defecate. - The leader serves as an example to followers.

If you have wicked children, of what use is money; and if good, again of what use is it? /

It is not by saying, Honey, honey, that sweetness comes into the mouth. /

Little by little we become fat. /

Look at the mother before marrying the daughter. (Observe the mother before you take the daughter [Mod]) - Expresses the view that a young girl (or a bride) may take after her mother.

Love is daring.

Many will show the proper way after the carriage (variant: ox cart) has overturned. - Many seem to be wise with advice after the event.

No matter how far you have gone on the wrong road, it's time to stop. [TK]

One does not cut cloth for a yet unborn child. - A caution not to invest or risk a lot based on assumptions.

Sharp vinegar may damage its container [Mod]. - It's said to calm down or moderate a person.

Stretch your feet according to your blanket. - One often does well to spend within one's means.

The one who asks has one side of his face dark; the one who refuses to give has both sides dark. - Used to put the shame or burden on the side that can give but refuses to do so.

The one who enters a Turkish bath is in for sweating [Mod]. - On bearing consequences of one's choices somehow.

The real friend tells the bitter truth. - Used to soften the blow when a friend needs to give some unpleasant advise.

The sheep separated from the flock can get eaten by the wolf [Mod]. - Used to encourage a person to keep a useful network and group somehow.

The shroud has no pockets. - Spend your wealth wisely and do good before wearing one.

The wolf changes his skin, but not his nature. /

There are many who throw stones at a red apple. - Good can be much envied.

They call you "generous" and make you lose your property; they call you "brave" and make you lose your life. - Watch out.

They put the nightingale in a golden cage, it still craved for its country. - Golden cages and golden fetters are signs of inherently menial conditions. And what about the nobility?

They throw stones at a tree with fruit. (Always the trees that bear fruit are stoned) - The good and talented may be envied and criticized for it.

To a bachelor, divorcing a wife comes easy. Variant: Divorcing a wife is easy for a single guy. - The outsider may lack telling information.

To the wise the noise of a gnat suffices, to the unwise the sound of a bass drum does not avail. /

"We always advance," says the tortoise. Slow, but sure. /

Who fears the sparrows must not sow millet.

Who has no beard has no authority. [Joke?] /

Who has no intention to pray has no ears for the call to prayer.

Some of these 48 proverbs are from:

Anonymous. Turkish Proverbs Translated into English Venice?: Monast Armenian Monastery of St Lazarus, 1873, 1880, besides several recent reprints, for example by BiblioBazaar (2009). Quotations from it are marked with / above.

James Long. Eastern Proverbs and Emblems Illustrating Old Truths. London: Trubner, 1881.

The rest is from various addresses on the Net.