Rodgers Dictionary of Proverbs
If you want to have a happy life, stay far
away from your relatives.
If you want to hear the truth about yourself
-- offend your neighbor.
If you want to hit your mother-in-law, be
sure to split her head.
If you want to improve your memory, lend
someone money.
If you want to keep camels, have a big
enough door.
If you want to keep friends don't loan them
any money.
If you want to keep something secret from
black folks, put it between the covers of a
book.
If you want to keep your credit you must
use it as little as possible.
If you want to kill a snake, chop off its head.
If you want to know about the traveler, look
at his suitcase.
If you want to know how long a man's
tongue is, let him use his mouth to lick
honey from a plate.
If you want to know how the true story
goes, wait till the arguments start.
If you want to know if someone has money,
observe his beard and his boots.
If you want to know secrets, seek for them
in trouble or in pleasure.
If you want to know someone's character,
look at the friends he keeps.
If you want to know the charecter of a
people, give something for free.
If you want to know the value of money, go
and borrow some.
If you want to know the value of money, try
borrowing some.
If you want to know villain, give him a stick.
If you want to know what a ducat is worth,
try to borrow one.
If you want to know what a man is really
like, notice how he acts when he loses
money.
If you want to know what a tiger is like,
look at a cat.
If you want to know what God thinks of
money, look at the people he gives it to.
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If you want to know who your friends are,
lie by the roadside and pretend to be
drunk.
If you want to know your past, look into
your present conditions. If you want to
know your future -- look into your
present actions.
If you want to lean on a tree, first make sure
it can hold you.
If you want to live and thrive, let the spider
run alive.
If you want to live in peace, you must not
tell everything that you know, nor judge
everything that you see.
If you want to live long, be healthy and fat,
drink like a dog and eat like a cat.
If you want to live to be old you need to
start early.
If you want to look good, you have to suffer.
If you want to love your household as much
as your bread then you will have to
knead your wife like dough.
If you want to make God laugh, tell him
your plans.
If you want to marry across the great Niger
River, be prepared to sail across at night.
If you want to marry wisely, marry your
equal.
If you want to perform a good jump,
sometimes you need to start by taking a
step back.
If you want to please, never say things are
going well.
If you want to remove a mountain start with
one stone at a time.
If you want to see what your body will look
like tomorrow, look at your thoughts to-
day.
If you want to sell at a high price you'll earn
little.
If you want to sit under a shade in your old
age plant a tree now.
If you want to sleep well, buy the bed of a
bankrupt.
If you want to smear somebody's face with
mud, be prepared to dirty your hands.