Proverbs and Saying From Another Perspective

54 Kurdish Proverbs

1. A camel is not a animal and an Arab is not a human being.

2. A cup of coffee commits one to forty years of friendship.
3. A fool dreams of wealth, a wise man, of happiness.
4. A girl without a mother is like a mountain with no paths; a girl without a father
is like a mountain with no streams.
5. A good companion shortens the longest road.
6. A heart in love with beauty never grows old.
7. A home without guests, a village without shepherds, both are hopeless
indeed.
8. A hundred men can sit together quietly but when two dogs get together there
will be a fight.
9. A hungry stomach has no ears.
10. A kind word warms a man through three winters.
11. A knife-wound heals, but a tongue-wound festers.
12. A man is as wise as his head, not his years.
13. A man is judged by his work.
14. A neighbor's hen looks as big as a goose, and his wife as young as a girl.
15. A red apple invites stones.
16. A shy woman is worth a city, a shy man is worth a goat.
17. A small key opens big doors.
18. A thief not caught becomes a king.
19. A thousand friends are too few; one enemy is one too many.
20. A threat does not lengthen your sword.
21. A tribulation is better than a hundred warnings.
22. A visitor comes with ten blessings, eats one, and leaves nine.
23. A wise man does his own work.
24. A wise man remembers his friends at all times; a fool, only when he has need
of them.
25. A woman is a fortress, a man her prisoner.
26. Ability has no school.
27. Activity breeds prosperity.
28. After dinner a Kuru kills a man or kidnaps a woman.
29. An illness comes by the pound and goes away by the ounce.
30. An open door invites callers.
-31. Any man with two wives becomes a porter.
32. At table keep short hand; in company keep a short tongue.
33. Bad habits are worse than rabies.
34. Beauty passes; wisdom remains.
35. Better a calf of one's own than a jointly owned cow.

36. Better a wise foe than a foolish friend.

37. Better one day a man than ten days a woman.
38. Both the hunted and the hunter rely on God.
39. Deal with your friends as if they will become your enemies tomorrow, and
deal with your enemies as if they will become your friends tomorrow.
40. Do not eat the strangers' bread as this diminishes your stature.
41. Do not roll up your trousers before reaching the stream.
42. Do not throw the arrow which will return against you.
43. Do what your teacher says but not what he does.
44. Dogs bark, but the caravan goes on.
45. Eat and drink with your friends but do not trade with them.
46. Empty words will not fill an empty stomach.
47. Even the highest tree has an axe waiting at its foot.
48. Every "bad" has its "worse".
49. Every sheep is hung by his own leg.
50. Everything is pardoned the brave..
51. Expect the worst from your enemy so that you won't be disappointed.
52. Fear an ignorant man more than a lion.
53. Fighting is better than idleness.
54. For every wise man there is one still wiser.
55. Freedom is never given but taken.
56. Give nine, save ten.
57. God created women and women created the hearth.
58. God finds a low branch for the bird that cannot fly.
59. God has created us brothers but has given us separate purses.
60. Guests bring good luck with them.
61. Habit becomes second nature.
62. Habit is worse than rabies.
63. He who loves a woman is a nephew of the sun.
64. He who wants pearls has to dive into the sea.
65. If God closes one door, He opens a thousand others.
66. If God didn't like beautiful women, he wouldn't have made them.
67. If skill could be gained by watching, every dog would become a butcher.
68. If you are an anvil, be patient; if you are a hammer, be strong.
69. If you are not a flower, don't be a thorn.
70. If you cannot build a town, build a heart.
71. If you give him cloth, he'll ask for the lining.
72. If you talk to the blacksmith you'll get hit by sparks.
73. If you wish to do a good deed, consult no one.
74. Ignorance is sweet for the soul.
75. In a fire, both green and dry wood burn.
76. In a flat country a hillock thinks itself a mountain.
77. It is better to be a male for one day than a female for ten.
78. It is better to be naked in your place than to be a pasha with strangers.

79. It is easier to make a camel jump a ditch than to make a fool listen to

reason.
80. It is easy to catch a serpent with someone else's hand.
81. It is easy to say "Come" difficult to say "Go".
82. It is more difficult to contend with oneself than with the world.
83. It is up to the people to feed the dogs; it's up to the Cardias to feed the

Turks.

84. Kind words will unlock an iron door.

85. Kurds have no friends.
86. Listen a hundred times; ponder a thousand times; speak once.
87. Loneliness is a nest for the thoughts.
88. Many will show you the way once your cart has overturned.
89. Many women, many words.
90. No matter where you go, your destiny follows you.
91. No means, no market.
92. No one says, "My pasture is not sweet."
93. Nobody knows who is he, even if he is under his father's ears.
94. Not every cloud brings rain.
95. Of everything else the newest; of friends, the oldest.
96. Of evil grain no good seed can come.
97. Once a friend, always a friend.
98. One beats one's breast who does not beat one's child.
99. One can never repay one's debt to one's mother.
100. One gives twice who gives quickly.
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No means, no

market.
92. No one says, "My pasture is not sweet."
93. Nobody knows who is he, even if he is under his father's ears.
94. Not every cloud brings rain.
95. Of everything else the newest; of friends, the oldest.
96. Of evil grain no good seed can come.
97. Once a friend, always a friend.
98. One beats one's breast who does not beat one's child.
99. One can never repay one's debt to one's mother.
100. One gives twice who gives quickly.
101. One is equally indebted to one's teacher and to God.
102. One sturdy house is worth a hundred in ruins.
103. Only by falling do you learn how to mount a horse.
104. Open your eyes, not your mouth.
105. Part with your head, but not with your secret.
106. Parting is such sweet sorrow.
107. Patience is bitter, but it bears sweet fruit.
108. Search yourself, and you will find Allah.
109. See with your mind, hear with your heart.

110. See with your mind; hear with your heart.

111. Some will enjoy the honey, others will have to put up with the sting.
112. Stairs are climbed step by step.
113. Stretch your feet according to your blanket.
114. Study from new books, but from old teachers.
115. The devil takes a hand in what is done in haste.
116. The devil tempts all, but the idle man tempts the devil.
117. The devil will not bother you in a house full of children.
118. The enemy of a father will never be friends of his son.
119. The foreign person is blind and the killed person has no chance.
120. The fox did not reach the grape, said it's unripe.
121. The Kurds have no friends.
122. The male is born to be slaughtered.
123. The man is a river, the woman a lake.
124. The miser and the open-handed spend the same in long run.
125. The only friends we have are the mountains.
126. The rich man's wealth tires the poor man's jaw.
127. The wolf repents only in death.
128. Thorns and roses grow on the same tree.
129. Those away from the battlefield boast about their swords.
130. Those who do not go to war roar like lions.
131. Those who know do not talk; those who talk do not know.
132. Time is like a dagger; if you don't cut with it, it cuts you. Go ahead and cut.
Be quick before it cuts you.
133. To find your place in life is easier than to occupy it.
134. To have a hut built from mud here is better than a palace made from gold and
marble on the Arabian Gulf.
135. To speak is to sow; to listen is to reap.
136. What is loaned goes away smiling but returns weeping.
137. What matters is the menu on the table now.
138. What the heart thinks, the mouth speaks.
139. What you give away you keep.
140. When a bald man dies the mourners give him curly hair as a present.
141. When a cat wants to eat her kittens, she says they look like mice.
142. When it is spring time, the grass will even grow under a big stone.
143. When Madame drops her cup of tea it makes no noise.
144. When the money starts to glitter and clink, even a Mullah will leave the
mosque.
145. Whoever digs a pit for his neighbor should dig it his own size.
146. Whoever is fond of cream should should take the cow around with him.
147. Whoever speaks evil to you of others will speak evil of you to others.
148. Wish well, be well.
149. With a mule you have a son, with a son-in-law you only have a mule.
150. With fortune on your side you can sow salt and harvest grass.
151. With patience, mulberry leaves become satin.

152. Wood can only be split with a wedge that is cut from its own tree.
153. Work as if you were to live forever; live as if you were to die tomorrow.
154. Your son can be a prince, your daughter will be a mother.
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