TOP PROVERBS FROM THE WORLD

Lower your voice and strengthen your argument. Lebanese Proverb

You never really know your friends from your enemies until the ice breaks. Eskimo Proverb

Laws control the lesser man. Right conduct controls the greater one. Chinese Proverb

A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials. Chinese Proverb

Write injuries in sand, kindnesses in marble.

French Proverb

The road to a friend's house is never long.

Danish Proverb

Man is the head of the family, woman the neck that turns the head. Chinese Proverb

An inch of time cannot be bought with an inch of gold. Chinese Proverbs

Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is.

German Proverb

Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in another time.  Chinese Proverb

Use your enemy's hand to catch a snake.

Persian Proverb

What you don't see with your eyes, don't invent with your mouth. Jewish Proverb

Success has many fathers, while failure is an orphan. English Proverb

A mere friend will agree with you, but a real friend will argue. Russian Proverb

If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow. Chinese Proverbs

The road to a friend's house is never long.

Danish Proverb

If your strength is small, don't carry heavy burdens. If your words are worthless, don't give advice.

Chinese Proverbs

It is prosperity that gives us friends, adversity that proves them. German Proverb

One never needs their humor as much a when they argue with a fool. Chinese Proverb

Be slow in choosing a friend, but slower in changing him. -Scottish Proverb

A hundred men may make an encampment, but it takes a woman to make a home. Chinese Proverb

If you suspect a man, don't employ him, & if you employ him, don't suspect him. -Chinese Proverb

Man is the head of the family, woman the neck that turns the head.  Chinese Proverb

One joy scatters a hundred griefs. Chinese Proverbs

Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors. African Proverb

He who knows nothing, doubts nothing.

Spanish Proverb

A fall into a ditch makes you wiser. Chinese Proverb

Use soft words and hard arguments. English Proverb

He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes. He who does not ask a question remains a fool forever. Chinese Proverb

He that seeks trouble never misses. French Proverb

You can out-distance that which is running after you, but not what is running inside you. Rwandan Proverb

When planning for a year, plant corn. When planning for a decade, plant trees. When planning for life, educate people. Chinese Proverb

Good habits result from resisting temptation.

Ancient Proverb

Never trust the man who tells you all his troubles but keeps from you all his joys. Jewish Proverb

Do not try to fight a lion if you are not one yourself. African Proverb

A man too busy to take care of his health is like a mechanic too busy to take care of his Tools. 

Spanish Proverb

The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it.  Chinese Proverb

Quarrels end, but words once spoken never die. African Proverb

A smile will gain you ten more years of life.

Chinese Proverb

A lady is a woman who makes it easy for a man to be a gentleman.  American/African Proverb

What is told into the ear of a man is often heard a hundred miles away. Chinese Proverb

One never needs their humor as much a when they argue with a fool. Chinese Proverb

Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more; whine less, breathe more; talk less, say more; hate less, love more; and all good things are yours. Swedish Proverb

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.  English Proverb

It is better to suffer for truth than to prosper by falsehood. Danish Proverb

Life is not holding a good hand. Life is playing a poor hand well. Danish Proverb

Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere. Chinese Proverb

One kind word can warm three winter months. Japanese Proverb

There is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience. French Proverb

If you do not study hard when young you'll end up bewailing your failures as you grow up. 

Chinese Proverb

Quarrels end, but words once spoken never die. African Proverb

Better to remain silent and be considered as a fool that to speak and remove all doubt. English Proverb

The rich would have to eat money if the poor did not provide food. Russian Proverb

To everyone is given the key to heaven; the same key opens the gates of hell. Ancient Proverb

A single conversation across the table with a wise man is worth a month’s study of books.

Chinese Proverb

Better to light one candle than to curse the darkness. English Proverb

Do not look where you fell, but where you slipped. African Proverb

Judge a man by the reputation of his enemies. Arabian Proverb

He has enough who is content. English Proverb

Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still. Chinese Proverb

An empty purse frightens away friends.

English Proverb

Do not try to fight a lion if you are not one yourself. African Proverb

He who conquers his anger has conquered an enemy. German Proverb

Everyone loves justice in the affairs of another.  Italian Proverb

A heart that loves is always young. Greek Proverb

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22

Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you. Spanish Proverb

Face your deficiencies and acknowledge them. But do not let them master you. - Hellen Keller

Your smile makes you pretty. Your body makes you sexy. Only your mind makes you beautiful. - Anon

Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you. Spanish Proverb

THE BASIS FOR GOOD COMMUNICATION: LISTEN, LISTEN!!!

Dear reader, a good friend of mine suggested that I should focus on a specific subject when gathering my preferred quotes.  I kindly accepted his suggestion.  This is the end result. This blog focuses on LISTENING as opposed to SPEAKING as the basis for good communication and successful relationships in both, your private life and in a business environment.


Considering that in many occasions during a conversation, we simply do not listen the other party as we are just thinking about our answer and/or defending ourselves, I have selected a number of quotes that pinpoint the importance of listening and the need to think before we speak. There is also the alternative to remain silent. 


Sometimes, our silence is the best answer. And in any case, just for the sake of mutual respect, we should allow the other party to complete his/her statement before we answer and/or provide any explanation. It is to your own advantage to listen and to learn from others.


If we learn to listen (different from "hear"), there is a great chance that we can succeed in our daily communication and in our personal and professional development. I hope that you enjoy and learn from the following quotes.

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.  Churchill

Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens. Jimi Hendrix


He who can take advice is sometimes superior to him who can give it.  Erica Jong


In all things, be willing to listen to people around you. None of us is really smart enough to go it alone.
  John Clendenin  


Listening, not imitation, may be the sincerest form of flattery. Dr. Joyce Brothers


The Land of Opportunity is an attitude. It is an openness to new ideas, a willingness to listen, an eagerness to learn, a desire to grow, and the flexibility to change.
 BJ Gallagher


Focus on listening. Listening is a sign of respect…a demonstration that people and their ideas are important. When people know you're willing to listen, they will share their ideas as well as their frustrations. Listening enables you to build a foundation of trust that is essential to motivation. John Baldoni


Coaches have to watch for what they don't want to see and listen for what they don't want to hear.  John Madden


If people listened to themselves more often, they would talk less. Unknown.


A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he knows something.  Wilson Mizner


Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment. Benjamin Franklin. 


Excellent service givers pay attention to the person and situation at hand. They listen for things the client isn’t saying.  Linda Byars Swindling


From listening comes wisdom and from speaking repentance. Unknown


Your conscience is the measure of the honesty of your selfishness. Listen to it carefully. Richard Bach


When a woman is talking to you, listen to what she says with her eyes. Victor Hugo


One of the most valuable things we can do to heal one another is listen to each other's stories.
 Rebecca Falls


I have often regretted my speech, never my silence. Publilius Syrus


When you say something, make sure that your words are not worse than your silence. Unknown


Silence is safer than speech.  Epictetus


Stay focused on what God would want when you get offended, and you will be more likely to do the right thing. Mike Randerson


False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.  Socrates


What you don't see with your eyes, don't invent with your mouth. Jewish Proverb


You need two years to learn to speak and sixty more years are needed to learn to be silent. Ernest Hemingway


I don't hear very well but I try to listen you very carefully with all my heart and soul. This is critical for ideal communication, understanding and mutual love. E. Mendoza


Never provide unneeded explanations; your friends don’t need them and your enemies will not believe them.  Oscar Wilde


The sign of an intelligent people is their ability to control their emotions by the application of reason.  Marya Mannes


The ignorant one affirms, the wise questions and doubts and meditates/reflects. Aristotle


When you talk, make sure that your words are better than your silence and remember that you are master of your silence and slave to your words. Unknown


You should maintain your mouth closed when you are swimming and when you are angry and upset. Unknown


I rather annoy you with the truth, than to please you with adulation and flattery. Unknown


Nature has given men one tongue and two ears, that we may hear twice as much as we speak.  Epictetus.


The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.
 Hans Hofmann


Every person I work with knows something better than me. My job is to listen long enough to find it and use it.
 Jack Nichols


If you raise your voice volume, your arguments descend; is more intelligent the one that learns to tolerate than the one that shouts. Unknown 


The face is the mirror of the mind, and eyes without speaking confess the secrets of the heart . St. Jerome


The best relationships--friendship and otherwise--tend to be those where you “can” say anything to the other person but you don't say “everything”.   Audrey Beth Stein


The best way to become boring is to say everything. Voltaire


One of the best ways to persuade others is with your ears. Dean Rusk


Welcome ideas that are not your own. Be open to what others have to say without getting defensive. Make it okay for others to share their ideas — even if those ideas conflict with yours. John Baldoni


Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. James 3:5 (NIV Bible)


The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. James 3:6 (NIV Bible)


Wise men are not always silent, but they know when to be. Unknown


Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something.” Plato


In conclusion, in many occasions we don’t process/analyze what we say and we speak everything that we think without taking into account the implications from such words. I rather remain silent and learn from others and then react when appropriate. 

YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

God doesn't require us to succeed; he only requires that you try. -Mother Teresa

The Bible is a letter God has sent to us; prayer is a letter we send to him. Matthew Henry

It is good to have religion or some particular belief. But you can survive without them if you have love, compassion and tolerance.  The ultimate proof of a person’s love of God is his love for his fellow man.   Dalai Lama.

Stay focused on what God would want when you get offended, and you will be more likely to do the right thing. Mike Randerson

Life is a tapestry: We are the warp; angels, the weft; God, the weaver. Only the Weaver sees the whole design. -Eileen Freeman

What you are is God's gift to you. What you make of yourself is what you give back to God.

Cease to think that the decrees of the gods can be changed by prayers. Virgil

Talent is a gift which God has given us secretly, and which we reveal without perceiving it. ~Montesquieu

My dear child, you must believe in God despite what the clergy tells you. Benjamin Jowet

Chance is perhaps the pseudonym of God when he does not wish to sign his work. Anatole France

Sure God created man before woman, but then again you always make a rough draft before creating the final masterpiece. Unknown

 God knows best what is good for us. ~ Socrates

To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.  When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better.  Concentrate on this sentence... “The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you”.  Something good will happen to you today; something that you have been waiting to hear.

God made woman beautiful and foolish; beautiful, that man might love her; and foolish, that she might love him.  Unknown

Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of humanity Rabindranath Tagore. Bengali poet, playwright, essayist...1913 Nobel Prize for Literature, 1861-1941 

Talent is God given; be humble. Fame is man-given; be grateful. Conceit is self-given; be careful. Unknown

God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do. -Regina Brett

So live with men as if God saw you and speak to God, as if men heard you. ~ Seneca

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature, and God.  Anne Frank. Jewish girl author of a diary of her family's two years in hiding during World War Two, 1929-1945  

God let me accept the things I cannot change, courage to change things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Unknown

There is nothing that wastes the body like worry, and one who has any faith in God should be ashamed to worry about anything whatsoever. Gandhi

FORGIVENESS AND LOVE VS HATE AND RESENTMENT

Forgiveness is to open the door to free and release somebody and then realizing that you are the prisoner to be freed. Max Lucado

Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the handcuffs of hate.  William Ward 

Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.  Mark Twain

Life is short: Break the rules, Forgive quickly, Kiss slowly, Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably, And Never regret anything that made you smile!!!!  Proverb

Forgiveness is giving up your right to hate me for hurting you. Unknown

If you judge and criticize the people, you will not have time to love them. Mother Teresa

Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names. For those to whom much is given, much is required. 

John Fitzgerald Kennedy.  35th president of the United States, 1917-1963

When you hold resentment toward another, you are bound to that person or condition by an emotional link that is stronger than steel. Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and get free. Catherine Ponder

Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.  Oscar Wilde

Forgive and forget. Sour grapes make for a lousy wine.  Unknown

When you choose to forgive those who have hurt you, you take away their power. Unknown

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. - Mahatma Gandhi

Forgiveness is a funny thing. It warms the heart and cools the sting. 

William Ward

You will know that forgiveness has begun when you recall those who hurt you and feel the power to wish them well. Lewis Smedes

Bring into your mind anyone against whom you have a grievance and let it go. Send that person your forgiveness. Unknown

A whisper of love is louder than a chorus of hate. Unknown.

There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love. Bryant McHill

To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness. Robert Muller

To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you. Lewis Smedes.

Sincere forgiveness isn't colored with expectations that the other person apologizes or change. Don't worry whether or not they finally understand you. Love them and release them. Life feeds back truth to people in its own way and time. Sara Padison

The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget. Thomas S. Zsazs

Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures the hater more than it injures the hated. Coretta Scott King.

Let no man pull you low enough to hate him.  Martin Luther King Jr.

Judge nothing, you will be happy. Forgive everything, you will be happier. Love everything, you will be happiest. Sri Chinmoy

Those who insult others are usually describing themselves.  Jay Huff

You practice forgiveness for two reasons: to let others know that you no longer wish to be in a state of hostility with them and to free yourself from the self-defeating energy of resentment. Send love in some form to those you feel have wronged you and notice how much better you feel.  

Dr. Wayne Dyer

Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses. Confucius

If you really want to love, you must learn to forgive. Mother Teresa

Learn to forgive, starting with yourself. Unknown

The measure of love is to love without measure or limitations and ….. if you correct and reprimand somebody, you should do it with love and care, and if you forgive, you should also forgive with deep love.   San Augustine.

I am mature enough to forgive you, but not dumb enough to trust you again.  Unknown.

Before you talk, listen. Before you react, think. Before you criticize, wait. Before you pray, forgive. Before you quit, try. Unknown

Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look that becomes a habit. Peter Ustinov

Forgiveness is of high value, yet it costs nothing. Unknown

Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future. -Paul Boese

Forgiveness begins where blame ends. Leo Bucaglia

Do not judge, and you shall not be judged: do not condemn, and you shall not be condemned: FORGIVE, and you shall be FORGIVEN. Luke 6:37

SOME NEW QUOTES.....to learn and grow.

When anger rises, think of the consequences. ~ Confucius

The time comes upon every public man when it is best for him to keep his lips closed.  A. Lincoln

Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else. - Judy Garland

Those who intend on becoming great should love neither themselves nor their own things, but only what is just, whether it happens to be done by themselves or others.”  Plato

Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge. Plato

I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.  Tagore

People will not remember what you said, they will remember how you made them feel.  Unknown

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.  Churchill

Nobody can hurt me without my permission.  Mahatma Gandhi

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. Mahatma Gandhi

There is nothing that wastes the body like worry, and one who has any faith in God should be ashamed to worry about anything whatsoever. Mahatma Gandhi.

Sometimes it is not good enough to do your best; you have to do what's required. - Sir Winston Churchill

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. Lao Tzu

The man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest. Henry David Thoreau

I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is to try to please everyone. ~Bill Cosby

Good habits result from resisting temptation. Ancient Proverb

Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens. - Jimi Hendrix

He who can take advice is sometimes superior to him who can give it. -Erica Jong

There are people who have money and people who are rich. Coco Chanel

The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury. Marcus Aurelius

A hundred years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove. But the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child. Forest E. Witcraft

Nobody really cares if you’re miserable, so you might as well be happy. Unknown

My dear child, you must believe in God despite what the clergy tells you. Benjamin Jowet

Chance is perhaps the pseudonym of God when he does not wish to sign his work. Anatole France

The less we deserve good fortune, the more we hope for it. ~ Seneca

Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them. -Aristotle

Sure God created man before woman, but then again you always make a rough draft before creating the final masterpiece. Unknown

Never look down on anybody unless you're helping him up. Jesse Jackson

I would rather be a failure in something that I love than a success in something that I hate. -George Burns

Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens. - Carl Jung

Don't worry what people think, they don't do it very often. Unknown

Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed. Gandhi

Whenever you have truth it must be given with love, or the message and the messenger will be rejected. Gandhi

The amount of happiness that you have depends on the amount of freedom you have in your heart. -Thich Nhat Hanh

When it comes to life, the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.
 GK Chesterton

Treat people like mirrors and watch how you reflect in their eyes. Nnamdi G. Osuagwu

MORE QUOTES....TO KEEP GROWING

Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man. Benjamin Franklin

“Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” – Benjamin Franklin

Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead. Benjamin Franklin

Well done is better than well said. Benjamin Franklin

He that would live in peace and at ease, must not speak all he knows, nor judge all he sees. Benjamin Franklin

The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but the mouth of a wiseman is in his heart. Benjamin Franklin

Glass, china and reputation, are easily cracked, and never well mended. Benjamin Franklin

“For a man to conquer himself is the first and noblest of all victories.” Plato.

“Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies.” Aristotle

“It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.” Nietzsche

Bureaucracy is a giant mechanism operated by pygmies.   Balzac

“Behind every great fortune there is a crime.” Balzac

"Better three hours too soon than a minute too late." - William Shakespeare

Our prayers should be for blessings in general, for God knows best what is good for us. ~ Socrates

The time comes upon every public man when it is best for him to keep his lips closed.  A. Lincoln

Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else. - Judy Garland

Those who intend on becoming great should love neither themselves nor their own things, but only what is just, whether it happens to be done by themselves or others.”  Plato

“Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge” Plato

“I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.” Tagore

People will not remember what you said, they will remember how you made them feel.  Unknown

“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” Churchill

“Nobody can hurt me without my permission.” Mahatma Gandhi

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” Mahatma Gandhi

There is nothing that wastes the body like worry, andone who has any faith in God should be ashamed to worry about anything whatsoever. Gandhi.

"Sometimes it is not good enough to do your best; you have to do what's required." - Sir Winston Churchill

As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do. ~ Andrew Carnegie

For everything you have missed, you have gained something else. Emerson

Those who have few affairs to attend to, are great speakers. The less men think, the more they talk. Montesquieu.

There is little that can withstand a man who can conquer himself.  Louis XIV

You can only govern men by serving them. The rule is without exception. Victor Cousin.

The employer generally gets the employees he deserves. Sir Walter Bilbey

When a man understands himself, he begins to live. When he begins to live, he begins to understand his fellow men. Norvin G. McGranahan

QUOTES IN SPANISH - FRASES Y PENSAMIENTOS (ESPAÑOL)

DEFINICIÓN DE PROVERBIO:   Sentencia breve  con sabiduría moral. Todos los proverbios llevan siempre un mensaje.  Llena tu vida de proverbios.

 “A fuerza de ir todo mal, comienza todo a ir bien”  FRANCÉS

“Adán cogió la manzana y todavía nos duelen las muelas” HUNGARO

“Antes de cambiar el mundo, da tres vueltas por tu casa” CHINO

“Antes de juzgar a una persona, camina tres lunas en sus zapatos” HIUNDÚ

“Aquel que pregunta es un tonto por 5 minutos, pero el que no pregunta, es un tonto para siempre” CHIN0

“Cuando apuntas con un dedo, recuerda que los otros tres dedos te apuntan a ti”  INGLÉS

“Dame un pez y cenaré esta noche, enséñame a pescar y cenaré siempre”  CHIN0

“El hombre es más duro que el hierro, más fuerte que la piedra y más frágil que una rosa” CHINO

“No te acerques a una cabra por delante, a un caballo por detrás y a un tonto por ningún lado” JUDÍO

“Cuídate del perro que no ladra y del agua mansa” Latino

“La gente se arregla todos los días el cabello, ¿Por qué no el corazón?  CHIN0

Yo me quejaba porque no podía comprarme zapatos, hasta que conocí a un hombre que no tenía pies” Árabe

“La primera vez que me engañes, la culpa será tuya, la segunda, la culpa será mía”  Árabe

"La crueldad es la fuerza de los cobardes". Árabe

“Las palabras de oro van a menudo seguidas por actos de plomo”  Holandés

“Si una cosa tiene solución ¡Para que preocuparse! Y si no tiene ya solución ¡Para que  preocuparse!  Chino

“Bebe y come con tu amigo, pero no trates con él de negocios”  Anónimo

“Las palabras se las lleva el viento, lo escrito permanece siempre” Latino

“Con dinero en el bolsillo, se es inteligente, atractivo  y hasta se canta bien” Judío

“Todo es relativo en la vida.  El clavel es mucho más bello que un repollo, pero probad a hacer una sopa con un clavel” de Puck

“Las lágrimas derramadas son amargas, pero más amargas son las que no se derraman” Irlandés

“Bueno es tener amigos,  aunque sea en el infierno” Español

“Una vez terminado el juego, el rey y el peón vuelven a la misma caja”  Italiano

“No comas todo lo que puedes, no gastes todo lo que tienes, no creas todo lo que oigas, no digas todo lo que sabes” Chino 

Oír es precioso para el que escucha.  Egipcio

"La crueldad es la fuerza de los cobardes". Árabe.

Las mujeres pueden hacer todo, los hombres pueden hacer el resto.