Thought Bank -- Proverbs from around the World

As you read through the listening proverbs from around the globe, choose one or two quotations that you think are particularly insightful. You may wish to focus on those from your ethnic heritage, if you desire.

No one is as deaf as the man who will not listen.
~ Jewish Proverb

It is easier to make a camel jump a ditch than to make a fool listen to reason.
~ Kurdish Proverb

Keep quiet and people will think you a philosopher.
~ Latin Proverb

Listen or thy tongue will keep thee deaf.
~ Native American Proverb

Listening to a liar is like drinking warm water.
~ Native American Proverb

Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me, and I’ll understand.
~ Native American Proverb

Words must be weighed, not counted.
~ Polish Proverb

Eat what is cooked; listen to what is said.
~ Russian Proverb

God will listen to you whatever cloak you wear.
~ Spanish Proverb

Don’t speak unless you can improve on the silence.
~ Spanish Proverb

When one shuts one eye, one does not hear everything.
~ Swiss Proverb

Listen a hundred times; ponder a thousand times; speak once.
~ Turkish Proverb

How many will listen to the truth when you tell them?
~ Yiddish Proverb

Don’t judge a man by the words of his mother, listen to the comments of his neighbors.
~ Yiddish Proverb

The devil comes to us in our hour of darkness, but we do not have to let him in. And we do not have to listen either…
~ Yiddish Proverb

Knock on the sky and listen to the sound.
~ Zen saying

What the poor man says is not listened to.
~ Zulu Proverb

Examine what is said, not him who speaks.
~ Arabian Proverb

A friend is one to whom one may pour out all the contents of one’s heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that the gentlest of hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away. ~ Arabian Proverb

Who speaks, sows; Who listens, reaps
~ Argentine Proverb

If you wish to know the mind of a man, listen to his words. ~ Chinese Proverb

To be heard, there are times you must be silent.
~ Chinese Proverb

Listen to all, plucking a feather from every passing goose, but, follow no one absolutely.
~ Chinese Proverb

You talked when you should have listened.
~ Chinese Proverb

Listen to what they say of the others and you will know what they say about you.
~ Cuban Proverb

Listening looks easy, but it’s not simple. Every head is a world.
~ Cuban Proverb

Advise and counsel him; if he does not listen, let adversity teach him.
~ Ethiopian Proverb

It is a stupid goose that listens to the fox preach.
~ French Proverb

He who would rule must hear and be deaf, see and be blind.
~ German Proverb

The wise man has long ears and a short tongue.
~ German Proverb

The beginning of wisdom is silence. The second stage is listening.
~ Hebrew saying

Listening to good advice is the way to wealth.
~ Iranian Proverb

Listen to the sound of the river and you will get a trout.
~ Irish Proverb

Dance as if no one were watching; sing as if no one were listening; and live everyday as if it were your last.
~ Irish Proverb

From listening comes wisdom, and from speaking repentance.
~ Italian Proverb

Where there is no antagonist, you cannot quarrel.
~ Japanese Proverb

If you want to know what a man is really like, take notice how he acts when he looses money.
~ NEW ENGLAND PROVERB

Call on God, but row away from the rocks.
~ INDIAN PROVERB

Money is a good servant but a bad master.
~ FRENCH PROVERB

It is better to laugh about your problems than to cry about them.
~ OLD JEWISH PROVERB

If you chose to dance with a bear, don't stop when you get tired.
~ OLD RUSSIAN PROVERB

Trust in Allah - but tie your camel tight.
~ PERSIAN PROVERB

There is no pillow as soft as a clear conscience.
~ FRENCH PROVERB

When two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.
~ EAST AFRICAN PROVERB

Revenge is a dish which people of taste serve cold.
~ SICILIAN (OR KLINGON) PROVERB

The whisper of a pretty girl can be heard further than the roar of a lion.
~ ARAB PROVERB

Patience is bitter but its fruit is sweet.
~ French Proverb

If the rich could hire other people to die for them,
the poor would make a wonderful living.
~ JEWISH PROVERB

A hasty man drinks his tea with a fork.
~ CHINESE PROVERB

Everyone must row with the oars he has.
~ ENGLISH PROVERB

Don't approach a goat from the front, a horse from the back, or a fool from any side.
~ YIDDISH PROVERB

If begging should unfortunately be thy lot, knock at the large gates only.
~ ARABIAN PROVERB

Charity sees the need, not the cause.
~ GERMAN PROVERB

Do not forget little kindnesses and do not remember small faults
~ CHINESE PROVERB

By learning you will teach; by teaching you will learn.
~ LATIN PROVERB

Until the lions have their historians, tales of hunting will always glorify the hunter.
~ AFRICAN PROVERB

Swift gratitude is the sweetest.
~ GREEK PROVERB

Doubt is the key to knowledge
~ PERSIAN PROVERB

Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.
~ AFRICAN PROVERB

Only a fool tests the depth of the water with both feet.
~ AFRICAN PROVERB

The believer is happy; the doubter is wise.
~ HUNGARIAN PROVERB

Do not look where you fell, but where you slipped.
~ AFRICAN PROVERB

A half truth is a whole lie.
~ YIDDISH PROVERB

He that would be a leader must be a bridge.
~ Welsh Proverb

A friend is one to whom one may pour out all the contents of one's heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that the gentlest of hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping and, with the breath of kindness, blow the rest away.
~ Arabian Proverb

He who sacrifices his conscience to ambition burns a picture to obtain the ashes.
~ CHINESE PROVERB

All sunshine makes a desert.
~ARABIC PROVERB

More things grow in the garden than the gardner sows.
~ SPANISH PROVERB

There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out.
~ RUSSIAN PROVERB

Ask the experienced rather than the learned.
~ ARABIC PROVERB

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