Italian Proverbs

Everyone has heard an Italian proverb in their life. In this day and age, some of the proverbs may seem politically incorrect but that is part of their appeal. Maybe you even have a favourite proverb. So why not own a product with your favourite Italian proverb on it?

At Italian Proverb Products, we have a range of products with Italian proverbs printed on them. Currently there are 225 proverbs (+ variations of some) appearing on T-shirts, keychains, mousepads and hats. We will be producing other items as well (samples of which already appear in our store).

The easiest way to find a proverb design within a product category is to use the A-Z searching function within the product category. To assist you in browsing and shopping, a full list of the proverbs is set out below.

If you find that a proverb is not available on a product line you are interested in purchasing, please send a message.

Thank you for taking the time to visit Italian Proverbs on Zazzle.

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Here is a full list of the proverbs.

No. Proverb
1. A bad agreement is better than a good lawsuit.
2. A doctor and a clown know more than a doctor alone.
3. A happy heart is better than a full purse.
4. A hundred year old revenge still has its baby teeth.
5. A hundred wagon loads of thoughts will not pay a single ounce of debt.
6. A lawsuit is a fruit tree planted in a lawyer's garden.
7. A little man often casts a long shadow.
8. A little truth helps the lie go down.
9. A rakish bachelor makes a jealous husband.
10. A rotting fish begins to stink at the head.
10A. The fish rots from its head.
11. Absence is the enemy of love.
12. A meal without wine is like a day without sunshine.
13. The biggest fool can ask a question the wisest man cannot answer.
14. All is not butter that comes from the cow.
15. As the snow melts, the filth shows through.
16. Better one true friend than a hundred relatives.
17. Better to lose the wool than the sheep.
18. Between saying and doing, many a pair of shoes is worn out.
19. Between two cowards, the first to detect the other has the advantage.
20. Beware of the person who has nothing.
21. Beware of the person who has nothing to lose.
22. Big mouthfuls often choke.
23. Bitter fruit will fall before the ripe.
24. By asking for the impossible, the best possible is obtained.
25. Conscience is as good as a thousand witnesses.
26. Consolation, for the condemned, is to be one of many.
27. Do not ever take a bath with fools because they will throw away the soap.
28. Even a frog would bite if it had teeth.
29. Even a fool says a wise word sometimes.
30. Every door may be shut but death's door.
31. Every excuse is good if it works.
32. Everyone can navigate in fine weather.
33. Everyone loves justice in the affairs of another.
34. Everyone thinks their own cross is heaviest.
34A. Everyone thinks his own cross is heaviest.
34B. Everyone thinks her own cross is heaviest.
35. Everything is good for something.
36. Failures are but mileposts on the road to success.
37. Foolish boys, wise men.
38. Fools grow without watering.
39. From listening comes wisdom, and from speaking repentance.
40. Give neither counsel nor salt till you are asked for it.
41. Go early to market and as late as you can to battle.
42. God keep me from my friends. From my enemies I will keep myself.
43. Good company on the road is the shortest of short cuts.
44. God sends us the meat, but it is the Devil who sends us cooks.
45. Half a brain is enough for the person who says little.
46. Good is good, but better beats it.
47. Happiness that lasts too long spoils the heart.
48. Hasty climbers have sudden falls.
49. Have an open face, but conceal your thoughts.
50. A person gains a great deal who loses a vain hope.
51. A person is a sorry barber who has but one comb.
52. A person who flatters you more than you desire either has deceived you or wishes to deceive you.
53. A person who has a head of glass must not throw stones at another.
54. A person who is afraid of the devil does not grow rich.
54A. A person who is afraid does not grow rich.
55. A person who jokes confesses.
55A. The joker always confesses.
56. A person who seeks to have many friends never has any.
57. A person wastes their tears if they weep before a judge.
57A. A person wastes his tears if he weep before a judge.
57B. A person wastes her tears if she weep before a judge.
58. A person who begins many things finishes but few.
59. A person who does as they like does not have an headache.
59A. A man who does as he likes does not have an headache.
59B. A woman who does as she likes does not have a headache.
60. A person who enjoys good health is rich, though they know it not.
60A. A man who enjoys good health is rich, though he knows it not.
60B. A woman who enjoys good health is rich, though she knows it not.
61. A person who goes not into battle cannot wear a crown.
62. A person who has no patience, has nothing at all.
62A. A person who is impatient has nothing at all.
63. A person who has nothing, lacks nothing.
64. A person who has, is.
65. A person who is not impatient is not in love.
65A. A person who is patient is not in love.
66. A person who knows little knows enough if they know how to hold their tongue.
66A. A man who knows little knows enough if he knows how to hold his tongue.
66B. A woman who knows little knows enough if she knows how to hold her tongue.
67. A person who knows little quickly tells it.
68. A person who knows nothing doubts nothing.
69. A person who laughs too much is hiding their grief.
69A. A man who laughs too much is hiding his grief.
69B. A woman who laughs too much is hiding her grief.
70. A person who never begins will never end.
71. A person who serves the public has a sorry master.
72. A man who takes a woman gives away his freedom.
73. Hope is the last to abandon the unhappy.
74. Hunger is the best sauce.
75. I may have lost the ring, but I still have the fingers!
76. If a person deceives me once, shame on them. If a person deceives me twice, shame on me.
76A. If a man deceives me once, shame on him. If a man deceives me twice, shame on me.
77. If it rained macaroni, what a fine time for gluttons!
78. If someone betrays you once, it is their fault. If someone betrays you twice, it is your fault.
78A. If a man betrays you once, it is his fault. If a man betrays you twice, it is your fault.
78B . If a woman betrays you once, it is her fault. If a woman betrays you twice, it is your fault.
79. If pride were a disease, how many would be already dead?
80. If the secret sorrows of everyone could be read on their forehead, how many who now cause envy would suddenly become the objects of pity?
81. If the wife sins, the husband is not innocent.
82. If you are determined, you will do it.
83. If you have a good cellar at home do not go drinking at the tavern.
84. If you scatter thorns, do not go barefoot.
85. If you throw money away with your hands, you will seek it later with your feet.
86. If you say you are sorry, you do not resolve anything.
86A. “Sorry” does not resolve anything.
87. If you want the daughter, you must kiss the mother.
88. If you want to buy love, love itself is the price you will have to pay.
89. If you would be rich in a year, you may be hanged in six months.
90. To succeed, you must not be too good.
91. It is a bad game if nobody wins.
92. A good answer knows when to stop.
93. It is better to be condemned by many doctors than by one judge.
94. It is better to give away the wool than the sheep.
95. It is better to lose the saddle than the horse.
96. It is better to wear out one's shoes than one's sheets.
97. It is easy to frighten the bull from the window.
98. It is not enough to aim. You must hit.
99. It is the first shower that wets.
100. It is the small expenses that empty your purse.
101. It may be quieter to sleep alone, but not warmer.
102. It is a bad plan that cannot be changed.
103. Let not your tongue say that for which your head may pay.
104. Love begins with song and music and ends in a sea of tears.
105. Love kills time and time kills love.
106. Love rules without rules.
107. Lovers' purses are tied with cobwebs.
108. Many are brave when the enemy flees.
109. Marriages are not as they are made, but as they turn out.
110. A master's hints are commands.
111. Moderate profits fill the purse.
112. Money begets money.
113. Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, storm and hail.
114. Never do by proxy what you can do by yourself.
115. Never let people see the bottom of your purse or of your mind.
116. Never point out the mistakes of another with a dirty finger.
117. Never reveal the bottom of your purse or the depth of your mind.
118. No good lawyer ever goes to court himself.
118A. No good lawyer ever goes to court herself.
118B. A good lawyer never pursues their own matters through the courts.
119. No sooner is a law made than a way around it is discovered.
120. No woman ever speaks the naked truth.
121. No wonder lasts more than 3 days.
122. Not everything which is bad comes to hurt us.
122A. Not everything which is bad hurts us.
123. Nothing dries faster than tears.
124. Nothing improves the taste of pasta more than a good appetite.
125. Of the wealth of the world each has as much as they take.
126. Of three things the devil makes a salad: lawyers' tongues, notaries' fingers, and a third that shall be nameless.
127. Of two cowards, the one who finds the other out first has the advantage.
128. Of what does not concern you say nothing good or bad.
129. Often the person who does too much does too little.
130. Old truths, old laws, old friends, old books, and old wine are best.
131. Old friends are always new.
132. Old saints do not get incense anymore.
133. Old wine and friends improve with age.
134. One devil does not make hell.
135. A person may have good eyes but see nothing.
136. A person should learn to sail in all winds.
137. A person who speaks fair words feeds you with an empty spoon.
138. A person with the courage to laugh is master of the world almost as much as the one who is ready to die.
139. Public money is like holy water. Everyone helps themselves to it.
140. Reason lies between the bridle and the spur.
141. Short is the road that leads from fear to hatred.
142. Six feet of earth make us all equal.
143. Speak of the Devil and he appears.
143A. Speak of the Devil and she appears.
144. Substance is not enough. Accident is also required.
145. Teeth placed in front of the tongue give good advice.
146. Tell everybody your business and they will do it for you.
147. Tenderness can be a bad judge.
148. That which the wise person does first, the fool does last.
149. The anvil lasts longer than the hammer.
150. The best armor is to keep out of range.
150A. The best armour is to keep out of range.
151. The man who gives little with a smile gives more than the man who gives much with a frown.
151A. The person who gives little with a smile gives more than the person who gives much with a frown.
152. The best way to get praise is to die.
153. The buyer needs a hundred eyes, the seller but one.
154. The cheat always lies at the feet of the cheated.
155. The comforter’s head never aches.
156. The dying cannot leave their wisdom or experience to their heirs.
157. The end of the pig is the beginning of the sausage.
158. The eye is blind if the mind is absent.
159. The feast passes and the fool remains.
159A. Only a fool remains at the end of the feast.
160. Pride is the mask of one's own faults.
161. The fool makes a lawyer rich.
162. The fool does last what the wise did first.
163. The healthy die first.
164. The person who puts up with insult invites injury.
165. The person who lives by hope will die by despair.
166. The poorhouse is filled with honest people.
167. The priest's friend loses his faith; the doctor's his health; and the lawyer's his fortune.
168. The remedy for injuries is not to remember them.
169. The rich never have to seek out their relatives.
170. The right man comes at the right time.
17A. The right person comes at the right time.
171. Make sure to be in with your equals if you are going to fall out with your superiors.
172. The river does not swell with clear water.
173. The salt of patience seasons everything.
174. The scent of every flower is short lived.
175. The second thought is always the best.
176. The smaller the heart, the longer the tongue.
177. The smoke of one’s own hearth is better than another person’s hearth.
178. There is a deep sea between saying and doing.
179. There is no thief worse than a bad book.
180. There is no fool like a learned fool.
181. To a quick question give a slow answer.
182. To be lucky, you need a little wit.
183. To a person who watches, everything is revealed.
184. To a person who is determined, it remains only to act.
185. To know everything is to know nothing.
186. To preserve friendship, one must build walls.
187. Too much prosperity makes most men fools.
188. Translators are traitors.
189. Trust not the praise of a friend nor the contempt of an enemy.
190. Under white ashes there is glowing coal.
191. Unspoken words cannot be noted.
192. Vices are learned without a master.
193. Virtue comes not by chance but by long study.
194. What does not poison, fattens.
195. What is done cannot be undone.
196. What shall I say when it is better to say nothing?
197. What worth has beauty if it is not seen?
198. What you cannot have, abuse.
199. When I am dead, everybody is dead.
200. When I am dead, everybody is dead - and the pig too.
201. When ill luck falls asleep, let none wake her.
202. When it thunders, a thief becomes honest.
203. When the sun is highest it casts the least shadow.
204. When the tree is down, everyone runs to it with a hatchet to cut wood.
205. When wine enters, modesty leaves.
206. Where gold speaks, every tongue is silent.
207. Where there are no hounds, the fox is king.
208. Where there is nothing to gain, there is a lot to lose.
209. Who depends on another person’s table often dines late.
210. Who goes to Rome a beast returns a beast.
211. Who has no courage must have legs.
212. Who knows most knows least.
213. Who offends writes on sand; who is offended on marble.
214. Who seeks a quarrel will find it near at hand.
215. Who serves the public serves no one.
216. Who suffers for love feels no pain.
217. Who will not be ruled by the rudder must be ruled by the rock.
218. Who would make money must begin by spending it.
218A. To make money, you must spend money.
219. Whoever stays awake longest must blow out the candle.
220. Whoever stays awake longest must put out the coals.
221. With so many roosters crowing, the sun will never come up.
222. Years and sins are always more than admitted.
223. Years can seldom be hidden.
224. Yielding is sometimes the best way of succeeding.
225. You cannot write down a meaningful silence.