On the ladder to success there is always somebody on the rung above you and who uses your head to steady himself.
More Icelandic Proverbs
- One half our fatherlands is the ocean.
- All sails do not suit every ship.
- A bad rower blames his oars.
- There men so poor that the only thing they have is money.
- Strong legs are needed to carry good days.
- All is not gold that glistereth.
- A story is only half told if there is only one side presented.
- The generous and bold have the best lives.
- Pissing in your shoes won’t keep your feet warm for long.
- It is an ill bird that fouls its own nest; Don’t wash your dirty linen in public.
- It is better to suffer in name the truth than being rewarded for lying.
- One enemy is too many; 100 friends are far too few.
- Often does one desire what one does not need.
- The more renowned woman often has fewer rings.
- The one who’s only tasted sweet cannot describe sourness.
- It is difficult to steal when the boss is a thief.
- The man is as good as the day is long.
- It is better one time to see things than one hundred times to hear about them.
- It is easier to look after hundred sheep than one girl.
- You can’t complain about the sea if you suffer shipwreck for the second time.
- Gold glitters in what is thrown away.
- Let him who has enough be satisfied.
- Fertile is water that runs under lava.
- He who knows only few things, has little to forget.
- Hate not the man, but the weakness.
- Pissing in your shoes won’t keep your feet warm for long.
- The twigs are rarely better than the trunk.