All proverbs (179)

Many hands, the load is not heavy

— Haitian proverb —

solidarity, work

Little by little the bird makes its nest

— Haitian proverb —

patience, perseverance

Behind mountains there are mountains

— Haitian proverb —

hardship, endurance

An empty sack does not stand up

— Haitian proverb —

hunger, substance

The one who strikes forgets, the one who carries the mark remembers

— Haitian proverb —

memory, injustice

It is the household rat that eats the house

— Haitian proverb —

betrayal, trust

The hole of a lie is not deep

— Haitian proverb —

truth, deceit

Each firefly shines for its own eyes

— Haitian proverb —

self-interest

After the dance, the drum is heavy

— Haitian proverb —

consequence

The donkey works, the horse shows off its trim

— Haitian proverb —

labour, injustice, class

When the cat is not there, the rats throw a kalinda

— Haitian proverb —

authority, mischief

The cockroach is never in the right in front of the chicken

— Haitian proverb —

power, justice

God's pencil has no eraser

— Haitian proverb —

fate, faith

Speaking French does not mean intelligence

— Haitian proverb —

class, language, pretension

Fine teeth do not say friend

— Haitian proverb —

friendship, deceit

What is in the yam's heart, the knife knows

— Haitian proverb —

suffering, intimacy

The stone in the water does not know the pain of the stone in the sun

— Haitian proverb —

empathy, inequality

A hungry dog does not play

— Haitian proverb —

hunger, desperation

Every person is a person

— Haitian proverb —

dignity, equality

To give little is not to be stingy

— Haitian proverb —

generosity

Put water in your wine

— Haitian proverb —

restraint, conflict

Hearing and seeing are two

— Haitian proverb —

truth, evidence

What the eye does not see, the heart does not turn over

— Haitian proverb —

ignorance, feeling

A small dog has strength in front of its master's house

— Haitian proverb —

courage, bluster

The poor person has no friends

— Haitian proverb —

poverty, friendship

Money makes the dog dance

— Haitian proverb —

money, corruption

For the cow with no tail, God drives the flies away

— Haitian proverb —

faith, protection, vulnerability

Run from the rain, fall in the river

— Haitian proverb —

folly, fate

What you plant is what you harvest

— Haitian proverb —

consequence, morality

Hope makes one live

— Haitian proverb —

hope, survival

A plot is stronger than a charm

— Haitian proverb —

conspiracy, power

A leaking house fools the sun, but it does not fool the rain

— Haitian proverb —

pretence, truth

Your neighbour's beard catches fire, you soak your own

— Haitian proverb —

prudence, warning

It is when the snake dies that you see its length

— Haitian proverb —

hindsight, power

God is good

— Haitian proverb —

faith

We are ugly, we are here

— Haitian proverb —

survival, defiance, identity

God knows how to give, He does not know how to divide

— Haitian proverb —

inequality, faith

The small man does what he can, the big man does what he wants

— Haitian proverb —

power, class

The tongue has no bones

— Haitian proverb —

speech, promises

A near friend is better than distant family

— Haitian proverb —

friendship, family

In times of hunger, the sweet potato has no skin

— Haitian proverb —

hunger, scarcity

Sitting does not give

— Haitian proverb —

work, initiative

Every cornered animal bites

— Haitian proverb —

desperation, conflict

A tiger's child is a tiger

— Haitian proverb —

heredity, family

Home is home

— Haitian proverb —

home, diaspora

A dog with a bone in its mouth has no friends

— Haitian proverb —

greed, suspicion

"Good morning" is your passport

— Haitian proverb —

greeting, respect, custom

What you do is what you see

— Haitian proverb —

consequence, morality

Children are the poor person's wealth

— Haitian proverb —

family, poverty

The drum beats in the bush, but it comes home to dance

— Haitian proverb —

consequence, home

A mother dog never bites her pup to the bone

— Haitian proverb —

family, mercy

Your finger stinks, you cannot cut it off and throw it away

— Haitian proverb —

family, loyalty

Knowing how to read does not mean intelligence

— Haitian proverb —

knowledge, pretension

Hate the dog, but say its teeth are white

— Haitian proverb —

fairness, honesty

Never cut the finger of the one feeding you

— Haitian proverb —

gratitude, prudence

Beat the dog, wait for its master

— Haitian proverb —

consequence, power

Before you climb the tree, look whether you can come down

— Haitian proverb —

prudence, planning

Cooked food has no owner

— Haitian proverb —

hospitality, sharing

It is the wish to give that gives

— Haitian proverb —

generosity

Tell me what you love, I will tell you who you are

— Haitian proverb —

character

What does not kill you fattens you

— Haitian proverb —

endurance, hardship

It is after the battle that you count the wounded

— Haitian proverb —

consequence, war

Dirty clothes are washed within the family

— Haitian proverb —

family, discretion

Neighbours are family

— Haitian proverb —

community, family

The cat's paw is soft, but its claw is wicked

— Haitian proverb —

deceit, danger

The first fall is not a fall

— Haitian proverb —

failure, perseverance

Goods that are offered fetch no price

— Haitian proverb —

trade, value

Asking the road does not mean you are lost

— Haitian proverb —

humility, knowledge

It is the toad's good heart that leaves it headless

— Haitian proverb —

kindness, naivety

It is on white shirts that stains are seen

— Haitian proverb —

reputation

It is the beaten earth that drinks the rain

— Haitian proverb —

hardship, reward

If the oxen knew their own strength, the driver would not drive them

— Haitian proverb —

power, class, solidarity

Every rope has two ends

— Haitian proverb —

fairness, truth

Everything that shines is not gold

— Haitian proverb —

appearance, value

A hungry dog does not lie down

— Haitian proverb —

hunger, desperation

Better that you work than that you beg

— Haitian proverb —

work, dignity

What the ant has is what it gives its young

— Haitian proverb —

family, poverty, generosity

Stupidity does not kill, but it makes you sweat

— Haitian proverb —

folly

You have to beat the drum to hear its sound

— Haitian proverb —

action, experience

Wealth without sweat does not profit

— Haitian proverb —

wealth, work

The river stops you crossing, but it does not stop you turning back

— Haitian proverb —

obstacle, hope

If you love the seed inside, you must love the skin as well

— Haitian proverb —

acceptance, love

The ox never tires of carrying its horns

— Haitian proverb —

burden, identity

It is when you are in need that you know who your friends are

— Haitian proverb —

friendship, hardship

You know how to run, you do not know how to hide

— Haitian proverb —

escape, consequence

The back's owner cannot scratch the back

— Haitian proverb —

dependence, community

A loaded donkey does not stop

— Haitian proverb —

labour, burden

Very near is not home

— Haitian proverb —

home, effort

Drink the water from the glass, respect the glass

— Haitian proverb —

gratitude, respect

The one holding the wooden spoon is the one who knows if it is hot

— Haitian proverb —

experience, empathy

What the poor have is what they carry to market

— Haitian proverb —

poverty, honesty

What we give the poor, we lend to God

— Haitian proverb —

charity, faith

Buy, pay; borrow, give back

— Haitian proverb —

honesty, trade

It is the taste of the broth that brings the tongue out

— Haitian proverb —

desire, quality

The bird lands on every branch

— Haitian proverb —

inconstancy

Everyone knows, but not everyone says

— Haitian proverb —

silence, truth

The one who advises you to buy a goat in the rain is not the one who helps you keep it through the dry season

— Haitian proverb —

advice, responsibility

Forcing people to do what they do not want is like trying to fill the sea with stones

— Haitian proverb —

coercion, futility

The breast is never too heavy for the one who carries it

— Haitian proverb —

burden, family

Hate the dog, but do not say it smokes tobacco

— Haitian proverb —

fairness, slander

The tallest tree says it sees far, but the travelling seed says it sees farther

— Haitian proverb —

experience, travel, pride

See what I do, do not do what I do

— Haitian proverb —

hypocrisy, advice

You have to walk to see where the street turns

— Haitian proverb —

experience, learning

The year did not kill you, it is not a day that will

— Haitian proverb —

endurance, hope

A man may grow tired, but not a woman

— Haitian proverb —

women, endurance

Poverty is not dishonour

— Haitian proverb —

poverty, dignity

You want everything, you lose everything

— Haitian proverb —

greed

Never set a cat to guard the butter

— Haitian proverb —

trust, prudence

Salt does not boast that it is salty

— Haitian proverb —

modesty, quality

Remember the rain that raised your corn

— Haitian proverb —

gratitude, memory

It is washing your hands and wiping them on the ground

— Haitian proverb —

futility, waste

Hold your nose to drink the foul water

— Haitian proverb —

necessity, hardship

Many small sweet potatoes make a load

— Haitian proverb —

accumulation, patience

Before you laugh at someone limping, look at how you walk

— Haitian proverb —

humility, mockery

With patience, you will see the ant nurse its young

— Haitian proverb —

patience

Haiti is slippery ground

— Haitian proverb —

politics, instability

The ox never thanks the savanna

— Haitian proverb —

gratitude, ingratitude

Looking well does not mean being well

— Haitian proverb —

appearance, health

A fine funeral does not mean paradise

— Haitian proverb —

appearance, death

Fine hair is not money

— Haitian proverb —

appearance, wealth

Kiss the mouth, but fear the teeth

— Haitian proverb —

intimacy, danger

God is not a stepfather

— Haitian proverb —

faith, equality

An elder's mouth may smell, but what comes out of it is sense

— Haitian proverb —

elders, wisdom

Wait until we turn into tender beans

— Haitian proverb —

waiting, futility

When hens grow teeth

— Haitian proverb —

never, impossibility

To go to the country without a hat

— Haitian proverb —

death

Caught in the three kings

— Haitian proverb —

trouble

Stay in your role

— Haitian proverb —

restraint

He has no nose on his face

— Haitian proverb —

shame, insult

You are throwing flowers

— Haitian proverb —

flattery

Give me my ear

— Haitian proverb —

attention

He is an old hand

— Haitian proverb —

experience

I am managing as best I can, like Mèt Jean-Jacques

— Haitian proverb —

survival, resourcefulness

Being badly off is not death

— Haitian proverb —

hope, hardship

A load you cannot carry, you set down gently

— Haitian proverb —

burden, limits

Every dog pisses the way it knows

— Haitian proverb —

individuality, tolerance

Every pig has its Saturday

— Haitian proverb —

reckoning, fate

The load leaves the head and lands on the shoulder

— Haitian proverb —

burden, hardship

The road of need is never long

— Haitian proverb —

need, determination

The road of a pimple is the road of an open sore

— Haitian proverb —

neglect, consequence

The road to money has no thorns

— Haitian proverb —

money, greed

A long road does not kill anyone

— Haitian proverb —

patience, endurance

A dog has four feet, but it cannot walk four roads

— Haitian proverb —

focus, limits

The dog you treated well bites you when it turns rabid

— Haitian proverb —

betrayal, kindness

A pot you did not put on the fire, you do not take down

— Haitian proverb —

meddling, prudence

The horse knows the length of its own rope

— Haitian proverb —

limits, self-knowledge

A horse with ten masters dies tied to the post

— Haitian proverb —

responsibility, neglect

A rotten tooth has strength against a ripe banana

— Haitian proverb —

power, bullying

Bared teeth are danger

— Haitian proverb —

deceit, danger

Teeth are bone

— Haitian proverb —

deceit, appearance

Two fighting cocks do not stay in the same pen

— Haitian proverb —

rivalry

Two bulls do not stay in the same savanna

— Haitian proverb —

rivalry, power

Making do is not a sin

— Haitian proverb —

survival, resourcefulness

Once you are in the slaughterhouse, you must accept blood splashing on you

— Haitian proverb —

consequence, commitment

Greet the devil and he eats you; do not greet him and he eats you

— Haitian proverb —

dilemma, futility

The mouth runs up the debt, the backside pays it

— Haitian proverb —

speech, consequence

A doctor never treats himself

— Haitian proverb —

self-knowledge, help

The doctor cares for you, but he is not God

— Haitian proverb —

limits, faith

Sleep is death's little brother

— Haitian proverb —

death, sleep

A woman is not a bedsheet

— Haitian proverb —

women, respect

Woman is mahogany: the older she is, the better she is

— Haitian proverb —

women, age

Make friends with the knife before the apricot ripens

— Haitian proverb —

preparation, foresight

Both bells must ring before you know the truth

— Haitian proverb —

truth, fairness

You have to lose time to have time

— Haitian proverb —

patience, work

Hunger is misery, a full belly is trouble

— Haitian proverb —

hunger, wealth

The mouth eats every food, but it does not speak every word

— Haitian proverb —

discretion, silence

The donkey bears young so that its own back can rest

— Haitian proverb —

family, labour

Hurrying does not make the day break

— Haitian proverb —

patience, haste

Two lean ones do not fry

— Haitian proverb —

poverty, help

There has to be sickness for there to be death

— Haitian proverb —

causation

Since Guinea, Black people have hated Black people

— Haitian proverb —

division, history, identity

The eye sees, the mouth keeps quiet

— Haitian proverb —

discretion, silence, prudence

A chigoe flea never respects a big man’s foot

— Haitian proverb —

equality, class, vulnerability

The goat’s business is not the sheep’s business

— Haitian proverb —

meddling, self-interest, responsibility

Fish scales are not money

— Haitian proverb —

appearance, value, substance

All wood is wood, but the mapou is not mahogany

— Haitian proverb —

quality, appearance, value

It is the shoe that knows whether the sock has a hole

— Haitian proverb —

intimacy, knowledge, appearance

When the cockroach wants to throw a dance, it never invites the hen

— Haitian proverb —

prudence, danger, self-interest

Every creature in the sea eats people, but it is the shark that carries the bad name

— Haitian proverb —

reputation, injustice, slander