proVERBS

Translation:
Spring is not made with a single swallow

Equivalent:
One swallow does not make a summer

notes:
In the languages of southern Europe, the equivalent proverb usually has 'spring' rather than 'summer', because migrating swallows arrive earlier there than they do in northern Europe

Meaning:
You cannot infer a general rule or norm from just a single case

Translation:
Stone which rolls from place to place does not pick up moss

Equivalent:
A rolling stone gathers no moss

Meaning:
Always moving from place to place or job to job stops a person from accumulating much
(A proverb that is of little relevance, in these days of job insecurity and short-term work contracts)

Translation:
The dog that barks much never bites

Equivalent:
Barking dogs seldom bite

Meaning:
The people who threaten you angrily are often just blustering

Translation:
Don't search the horse that's been given to you in the teeth

Equivalent:
Look not a gift horse in the mouth

Meaning:
You should accept gifts willingly and without highlighting their shortcomings

Translation:
When the cat is not at home, the mice play on the table

Equivalent:
When the cat's away, the mice will play

Meaning:
This suggests that, in the absence of an organisation's superior, many liberties are taken

Translation:
He who does not work shall not eat

Equivalent:
Children and fools speak the truth

Meaning:
People unable to think or conceal their feelings, either because of youth or mental infirmity, speak out loud what they feel and see.

Translation:
Without smoke no fire exits

Equivalent:
No smoke without some fire

Meaning:
If you see the effect of something, somewhere will be the thing that caused it

Translation:
The fence has eyes and the wall has ears ears

Equivalent:
All is not gold that glitters

Meaning:
Be wary of appearances, because not everything that looks good really is so

Translation:
Little by little you become far away

Equivalent:
An oak is not felled at one stroke

Meaning:
A major project needs many things to be done before it is completed

Translation:
Don't leave till tomorrow, what you can do today

Equivalent:
Never put off till tomorrow what may be done today

Meaning:
Do the jobs on today's To Do list, and don't postpone any of them till tomorrow (This proverb could also be suggesting that your today's To Do list is capable of being done today, and that it should not contain things which realistically cannot all be done today)

Translation:
You can't serve two masters at the same time

Equivalent:
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

notes:
The word 'bush' has two meanings, both a small round tree and an unfarmed unpopulated area of land with many trees and bushes.

Meaning:
Something you have for certain now is of more value than something better you may get, especially if you risk losing what you have in order to get it.

Translation:
One hand washes the other and both wash the face

Equivalent:
The wolf may lose his teeth, but never his nature

Meaning:
Someone can try and hide his true nature, but it always comes out and reveals itself, either by actions or by words

Translation:
When the blind lead the blind they both fall into the pit

Equivalent:
Don't sell the bear's skin before you have caught him

Meaning:
It is unwise to be over-optimistic and to assume that a difficult or dangerous task will be successful

Translation:
See the speck in another's eye and not see the log in your eye

Equivalent:
Walls have ears

Translation:
Time is money

Equivalent:
Rome was not built in a day

Meaning:
It takes time and effort to achieve something important and hard