Sicilian Proverbs

Sayings of Sicilian origin

A furious storm passes quickly.
The early bird catches the worm.
The less things change, the more they remain the same.
You may garnish it with as much salt and pepper as you want, but pumpkin still has little flavor.
Who is blind, dumb and deaf will live a peaceful life of a hundred years.
Respect is measured: whoever pays it to others, will be respected.
April makes the flowers and the beauty, but May gets all the credit.
Buy at the cost of four and sell at the cost of eight.
The testimony of one eyewitness is worth more than the hearsay of a hundred.
You can’t have meat without the bone.
Buyer beware.
After August, winter starts.
Unspoken words cannot be noted.
He who preservers shall win.
Pee on the ruins before they build a temple over them.
Sing to the mother-in-law, listen to the sister-in-law.
One who lives within his means can be said to be rich.
A pious doctor makes putrid wounds.
Old wood lights better but burns out quicker.
Freedom is a plateful of hard crusts.
There’s two types of powerful, those who own too much and those who don’t own a thing.
An unfulfilled vow is as if it had not been made.
February may be short but it’s the worst month.
Home for as long as you need to be, and land as far as the eye can see.
Who doesn’t intend to pay, signs any contract.
Keep watch for the appearing mushroom.
The more you have, the more you want.
The choice oil is from the surface, the best wine is from the middle, and the best honey is from the bottom.
Those who cause harm first, can expect greater harm in return.
Love is like a cough… impossible to hide.
Eat warm and drink cold.
Strike while the iron is hot.
Only your real friends will tell you when your face is dirty.
A dry January means a filled hayloft.
We learn by standing on the shoulders of the wise.
Who seeks, finds; who perseveres, wins.
The pardon arrives after the man was hung.
Wherever the donkey falls, he stands up.
Repentance washes away sin.
Whoever decides to change is aware of not knowing what the change may bring.
The living who is absent is like a dead man.
Scarcity sets the price.
Sore is the mouth that loses its first tooth.
A rock offered by a friend is like an apple.
There’s honor among thieves.
If you invest a lot but don’t maintain it, you won’t even harvest enough to re-seed.
Not every pain comes to harm you.
Eat with gusto but drink in moderation.
Walk with your slippers until you can find your shoes.
God made things straight, the devil came and twisted them.

Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea located in Europe. It is an autonomous Region of Italy, along with surrounding minor islands, officially referred to as Regione Siciliana.

Sicily is located in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula, from which it is separated by the narrow Strait of Messina. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe, and one of the most active in the world, currently 3,329 m (10,922 ft) high. The island has a typical Mediterranean climate. ~ An excerpt from Wikipedia page on Sicily – External link

Sicilian is a Romance language spoken on the island of Sicily and its satellite islands. Some assert that Sicilian represents the oldest Romance language derived from Vulgar Latin, but this is not a widely held view amongst linguists and is sometimes strongly criticized. Sicilian has the oldest literary tradition of the Italic languages.

Palermo is a city of Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old. Palermo is located in the northwest of the island of Sicily, right by the Gulf of Palermo in the Tyrrhenian Sea.

Madreterra (Motherland) is the official anthem of Sicily.

More Sicilian proverbs

The war is lost for too much advice.
Who gets married will be happy for a day, who butchers a pig will be happy for a year.
It is better to be alone than to be in bad company.
When the cat’s away the mice will play.
Horses should be bays, jackasses should be greys, and mules should be blackish.
Ticks and money are difficult to pluck out.
Noon is attracted to who they do not resemble .
Use your time in May to stock up for winter.
In July, store the grain under the bed.
We keep an eye on the scorpion and the serpent, but we do not watch out for the millipede.
Time is precious.
Those who still have a young daughter..cannot speak badly about other women!
Dogs bark and oxen graze.
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
Who walks with the cripple, sooner or later will start limping.
A wealthy man is a pensive man.
Who starts many things, finishes nothing.
When an old man falls in love he is teased by everyone.
The mouse said to the nut: give me time and I shall reach you.
A cuckold in his own town is better than an idiot anywhere else.
Gold attracts a crowd.
Who leaves – their own comfort zone – succeeds!
A useless watch dog barks but stays far away.
The vase filled with water, sooner or later will break or crash.
Better an egg today than the chicken tomorrow.
Better a lean accord than a hefty sentence.
Don’t put the cart before the horse.
Latin hides the stupidity of the priest.
Who looks for a quarrel, finds a quarrel.
It’s insane to oppose when you can neither win nor compromise.
Too compassionate the doctor, too inadequate the treatment.
With old men and flowering cabbages…there is nothing left to do.
The fellow roasts his fish in the flames of a fire.
Collect promptly, pay slowly; who knows, in case of an accident, you’ll pay nothing.
A person eating must make crumbs.
It can’t get any darker than midnight.
When love knocks, be sure to answer.
If it isn’t wintry in January then expect the worst in February.
Everyone wants to go to heaven; the desire is there but the fortitude is not.
The rejected stone will become the cornerstone of the wall.
Hunger is the best sauce.
Neither you happy nor I consoled.
Spend Easter and Christmas with whomever you want, but celebrate Mardi Gras with your own.
If the devil pays you compliments, he wants your soul.
What is given by God, can’t be lacking.
There’s no grain to collect, nor women to marry.
Faith is salvation, not the wood of a ship.
A piece of meat with eyes.
The barking of dogs does not reach heaven.
One beautiful day doesn’t make a summer.
Whoever goes to Palermo and doesn’t see Monreale, goes there a jackass and returns a fool.
Crooked wood is straightened with fire.
In war, hunting, and love you suffer a thousand pains for one pleasure..