proVERBS

Translation:
Moss never shelters a moving stone

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:
All roads take you to Rome

Equivalent:
All roads lead to Rome

notes:
In proverbs from Muslim countries, Mecca is the city to which all roads lead

Meaning:
This suggests that it is possible to achieve the same goal by different paths

Translation:
One swallow does not make summer

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:
Do not look at the tooth of a horse that's been given

Equivalent:
Look not a gift horse in the mouth

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

Translation:
When the cat isn't there, the mice dance

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:
Where is fire, smoke leaves

Equivalent:
No smoke without some fire

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

Translation:
The guest and the fish stink after three days

Equivalent:
Fresh fish and new-come guests smell in three days

Meaning:
The prolonged stay of a guest cause annoyance and upset the rhythm of the house

Translation:
Walls [of a room] have ears

Equivalent:
Walls have ears

Translation:
Children and madmen speak the truth

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:
A bird in the hand is worth more than a hundred flying

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:
The wolf changes its teeth but not its habits

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:
Don't leave for tomorrow that which 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:
All that shines is not gold

Equivalent:
All is not gold that glitters

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

Translation:
Don't sell the bear's skin before having hunted it

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:
The dog that barks does not bite

Equivalent:
Barking dogs seldom bite

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

Translation:
A single blow does not bring down the oak

Equivalent:
An oak is not felled at one stroke

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

Translation:
When you happen to be in Rome, do as you see them do

Equivalent:
When at Rome do as the Romans do

Meaning:
It is polite, when you are abroad, to observe and follow the customs of the place where you are

Translation:
To carry iron to Vizcaya

Equivalent:
To carry coals to Newcastle

notes:
Vizcaya is the centre of the Spanish iron industry

notes:
Newcastle was the port for the main coal-producing area of England in early modern times

Meaning:
This describes the process of taking something to a place where there is a lot of that thing, which (it is implied) is a foolish thing to do

Translation:
Zamora was not won in a day

Equivalent:
Rome was not built in a day

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

Translation:
Thirty monks and one abbot cannot make a donkey shit against its will

Equivalent:
You may take a horse to the water, but you can't make him drink