Rodgers Dictionary of Proverbs
The feeling of commiseration is the feeling
of humanity; the feeling of shame and
dislike is the beginning of righteousness;
the feeling of deference and compliance
is the beginning of propriety; and the
feeling of right and wrong is the
beginning of wisdom. Men have these
Four Beginnings just as they have their
four limbs.
The feet are slow when the head wears
snaw.
The fellow roasts his fish in the flames of a
fire.
The female of the species is more deadly
than the male
The female of the species is more deadly
than the male.
The fertile field becomes sterile without rest.
The festival of mpaza comes to pass.
The fetus that is afraid of criticism is never
born.
The fewer donkeys, the more corncobs.
The fewer the donkeys, the more ears of
corn.
The fewer the words, the better the prayer.
The field should be poorer than the farmer.
The fierce ox becomes tame on strange
ground.
The fingers have got pretty close to the
thumb.
The fingers of the housewife do more than a
yoke of oxen.
The fingers of the man who has lost one are
not counted in his presence.
The fingers of the same hand are not alike.
The fire burns brightest on one's own
hearth.
The fire cannot be put out with your hands.
The fire doesn't care about the owner of the
coat that is burning.
The fire heeds little whose cloak it burns.
The fire is welcome within, when icicles
hang without.
The fire is winter's fruit.
The fire that burns a royal palace only
enhances its splendor.
The fire well knows whose cloak burns.
551
The fire you kindle for your enemy often
burns yourself more than him.
The fire-fly gives itself light. (Hard work
helps you to get what you need.)
The fireside is the tulip bed of a winter day.
The firm tree does not fear the storm.
The first [cup of vodka] goes as a stake, the
second as a falcon, and the third as a
little bird.
The first act does not make one cry.
The first at the mill can grind the first.
The first at the mill grinds first.
The first attempt is the most difficult.
The first bird get the first grain.
The first blin always turns out lumpy.
The first blow is as good as two.
The first blow is half the battle.
The first breath is the beginning of death.
The first comer grinds first.
The first cow drinks clean water.
The first cow drinks good water.
The first day a guest, the second day a guest,
the third day a calamity.
The first day you meet, you are friends; the
next day you meet, you are brothers.
The first day you see a friend; the next day,
a brother.
The first decision of a woman is the most
intelligent and the last decision most
dangerous.
The first dish pleases every one.
The first dish pleaseth all.
The first drink makes you a frisky gazelle,
the second an impetuous zebra, the third
a roaring lion, and with the fourth you
become a silly donkey.
The first drink with water, the second
without water, the third like water.
The first duty of a soldier is obedience.
The first faults are theirs that commit them,
the second theirs that permit them.
The first favor is a favor, the second an
obligation.
The first fuf of a fat haggis is the baldest.