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Greek Proverbs (101-200)

Words can turn the course of a river.

Each shameful deed carries with it its excuse.

Old people's words are weighed with scales.

Grass does not grow on stones.

Make haste slowly.

Haste and careful work never go together.

An iron rod bends while it is hot.

Good scales bring good customers.

Every obstacle is for the best.

He who speaks much is sure to talk nonsense.

Two heads don't fit into the same cap.

In time of drought even hail is welcome.

Many hands at the carding but few at the dining.

Hand washes hand, and finger, finger.

What becomes a habit does not change easily.

A guest unwanted comes at meal time.

Have a clean heart and you may walk near the altar.

When they offer you a horse don't look at its teeth.

A wounded horse trembles when he sees the saddle.

Don't dangle by one slim hope.

A bride has no place at her inlaws' without the groom.

The mind of the bird is on the millet.

Say little and listen much.

From a thorn comes a rose, and from a rose a thorn.

A fat belly did not invent gun powder.

The old hen is worth forty chickens.

When the crows sing the nightingales fly away.

One who hurries stumbles.

Where there is intelligence there is knowledge.

Hunger makes forts surrender.

Joy and sorrow are sisters.

Insult gives birth to insult.

A cap sewn with pearls is not for a sore head.

Cats and monks like fish; married women, kisses; and young girls.

Hunger teaches many things.

Drop by drop the jug is filled.

If you cannot say something good,
don't say something bad.

A secret stays long in darkness
but it will see the light.

Light your lamp before night overtakes you.

Know thyself.

Lentils without onions are like a dance without music.

The king has many treasures but he
will still take whatever you give him.

Once you learn something it is hard to unlearn.

The law of the city is the citizen's honor.

Better cabbage and peace than dainties and fretting.

Lentils boil against their will.

A kiss must last long to be enjoyed.

Outwardly a lamb, inwardly a wolf.

Light your lamp before night overtakes you.

He who does not esteem silver is not worthy to have silver.

To whom a little is not enough, nothing is enough.

Every liar has another liar as a witness.

You can tell a lion by his claws.

A merry life ends in a poor man's will.

The green log is burned with the dry ones.

He who begrudges the cat's food
finds his clothes eaten by the mice.

Too many captains run the ship aground.

Lies are the salt of truth.

A poor man with intelligence is wealthy.

A man without patience is like a lamp without oil.

Better luck than knowledge.

A poor man buys what he can afford;
a rich man what he wants.

The shoe should fit the foot and not the foot the shoe.

The good skipper proves himself during a storm.

A lucky man fares better than a brave man.

A well-fed man does not believe the hungry one.

A drowning man clutches at his own hair.

An old cat likes young mice.

Take good care of the bull if you wish
him to plough well for you.

A man who throws stones at himself is not to be pitied.

The fiddle sings one tune and the bow another.

A beggar never becomes a giver.

A favor ages sooner than anything else.

Large families bring poverty.

Call no one blessed before his end.

Drops of water eat up stones.

Skill wins over noble birth.

Better be a nobleman's servant than a poor man's wife.

A donkey is asked to a wedding either
to carry water or to bring wood.

Like seeks like and cabbages fertilizer.

Make your bed as well as you can.

A friend who leads one astray is an enemy.

A wise man would rather die than close
his ears to the voice of reason.

The man in pain suffers while his neighbors sleep.

Man plans many things; God alters his plans.

The rich man displays his wealth and the poor one his children.

One wise man is worth more than a million fools.

The man who controls his wrath conquers his foe.

The man who eavesdrops hears himself discussed.

The rude man shall be rudely treated.

Do not marry your superior.

When you don't like someone
you find his breath offensive.

Old people's words are weighed with scales.

Sickness comes in by the bagful
and goes out stitch by stitch.

A man who does not
demand his rights is buried alive.

The man who lives in a glass house
does not throw stones at his neighbors.

A wolf selects its prey from what has been accounted for.

A wolf may grow old and his hair turn gray,
but his mind doesn't change to his dying day.

A wolf is happy during a storm.

You can't build a wall with just one stone.

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