Sayings of Romanian origin
When men take wives they stop fearing hell.
He who wants to talk with the dogs must learn to bark.
Better an egg today, than an ox tomorrow.
From fools, children and drunkards you get to hear the truth.
The eyes have one language everywhere.
Your wife’s eyes are in your purse.
Only what you have in your hand is not a lie.
Small tree trunks can make the cart turn over.
Many heroes appear after the war.
Even silence is an answer.
Complain about the house where the husband is the wife.
The truth is told in jokes.
Mice always return to their own little holes.
Better a mouse in the pot than no meat at all.
The looking glass is the enemy of ugly women.
Look first at the mother and then the daughter.
When a liar speaks the truth, he is sick.
Before you make a friend, eat a bushel of salt with him.
Hunger goes in a straight line, desire turns in circles.
A woman’s tongue is a double edged knife.
By proscription you give the face.
If you are travelling in the blind man’s country close one eye.
If you want to sweep the steps clean, start at the top.
Knotty timber must have sharp wedges.
He who rises early goes far.
Don’t throw your blanket in the fire just because it has one flea in it.
When a thing is done, advice comes too late.
The goat must browse where she is tied.
A second marriage is like a warmed-up meal.
Do not cut the bough you are sitting on.
Use a little fish to catch a big.
Examples evil communications corrupt good manners.
The thief who isn’t caught is an honest salesman.
The eyes which don’t see each other, forget each other.
Wait there roan, to graze green grass.
The snake bites the tamer first.
Take money from the dry well.
A barber learns to shave by shaving fools.
You should not add oil to the fire.
In at one ear and out at the other.
Better a healthy donkey than a consumptive philosopher.
The Need forces you to do.
The way to hell is tiled with good meanings.
The fruit does not fall far from the tree.
What does a donkey know about the life of a nightingale?
Women have long skirts and short minds.
One who sits between two chairs may easily fall down.
Romania is a country located at the intersection of Central and Southeastern Europe, bordering on the Black Sea. Romania shares a border with Hungary and Serbia to the west, Ukraine and Moldova to the northeast and east, and Bulgaria to the south. At 238,391 square kilometres (92,043 sq mi), Romania is the eighth largest country of the European Union by area, and has the seventh largest population of the European Union with 20,121,641 people (20 October 2011). Its capital and largest city is Bucharest – the sixth largest city in the EU.
Romanian is a Romance language spoken by around 24 million people as a native language, primarily in Romania and Moldova, and by another 4 million people as a second language.It has official status in Romania, Republic of Moldova, the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in Serbia, and in the autonomous Mount Athos in Greece. (An excerpt from Wikipedia)
Eating and scratching want but a beginning.
The lamp is not burning for those asleep.
You don’t go into a tavern to say your prayers.
In a house where two daughters live, the cat dies of thirst.
One short step lengthens life.
The man who takes legal action often loses an ox to win a cat.
If you lie upon roses when you’re young, you’ll lie upon thorns when you’re old.
In a hundred years we will be dead anyway.
Gloves hide the ugliest hands.
The eagle does not catch flies.
A creaking door hangs long on its hinges.
Adversity makes a man wise, not rich.
There’s no physician like a true friend.
The man of many trades begs his bread on Sunday.
Kiss the hand that you cannot bite.
Don’t leave for tomorrow what you can do today.
Good goods, cheap goods.
Nothing is more changeable than time and a woman.
Fish and guests stink after three days.
Don’t give the sparrow in the hand for the crow on the fence.
Take an ox by its horns, a man by his heart.
There is no going to heaven in a sedan.
Each to his taste.
Winter will ask you what you did during the summer.
Choose a wife to please yourself, not others.
If you are already wet, you won’t care about the rain.
He, who is afraid of death, loses his life.
A tent without a woman is like a violin with no strings.
He that never rode never fell.
If you wish good advice, consult an old man.
Who digs a pit will himself fall therein.
Don’t try to sell pumpkins to a gardener.
The rich man makes mistakes and the poor men get the blame.
Good wine needs no bush.
From the same wood you can make a cross or a club.
An ass is but an ass, though laden with gold.
The devil gives even rich men presents.
Without other people’s companionship, even paradise would be an unlikable place.
The tongue is not steel, yet it cuts.
Who chases two rabbits will get neither.
A bad workman quarrels with his tools.
Beauty without wisdom is like a flower in the mud.
So long as you don’t step on a snail’s tail, he won’t get up and bite you.
It is idle to swallow the cow and choke on the tail.
The wind does not paint red eggs.
Even in paradise it is no fun to be alone.
A great ship asks for deep waters.
When sorrow is asleep, wake it not.
Abundance, like want, ruins many.
A fair day in winter is the mother of a storm.
Every sin brings its punishment with it.
The luck of idle men sits next to them.
A bean in liberty is better than a comfit in prison.
Short love, long sighs.
A foreigner scratches you where you do not itch.
Out of a devil’s egg there can only come a devil.
When the fox preaches, look to the geese.
Acorns were good till bread was found.
Do not put your spoon into the pot which does not boil for you.
Better an ugly duckling from your own village than a beauty from foreign parts.
The calm water is down reaching.
The blessing of having many children has never broken a man’s roof.
Such mother, such daughter.
Who is silent leaves no regret.
Before you find God, you will be eaten by saints.
Only fools are glad when governments change.
There is no smoke without fire.
God gives the milk, but not the pail.
Call the bear uncle till you are safe across the bridge.
Where God has sown it shall flourish.
We choose the lesser of two evils.
The anvil fears no blows.
The hen that cackles in the evening lays no eggs in the morning.
When the head does not work, the legs suffer.
When you spit against the wind you get a dirty beard.
Love understands all languages.
A blind man will not thank you for a looking glass.
Make a pact with the devil until you have crossed the bridge.
What the heart thinks, the tongue speaks.
A clear sky fears not the thunder.
The needle is small, but it sews expensive garments.
He gives double who gives quickly.
My chicken is good, but my neighbor’s looks better.
Such father, such son.
A good bee will not go to a drooping flower.
The tree makes shafts for axes.
Under a ragged coat lies wisdom.
Don’t sell the skin of the bear from the forest.
The lion won’t turn on a barking puppy.
“Deșteaptă-te, române!” or “Wake up, Romanian!” is the national anthem of Romania.
Wake up, Romanian, from the sleep of death
Into which you have been sunk by the barbaric tyrants
Now, or never, make a new fate for yourself,
To which even your cruel enemies will bow.