English proverbs (S)

English proverbs (S)

Proverbs are popularly defined as short expressions of popular wisdom. Efforts to improve on the popular definition have not led to a more precise definition. The wisdom is in the form of a general observation about the world or a bit of advice, sometimes more nearly an attitude toward a situation.

S

• Same meat, different gravy.
• Same shit, with different flies on it.
• Same trouble, different day.
• Say something nice or say nothing at all.
• Seek and ye shall find.
  • Christian New Testament
• Seek water in the sea.
• Self trust is the first secret of success.
• Sell a man a fish, he eats for a day, teach a man how to fish, you ruin a wonderful business opportunity.
  • Karl Marx
• Set a thief to catch a thief.
• Shallow graves for shallow people.
• Ships happen. -Navy saying.
• Shit or get off the pot
• silence is golden
  • Meaning: sometimes it is better not to say anything.
• Simple minds think alike. (William Truong)
  • Simple things please/amuse simple minds.
  • Alternative: Simple minds, simple pleasures.
• Six of one, and half a dozen the other.
  • Meaning: Describes two actions with the same result, or two things that are essentially the same.
• Slow and steady wins the race.
  • Variant: Slow but sure.
• Smile, and the world smiles with you; cry, and you cry alone.
• So close, yet so far.
• Some days you get the bear, other days the bear gets you.
• Someone who gossips to you will gossip about you.
• Something is better than nothing.
• Something worth doing is worth doing well.
• A son is a son 'till he gets him a wife; a daughter's a daughter all her life.
  • Interpretation: the relationship between a daughter and her parents is enduring; the relationship with a son is attenuated after he marries.
• Spare the rod, spoil the child.
  • Meaning: Lack of deserved discipline develops undesired behavior in a child.
• Speak the truth, but leave immediately
• The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
  • Gospel of Matthew 26:41
• The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
  • or The squeaky wheel gets replaced.
  • If you speak up, you will go farther in life.
  • Those who complain, will attract more attention (for good or ill) than those who are content.
• The start of a journey should never be mistaken for success.
• S tart small; T hink tall; R each over the wall; I nvest your all; V isualize the mall; E xpect you may fall; but, if you fall, that's not all; get up and STRIVE again.
  • Dr. Robert Schuller
• Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.
  • Contrast: "A blow with a word strikes deeper than a blow with a sword."
• A still tongue makes a wise head.
  • From Lewis the (Black) Barber; Lake Charles, LA; who always told people, "Never let the right hand know what the left hand is doing; a still tongue makes a wise head; still water runs deep."
• Still waters run deep.
  • Possible interpretation: Looks can be deceiving, quiet people are often the most deep.
• A stitch in time saves nine.
  • Fix the small problem now before it becomes larger and harder to fix.
• Stolen fruit is the sweetest.
  • Possible interpretation: forbidden things are the most tempting
• Straightn not the dog's tail even in the bamboo hollow.
• The straw that broke the camel's back.
  • The last of a number of little things which led to something major.
• Strike while the iron is hot.
  • Possible interpretation: Seize the moment. Take the opportunity now; don't waste it.
• Success grows out of struggles to overcome difficulties.
• Success is a journey not a destination.
• Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.