Rodgers Dictionary of Proverbs
Do not abuse midwives while child-bearing
continues.
Do not abuse palm-wine tappers while
drunkness persists.
Do not add legs to the snake after you have
finished drawing it.
Do not all you can; spend not all you have;
believe not all you hear; and tell not all
you know.
Do not allow anger to poison you.
Do not allow sins to get beyond creeping.
Do not allow the belly to make you useless.
Do not allow the Gypsies to lure you out be-
hind the furnace.
Do not allow the sheep to die for a
halfpenny of tar.
Do not always expect good to happen, but
do not let evil take you by surprise.
Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
or you will be like him yourself.
Do not anxiously hope for that which is not
yet come; do not vainly regret what is
already past.
Do not argue with a fool, for people will not
be able to tell between the two of you.
Do not ask advice of the ignorant.
Do not ask questions of fairy tales.
Do not bathe if there is no water.
Do not be born good or handsome, but be
born lucky.
Do not be excessively timid or excessively
confident.
Do not be in a hurry to tie what you cannot
untie.
Do not be like a miser who saves for those
who will bury him.
Do not be like the mosquito that bites the
owner of the house.
Do not be talkative in an alehouse.
Do not be tricked into thinking that there are
no crocodiles just because the water is
still.
Do not be wise in words, be wise in deeds.
Do not bear ill will toward those who tell
you the truth.
Do not believe that you will reach your
destination without leaving the shore.
156
Do not belittle what you did not cultivate.
Do not blame God for having created the
tiger, but thank him for not having given
it wings.
Do not blame God for having created the
tiger, but thank him for not giving it
wings
Do not blame the sun for the darkness of the
night.
Do not blow in the bear’s ear.
Do not boast about your wealth if you are a
father.
Do not boast of a thing until it is done.
Do not burry good thought with a multitude
of words.
Do not buy a carrier’s ass, or marry an
innkeeper’s daughter.
Do not buy either the moon or the news, for
in the end they will both come out.
Do not buy with your ears but with your
eyes.
Do not call the forest that shelters you a
jungle.
Do not call to a dog with a whip in your
hand.
Do not carry rubbish out of your hut.
Do not change horses in the middle of the
river.
Do not choose for anyone what you do not
choose for yourself.
Do not choose your wife at a dance, but in
the field among the harvesters.
Do not choose your wife on your way to the
church.
Do not compare a fly with an elephant.
Do not compete with Kari, Kari comes from
God.
Do not confine your children to your own
learning, for they were born in another
time.
Do not correct with a strike that which can
be taught with a kiss.
Do not count your chicken before they are
hatched.