More Yiddish Proverbs
- Mothers-in-law are fine so long as they are deaf and blind.
- Too humble is half proud.
- You can wash your body but not your soul.
- Before you start up a ladder, count the rungs.
- From success to failure is one step; from failure to success is a long road.
- When one comes to comfort a young widow, he does not mean to perform a good deed.
- Experience is what we call the accumulation of our mistakes.
- What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul.
- If you want to know what God thinks of money, look at the people he gives it to.
- You can’t measure the whole world with your own yardstick.
- When God wants to punish an idiot, He teaches them a few words of Hebrew.
- One old friend is better than two new ones.
- The cold strengthens you more than hunger.
- The doctor has a remedy for everything but poverty.
- Some people are electrifying; they light up a room when they leave.
- Better a steady dime than a rare dollar.
- Better an honest slap in the face than an insincere kiss.
- You are ushered in according to your dress; shown out according to your brains.
- Men would not be richer for being miserly; generosity does not make a man poorer.
- If it must always be better, it can never be good enough.
- You never lose a false coin.
- Confidence is half of victory.
- Better to die upright than to live on your knees.
- Prayers go up and blessings come down.
- You cannot hold your head high with your hand out.
- The rabbi drinks the wine and asks the others to be happy.
- If things are not as you wish, wish them as they are.