Rodgers Dictionary of Proverbs
The wife cries before the wedding, the hus-
band after.
The wife is twice precious only; when led
into the house, and when taken out.
The wife of a careless man is almost a
widow.
The wild cat is too big to cross over the
grass.
The wild pear has blossomed: the kid goat
no longer suffers.
The will cannot be compelled.
The will gives the work its name.
The will is taken for the deed.
The will is the soul of the work.
The willing horse carries the load
The wind bloweth where it listeth
The wind changes every day; a woman
changes every second.
The wind does not always blow from the
same quarter.
The wind does not break a tree that bends.
The wind does not break a tree that can
bend.
The wind does not respect a fool.
The wind effects leaves, while violence men.
The wind fells the oak, but cannot cope with
the reed.
The wind helps those without an axe to cut
wood.
The wind in one's face makes one wise.
The wind keeps not always in one quarter.
The wind sweeping through the tower
heralds a rising storm in the mountain.
The wind sweeps the road clean.
The wind that carried the mortar will not
fail to carry the pestle.
The wind will let us neither sail nor stay.
The winds and waves are always on the side
of the ablest navigators.
The winds may fell the massive oak, but
bamboo, bent even to the ground, will
spring upright after the passage of the
storm.
The winds of heaven change suddenly; so
do human fortunes.
The windy day is not a day for scallops
[thatching].
608
The wine given to your workmen is that for
which you get the best paid.
The wine has been poured and must be
drunk.
The wine is not known by the hoops.
The wine is sweet, the paying bitter.
The wine-skin has its reasons for smelling of
pitch.
The winner has many friends, the loser has
good friends.
The winner is looked upon as the stronger.
The winter does not go without looking
backward.
The winter does not leave without a
backward glance.
The winter is gone, the spring is come, a fly
for those who us good have done.
The winter will ask what we did all
summer.
The wisdom of the elderly is like the sun, it
illuminates the village and the great
river.
The wise adapt themselves to circumstances,
as water moulds itself to the pitcher.
The wise and the fool have their fellows.
The wise are as rare as eagles that fly high in
the sky.
The wise bird flies lowest.
The wise create proverbs for fools to learn,
not to repeat.
The wise do as much as they should, not as
much as they can.
The wise drunkard is a sober fool.
The wise hand does not all that the tongue
says.
The wise knows that he does not know; the
ignoramus thinks he knows.
The wise make jests and the fool repeats
them.
The wise man affirms little and doubts
much.
The wise man and the tortoise travel but
never leave their home.
The wise man asks questions of himself; the
fool questions others.