Romanian proverbs

• "Ai carte, ai parte."
  • Translation: "Knowledge is power."

• "Apa trece, pietrele rămân."
  • Translation: "The water is passing, the stones remain."

• "Apără-mă de găini, că de câini nu mă tem."
  • Transliteration: "Defend me from chicken, I'm not afraid of dogs."
  • Notes: this refers to people: the chicken are the mean people, the treacherous friends, the dogs are the known enemies

• "Aruncă bine în dreapta şi în stânga, şi la nevoie o să-l găseşti."
  • Translation: "Throw good to your left and right, and you'll find it when you'll need it."

• "Ascultă cu urechile, vezi cu ochii dar taci cu gura."
  • Translation: "Listen with your ears, see with your eyes, but keep silent with your mouth."

• "Câinele bătrân nu latră degeaba."
  • Translation: "The old dog doesn't bark for nothing."

• "Câinii latră, caravana trece."
  • Transliteration: "The dogs bark, the caravan goes by."
  • Translation: "Don't listen to every word you hear."

• "Cine se scoală; de dimineaţă departe ajunge."
  • Translation: "Early risers travel farther."

• "Dacă doi spun că eşti beat, du-te şi te culcă."
  • Transliteration: "If two people say you're drunk, go to sleep."
  • Translation: "If more people say you're wrong, don't insist saying you're right."

• "Dragostea e oarbă, dar căsătoria îi găseşte leacul."
  • Translation: "Love is blind, but marriage finds a cure."

• "Drumul spre iad e pavat cu intenţii bune."
  • Transliteration: "The road to Hell is paved with best intentions."
  • Translation: "People sometimes do all the wrong things for all the right reasons."

• Fiecare pasăre pe limba ei piere.
  • Transliteration: "Every bird dies in its own language."

• Iartă pe toată lumea, numai pe tine nu!
  • Transliteration: "Forgive everybody but not yourself!"

• Leneşul mai mult aleargă.
  • Transliteration: "The lazy man will work more in the end."

• Nu da vrabia din mână pe cioara de pe gard.
  • Transliteration: "A sparrow in your hand is worth two on the fence."

• Nu iese fum fără foc.
  • Transliteration: "There's no smoke without fire."

• Nu lăsa pe mâine ce poţi face azi.
  • Transliteration: "Don't postpone to tomorow what you can do today."

• Nu măsura pe alţii cu palma ta.
  • Transliteration: "Don't measure others with your foot."
  • Translation: "Some people may have reasons unknown to you for doing certain things"

• Nu poţi îndrepta lumea cu umărul.
  • Transliteration: "You can't straighten the world with your shoulder."

• Nu te pune cu prostul, căci are mintea odihnită.
  • Transliteration: "Don't argue with a fool, because he has a rested mind."

• Nu vinde pielea ursului din pădure.
  • Transliteration: "Don't sell the skin of the bear currently in the forest."

• Obiceiul e a doua natură.
  • Transliteration: "Habit is the second nature."

• Ochii care nu se văd se uită.
  • Transliteration: "The eyes who don't see each other forget each other."

• Omul sfinţeşte locul.
  • Transliteration: "The man makes the place holy."
  • Translation: "Let me look at your house and I'll tell you who you are."

• Ori te poarta cum ţi-e vorba, ori vorbeşte cum ţi-e portul.
  • Transliteration: "Either act as you speak, or speak as you act."
  • Translation: "Don't be a hypocrite."

• Prietenul la nevoie se arată.
  • Translation: "A friend in need is a friend indeed."

• Râde hârb de oală spartă.
  • Translation: "The pot calls the kettle black."

• S-a dus bou şi s-a întors vacă.
  • Transliteration: "He went as an ox and returned as a cow."
  • Translation: "He didn't learn anything (referring to both learning from a teacher and finding out information)."

• Sângele apă nu se face.
  • Transliteration: "Blood doesn't turn into water."

• Totu-i bine cand se termină cu bine.
  • Transliteration: "All's well that ends well"

• Un nebun aruncă o piatră în apă şi zece înţelepţi nu pot s-o scoată.
  • Transliteration: "A mad man throws a stone in the water, ten wise men can't get it out."

• Un necaz nu vine niciodată singur.
  • Transliteration: "A problem never comes alone."

• Vino necazule, dar vino singur!
  • Transliteration: "Come trouble, but come alone!"

External Links

• English-Romanian Dictionary of equivalent proverbs