Sayings about Usefulness
The world could have been great if only people had been more useful. ~ German Proverbs
Do not use a hatchet to remove a fly from your friend’s forehead. ~ Chinese Proverbs
The most useful holy war is the one fought against your own passions. ~ Arabian Proverbs
Fools look to tomorrow; wise men use tonight. ~ Scottish Proverbs
The less power a man has, the more he likes to use it. ~ Chinese Proverb
Do not use words that are too big for your mouth. ~ Iranian Proverbs
He who buys useless things, later sells things that he needs. ~ Japanese Proverbs
Faith and dishonesty are other words for uselessness. ~ Chinese Proverb
More than we use is more than we want. ~ Gaelic Proverbs
Power acquired by guilt was never used for a good purpose. ~ Latin Proverbs
A jade stone is useless before it is processed; a man is good-for-nothing until he is educated. ~ Chinese Proverb
Unless what we do is useful, glory is vain. ~ Latin Proverb
Ask for advice, and then use your brain. ~ Norwegian Proverbs
There’s no use asking the cow to pour you a glass of milk. ~ American Proverbs
Don’t use your teeth when you can untie the knot with your fingers. ~ Afghan Proverbs
It is an easy matter for a stingy man to get rich — but what’s the use? ~ American Proverb
Use medicine as well as prayers. ~ Indian Proverbs
If it were not for the hands, the clock would be useless. ~ Polish Proverbs
Whoever knows how to use a pen never adds his own name to the “guilty” list. ~ Arabian Proverb
Use soft words and hard arguments. ~ English Proverbs
The eyes are of little use if the mind be blind. ~ Arabian Proverb
Wealth is but dung, useful only when spread about. ~ Chinese Proverb
Don’t use up your arrows before you go to battle. ~ Burmese Proverbs
After three years useless things are useful too. ~ Japanese Proverb
Use power to curb power. ~ Chinese Proverb
Of what use is the veil if you are going to dance. ~ Hindu Proverb
Let him make use of instinct who cannot make use of reason. ~ English Proverb
When you go to buy, use your eyes not your ears. ~ Czech Proverbs
Why would you use poison if you can kill with honey. ~ Bosnian Proverbs
In the face of love and death, courage is useless. ~ Spanish Proverb
When you want to test the depths of a stream, don’t use both feet. ~ Chinese Proverb
On the ladder to success there is always somebody on the rung above you and who uses your head to steady himself. ~ Icelandic Proverbs
Not to use trickery is also trickery. ~ Arabian Proverb
It is useful to first see the spark before the fire. ~ Japanese Proverb
It is no use cutting a stick when the fight is over. ~ Japanese Proverb
If you can’t use your eyes, follow your nose. ~ Latvian Proverbs
The day will come when the cow will have use for her tail. ~ Irish Proverb
Don’t use oiled paper to wrap up fire. ~ Chinese Proverb
Keep a thing seven years and you’ll find a use for it. ~ Gaelic Proverb
Being loved is the best way of being useful. ~ French Proverb
It is little use to dig a well after the house has caught fire. ~ Indian Proverb
God feeds the birds that use their wings. ~ Danish Proverb
Even criminals have their uses; they keep sleepyheads awake. ~ Chinese Proverb
Useless wisdom is double foolishness. ~ Icelandic Proverb
It is useless to knock at the door of a deaf man. ~ Greek Proverb
Never seek the wind in the field. It is useless to try and find what is gone. ~ Polish Proverb
He who uses bad incense must be careful not to burn his sleeves. ~ Arabian Proverb
If you want to keep your credit you must use it as little as possible. ~ French Proverb
Sorrow is like rice in an attic: you use a little every day and at the end it is all gone. ~ Malagasy Proverb
The well that is most often used gives the purest water. ~ Hebrew Proverb
When fate strikes physicians are useless. ~ Iranian Proverb
When a man finds no peace within himself, it is useless to look for it elsewhere. ~ French Proverb
Fools are more useful to the wise than wise are to fools. ~ French Proverb
German Proverb
Quotations about Usefulness
The usefulness of science is sometimes exaggerated. You’d never talk about music being useful or art being useful. ~ Richard Dawkins
Poetry, fiction as novels or short stories – these are autonomous as created by their authors. They should stand on their own, like pieces of furniture that should be judged as to their usefulness, elegance. ~ F. Sionil Jose
Attention and activity lead to mistakes as well as to successes; but a life spent in making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing. ~ George Bernard Shaw
A public man must never forget that he loses his usefulness when he as an individual, rather than his policy, becomes the issue. ~ Richard M. Nixon
What greater bliss than to look back on days spent in usefulness, in doing good to those around us. ~ Dorothea Dix
There is no excellence without labor. One cannot dream oneself into either usefulness or happiness. ~ Liberty Hyde Bailey
Men, like nails, lose their usefulness when they lose their direction and begin to bend. ~ Walter Savage Landor
If all human lives depended upon their usefulness – as might be judged by certain standards – there would be a sudden and terrific mortality in the world. ~ Gene Tunney
No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another. ~ Charles Dickens
A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user. ~ Theodore Roosevelt
The democracy we are constructing must be able to show its usefulness and relevance. ~ Adolfo Aguilar Zinser
The useful and the beautiful are never separated. ~ Periander of Corinth
Take what you can use and let the rest go by. ~ Ken Kesey
It is my humble prayer that I may be of some use in my day and generation. ~ Hosea Ballou
The need to write comes from the need to make sense of one’s life and discover one’s usefulness.~ John Cheever