Estonian Proverbs

Proverbs from The Republic of Estonia

Estoniais a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia (343 km), and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia (338.6 km). Across the Baltic Sea lies Sweden in the west and Finland in the north. The territory of Estonia consists of a mainland and 2,222 islands and islets in the Baltic Sea, covering 45,339 km2 (17,505 sq mi) of land, and is influenced by a humid continental climate.~ An excerpt from Wikipedia! Estonia is a democratic parliamentary republic divided into fifteen counties.

Estonian Proverbs

Sayings of Estonian origin

Who never built a house thinks that the walls grow out of the ground.
Who does not thank for a little will not thank for a lot.
Where there is no fear, there is no pity.
When God gives a child, he also gives the clothing.
When death comes, the rich man has no money and the poor man no debt.
Wasting time is stealing from oneself.
They are not all men who wear trousers.
There is no room for two kings in one castle.
The work will teach you how to do it.
The wood is the poor man’s coat.
The town is new every day.
The summer comes and kisses the child, the winter comes and kills it.
The stomach never gets full with licking.
The pipe is nearer than the wife.
The old man looks death in the eye, the young man keeps him behind his back.
The new boat will find the old stones.
The mistakes of others are good teachers.
The law is three days older than the earth.
The devil does not always wear boots — he sometimes comes barefoot.
The cork is always bigger than the mouth of the bottle.
Silence is sometimes the answer.
One cannot make soup out of beauty.
Old love does not rust.
Manure is the farmer’s gold.
Who does not thank for little will thank for much.
Justice knows no friendship.
Little kettles soon boil over.
It is better to be without a wife for a minute than without tobacco for an hour.
In a garment made of silk there are no fleas.
If you go only once round the room, you are wiser than he who sits still.
If the bread in the oven is a failure you lose a week; if the harvest is a failure you lose a year; if marriage is a failure then you lose a life.
Happy the marriage where the husband is the head and the wife the heart.
Give good and get good.
Earth is dearer than gold.
Do not choose your wife on your way to the church.
Coal that does not burn gives little heat.
Better a goat that can give milk than a cow that cannot.
Barking dogs don’t catch hares.
A much-used plow shines; stagnant waters stink.
A good deed is written on snow.
A good deed bears interest.
A girl without a needle is like a cat without a claw.
A debt is always new.
The Republic of Estonia

Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia.

A developed country with an advanced, high-income economy and high living standards, Estonia ranks very high in the Human Development Index, and performs favourably in measurements of economic freedom, civil liberties, education, and press freedom (third in the world in 2012). Estonia is often described as one of the most wired countries in Europe.

The official language

Ethnic Estonians are a Finnic people, sharing close cultural ties with their northern neighbour, Finland, and the official language, Estonian, is a Finno-Ugric language closely related to Finnish and the Sami languages, and distantly to Hungarian.

The national anthem of Estonia

Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm (“My Fatherland, My Happiness and Joy”) is the national anthem of Estonia

Lyrics (in English)

My native land, my joy and delight,
How fair thou art and bright!
And nowhere in the world all round
Can ever such a place be found
So well beloved as I love thee,
My fatherland, my joy and happiness,
How beautiful you are!
I shall not find such ever
In this huge wide world
Which would be so dear to me
As you, my fatherland!

You have given me birth
And raised me up;
I shall thank you always
And remain faithful to you ’til death,
To me most beloved are you,
My precious fatherland!

May God watch over you,
My precious fatherland!
Let Him[Note 1] be your defender
And provide bountiful blessings
For whatever you undertake,
My precious fatherland!

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