Yiddish proverbs Quotes

Proverbs in the Yiddish language.

With original Yiddish

• ×××Ö'ס ××¢× ×'ער ×××× ×'××× ×"ער ××××'×, ×"×Ö'ס ×ער ×××× ×¢×¨.
  • Vos lenger ein blinder leybt, dos mehr seht er.
  • Translation: The longer a blind man lives, the more he sees.
• ×× ××¢× ××××'×, ער××××'× ××¢×
  • "Az men lebt, erleybt men."
  • Translation: When one lives, one experiences. i.e With life comes experience.
• ×'×Ö'× ×"×Ö·× ×××× ×××¢×× ×¤×× ×§×××נער ×××¢××ער ×'ערש×ַפע×.
  • Gott hot ein velt fill kleiner velter berschaffen.
  • Translation: God created a world full of small worlds.
• ק××נער ×××× × ××©× ×××× ××××'ענער ×"××קער
  • "Keiner zeyt nisht zein eigener hoyker."
  • Translation: No one sees his own hunchback. i.e No one sees his own faults.
• ××¢× ×ש ×ר×Ö·××, ×'×Ö'× ××Ö·××.
  • Mentsch tracht, Gott lacht.
  • Translation: Man plans, God laughs.

Without original Yiddish

• A dead man is mourned seven days; a fool, his lifetime.
• A fool is his own informer.
• A good friend you get for nothing, an enemy you have to buy.
• A heavy purse makes a light heart.
• A shlemiel lands on his back, and bruises his nose.
• An imaginary ailment is worse than a disease.
• God is an honest payer, but a very slow one.
• God loves the poor and helps the rich.
• God will provide. If only God would provide until He provides!
• Hope may give a man strength, but not sense.
• If I dealt in candles, the sun wouldn't set; if I dealt in shrouds, people would stop dying.
• If the head doesn't work it's bad news for the legs.
• If the rich could hire someone to die for them, the poor would make a wonderful living.
• If you have nothing to lose, you can try anything.
• If you lie on the ground, you can't fall.
• If you seek a reputation for wisdom, agree with everyone.
• It is far easier to spot faults in another than virtues in oneself.
• It is the kindness and not the harshness in the headmasterâs voice that pushes tough boys to cry.
• Life is the cheapest bargain--you get it for nothing.
• Love is blind; jealousy sees too much.
• Love your neighbor, even if he plays the trombone.
• May God protect you from goyisha hands and yiddishe tongues.
• Money is round, so it rolls away.
• No man suffers from another's sins--he has enough of his own.
• Once poor, never rich.
• One good deed has many claimants.
• Rejoice not at your enemy's fall, but don't pick him up, either.
• Some people are like new shoes--the cheaper they are, the louder they squeak!
• Spare us what we can learn to endure.
• The girl who can't dance says the band can't play.
• The heaviest thing in the world is an empty pocket.
• The whole world is a big town.
• Treat me like a rabbi; watch me like a thief.
• Understanding is something we're sure the other fellow hasn't got.
• We have far greater compassion for another's misfortune than our pleasure in another's good fortune.
• What you don't see with your eyes, don't invent with your tongue.
• You can't force anyone to love you or lend you money.
• Your health comes first--you can always hang yourself later.
• Man makes plans, and God laughs.
• Confidence is half of victory.
• God made man because he loves stories.
• A good enemy is better than a bad friend. (Transliteration: Besser a Gutter Soineh Aider a Shlecter Freint.)

Bibliography

• Ayalti, Hanan J., (ed.), Yiddish Proverbs, New York, 1949.
• Bernstein, Ignaz and B. W. Segel, Jiddische Sprichwörter, Frankfurt a. M., 1908.
• King, Alan, Alan King's Jewish Joke Book, (published(?)), 2003(?)