Proverb

A proverb (속담/俗談, from Latin proverbium) is a simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated, which expresses a truth, based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity. They are often metaphorical. A proverb that describes a basic rule of conduct may also be known as a maxim.

Korean proverbs are also short saying which describes a certain situation in a Korean-style humorous and witty manner. It is interesting to compare a proverb with an equivalent maxim.

Traditionally Koreans have been good at seeing their situation from an objective point of view. Here are some examples used to represent Koreans' view of law, compliance and normative thinking. It is undeniable that Korean mentality and mindset have been influenced by I Ching as illustrated by "Every flow has its ebb". Of course, there are some proverbs of Western or Biblical origins.

If you want to find anything, use CTRL+F and type in such key word.

Key words
proverb, maxim, legal implications, lawsuit, law enforcement

Korean Proverbs related to Legal Thoughts
For the past five hundred years, Koreans used to consult Tojeong Bigyeol (토정비결/土亭秘訣) at the beginning of the year. According to this traditional fortune-telling book, common Korean people were warned of any trouble with the authorities (관재수/官災數) or unwanted litigation with neighbors (송사/訟事). So they did avoid to speak up regarding public affairs or law enforcement, thus being engaged in disputes with government officials.

Ordinary Koreans knew that most of such disputes arose from two or more confronting parties, and they liked to withdraw from confrontation as far as they could. They believed good fighters are at length lost at fightings. They were careful of any possible miscommunications or misrepresentations. It must be noteworthy that Koreans preferred family ties to any other social relationship as the saying "Blood is thicker than water" because the Korean society has been supported by the agrarian production. Confucianism has affected the Koreans' personality like the famous I Ching (주역/周易) maxim "The solution can be found at the extreme of difficulties" (궁극통/窮極通). They liked a humble person as described by the saying "The more noble, the more humble." They also believed in the value of education both at home and schools. They performed the principle in their daily life, "Spare the rod and spoil the child."

While longing for any change for the better like "Every flow has its ebb", they were respectful of practical thinking as represented by "A stitch in time saves nine." At the same time, they have been so flexible to believe "The end justifies the means" or "A stumble may prevent fall." Not surprisingly, they were in pursuit of capitalism by saying, "Money will do anything" or "To sow the wind and reap the whirlwind."

Korean proverb v. English one

 * 가지 많은 나무에 바람 잘 날이 없다.
 * A mother with a large brood never has a peaceful day.


 * 고슴도치도 제 새끼는 함함하다고 한다.
 * The owl thinks her own young fairest. The crow thinks her own birds fairest.


 * 곡식 이삭도 잘 될 수록 고개를 숙인다.
 * The more noble, the more humble. Manners maketh man.


 * 곧은 나무 먼저 찍힌다.
 * The good die young.


 * 국에 덴 놈 물 보고도 분다.
 * A scalded cat (dog) fears cold water. The burnt child dreads the fire. Once bitten twice shy.


 * 궁하면 통한다.
 * Where one door shuts, another opens.


 * 귀한 자식 매로 키워라. 귀한 자식 매 하나 더 때리고, 미운 자식 떡 한 개 더 준다.
 * Spare the rod and spoil the child.


 * 기와 한 장 아끼다 대들보 썩힌다.
 * To spoil (lose) the ship for a half penny worth of tar.


 * 나무에 잘 오르는 놈이 떨어지고 헤엄 잘 치는 놈이 빠져 죽는다.
 * Good swimmers are at length drowned. The best swimmers are the oftenest drwoned.


 * 남의 손의 천냥보다 내 손의 서푼이 낫다.
 * A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.


 * 남의 떡이 커 보인다. 남의 밥에 든 콩이 굵어 보인다.
 * The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. The apples on the other side of the wall are the sweetest.
 * Our neighbor's cow yields more milk than ours.


 * 낮말은 새가 듣고 밤 말은 쥐가 듣는다.
 * Fields have eyes, and woods have ears. Walls have ears.


 * 늦더라도 안 하느니보다 낫다.
 * Better late than never.


 * 다다익선 (多多益善)
 * The more, the merrier.


 * 달도 차면 기운다.
 * Every flow has its ebb.


 * 돈만 있으면 귀신도 부릴 수 있다.
 * All things are obedient to money. Money answers all things. He that has money has what he wants.


 * 돈만 있으면 개도 명첨지라.
 * Money makes the man. Jack would be a gentleman if he had money.


 * 돈이 장사라. 유전무죄 무전유죄 (有錢無罪 無錢有罪)
 * Money is power. Money will do anything.


 * 되로 주고 말로 받는다.
 * To sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.


 * 두 손뼉이 맞아야 소리가 난다.
 * It takes two to make a quarrel.


 * 모로 가도 서울만 가면 된다.
 * All roads lead to Rome. The end justifies the means.


 * 모르는 게 약.
 * Ignorance is bliss.


 * 불에 놀란 놈이 부지깽이만 보아도 놀란다.
 * Birds once snared fear all bushes. He that has been bitten by a serpent, is afraid of a rope.
 * Whom a serpent has bitten, lizard alarms.


 * 사공이 많으면 배가 산으로 간다.
 * To many cooks spoil the broth.


 * 용의 꼬리보다 닭의 머리가 낫다
 * Better be a head of a dog (ass, fox, lizard) than the tail of a lion.
 * Better be the head of a pike than the tail of a sturgeon.
 * Better be first in a village than second at Rome.


 * 우는 아이 젖 준다.
 * The sqeaking wheel gets the grease..


 * 정직은 일생의 보배.
 * Plain dealing is a jewel. Honesty is the best policy.


 * 제 눈에 안경.
 * Beauty is the eye of the beholder.


 * 제 발등 불을 먼저 끄랬다.
 * Skeer your own fire. Meddle not with another man's matter.


 * 진인사 대천명 (盡人事待天命)
 * The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.


 * 원숭이도 나무에서 떨어진다.
 * Homer sometimes nods.
 * Bernard did not everything.
 * Accidents will happen in the best regulated families.


 * 유비무환 (有備無患)
 * Prevention is better than cure.
 * An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.


 * 피는 물보다 진하다.
 * Blood is thicker than water.


 * 한 번 실수는 병가지상사 (兵家之常事).
 * A stumble may prevent fall.


 * 한 번 엎지른 물은 주워 담지 못한다.
 * Grieve when the chance is past, it is too late.
 * It is no use crying over spilt milk. What's done cannot be undone.


 * 호미로 막을 데 가래로 막는다.
 * A stitch in time saves nine.

Other Korean proverbs in comparison with the English one

 * 가난이 죄.
 * Poverty is the mother of crime.


 * 가는 세월 오는 백발.
 * Time and tide wait for no man.


 * 가는 토끼 잡으려다 잡은 토끼 놓친다.
 * If you run after two hares, you will catch neither.


 * 가랑잎이 솔잎더러 바스락거린다고 한다. 가마솥이 노구솥 밑 검다고 한다
 * The pot calls the kettle black. The kettle calls the pot burnt-arse.


 * 가랑이가 찢어지게 가난하다.
 * As poor as a church mouse. As poor as Job


 * 까마귀가 울면 사람이 죽는다.
 * The croaking raven bodes death.


 * 가재는 게 편이라.
 * Men are blind in their causes.


 * 감나무 밑에서 연시 입에 떨어지기 기다린다.
 * You may gape long enough ere a bird fall in your mouth. To lie in bed till meat falls in one's mouth.


 * 같은 값이면 다홍치마.
 * Better a castle of bones than of stones.


 * 개가 개를 낳지.
 * We may not expect a good whelp from an ill dog. Of an evil crow, an evil egg.


 * 개같이 벌어서 정승같이 쓴다.
 * Narrow gathered, widely spent.


 * 개구리 올챙이 적 생각 못한다.
 * The parish priest forgets that ever he has been holy water (parish) clerk.


 * 개미 구멍으로 공든 탑 무너진다.
 * A small leak will sink a great ship. A little fire burns up a great deal of corn. Of a small spark, a great fire.


 * 개 발에 주석 편자.
 * To cast pearl before swine.


 * 개와 친하면 옷에 흙칠을 한다.
 * If you lie down with dogs, you will get up with fleas. Evil communications corrupts good manners.


 * 거지도 부지런하면 더운 밥 얻어먹는다.
 * The early bird catches the worm.


 * 경주 돌이면 다 옥돌인가.
 * All is not gold that glitters.


 * 게으른 말 짐 탓한다. 게으른 여편네 아이 핑계 대듯.
 * Idle folks lack no excuses.


 * 고생 끝에 낙이 온다. 고진감래 (苦盡甘來)
 * No pleasure without pain.


 * 공자 앞에 문자 쓴다.
 * Don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs.


 * 공중 누각
 * To build a castle in the air.


 * 괴로움이 있으면 즐거움도 있다.
 * Every cloud has a silver lining.


 * 구슬이 서 말이라도 꿰어야 보배
 * No pains, no gains.


 * 그 아버지에 그 아들, 부전자전 (父傳子傳)
 * Like father, like son.


 * 금강산도 식후경.
 * A loaf of bread is better than song of many birds. Better are meals many than one to merry.


 * 꿩 먹고 알 먹고.
 * To catch two pigeons with one bean. To kill two birds with one stone (bolt, sling).


 * 그림의 떡.
 * Pie in the sky.


 * 급하면 관세음보살 왼다.
 * The danger past and God forgotten.

[ ㄴ, ㄷ ]
 * 나는 바담 풍해도 너는 바람 풍해라.
 * Do as I say, not as I do. Practice what you preach.


 * 낫 놓고 기역자도 모른다.
 * He cannot say B to a battledore.


 * 농담 속에 진담 있다.
 * Mows may come to earnest.


 * 누울 자리보고 벌 뻗는다.
 * Stretch your arm no further than your sleeve will reach. Everyone stretches his leg according to the length of his coverlet.


 * 누워서 떡 먹기.
 * As easy as lying.


 * 누워서 침 뱉기
 * Cut off your nose to spite your face.


 * 눈 먼 사랑.
 * Love is blind.


 * 눈 뜬 장님.
 * There is no blindness like ignorance.
 * As blind as a bat. Blind as a mole. Blind as a owl.


 * 닭 벼슬이 될망정 쇠꼬리는 되지 마라.
 * Better be a head of a dog than the tail of a lion.


 * 닭의 새끼 봉이 되랴.
 * Once a devil, always a devil. Once a knave, and ever a knave.


 * 떡 줄 놈은 생각도 않는데 김치 국부터 마신다.
 * Don't count your chickens before they hatch.
 * Don't spread the cloth till the pot begins to boil.
 * Make not your sauce, before you have caught the fish.


 * 도둑이 제 발 저린다.
 * A guilty conscience needs no accuser.
 * He that has a great nose thinks everybody is speaking of it.
 * He that commits a fault thinks everyone speaks of it.


 * 도마에 오른 고기.
 * Like a fish out of water.


 * 돌다리도 두드리고 건너라.
 * Look before you leap.


 * 될 성 부른 나무는 떡잎부터 안다.
 * As the twig is bent, so grows the tree.
 * First impressions are the most lasting.
 * The first blow is halfly the battle.


 * 돼지 목에 진주.
 * To cast pearl before swine.


 * 등잔 밑이 어둡다.
 * You must go into the country to hear what news at London.
 * Go abroad and you'll hear news of home.


 * 등치고 간 내 먹는다.
 * To give a dog roast meat, and beat him with the spit.

[ ㅁ, ㅂ ]
 * 마른 하늘에 날벼락. 청천벽력 (靑天霹靂)
 * The unexpected always happens.


 * 마이동풍 (馬耳東風)
 * Talk to the wind. To sing psalms to a dead horse.
 * To whistle psalms to the traffrail. Knock at a deaf man's door.


 * 말보다 실천.
 * Actions speak louder than words.


 * 말이 많으면 실언이 많다.
 * Talk much, and err much.


 * 말 한 마디로 천냥 빚 갚는다.
 * Good counsel has no price.


 * 멀면 정도 멀어진다.
 * Far from eye, far from heart.
 * Out of sight, out of mind.


 * 메뚜기도 한 철.
 * Every dog has his day.


 * 무소식이 희소식.
 * No news is good news.


 * 뭐 묻은 개가 겨 묻은 개 나무란다.
 * The Kettle calls the pot black.


 * 모르면 약이요, 알면 병이다.
 * Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise. Ignorance is the peace of life.


 * 목구멍이 포도청.
 * The devil dances in an empty pocket.
 * Need makes the naked man run and sorrow makes websters spin.
 * Need makes the old wife trot.
 * Poverty is an enemy to good manners.


 * 물 밖에 난 고기.
 * Like a fish out of water


 * 물에 빠지면 짚이라도 잡는다.
 * A drowning man will catch at a straw.


 * 물은 깊을수록 소리가 작다.
 * Still waters run deep.


 * 미꾸라지 한 마리가 온 웅덩이를 흐린다.
 * One ill weeds mars a whole pot of pottage. The rotten apple injures its neighbor.


 * 믿는 도끼에 발등 찍힌다.
 * In trust is treason. Trust makes way for treachery. Trust is the mother of deceit.


 * 바늘구멍으로 황소바람 들어온다.
 * A little fire burns up a great deal of corn. Of a small spark, a great fire.


 * 바늘 도둑이 소도둑 된다.
 * He that steal a pin, will steal a better thing. He that will steal an egg will steal an ox.


 * 반 풍수 집안 망친다.
 * A little learning is a dangerous thing.


 * 발 없는 말이 천리 간다.
 * Give a lie twenty-four hours' start, and you can never overtake it.
 * Bad news travels fast.


 * 백문이 불여일견 (百聞不如一見)
 * Seeing is believing. One picture is worth a thousand words.


 * 백지장도 맛들면 낫다.
 * Many hands make light work. Many a little makes a mickle.
 * Many a mickle makes a mackle.
 * Two heads are better than one.


 * 번개가 잦으면 천둥친다.
 * There is lightning lightly before thunder.


 * 범 모르는 하룻 강아지.
 * Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.


 * 범 없는 굴에서는 토끼가 선생.
 * Among the blind, the one-eyed is king.


 * 보기 좋은 떡이 먹기도 좋다.
 * Names and natures do often agree.


 * 보채는 아이 젖 준다.
 * The sqeaking wheel gets the grease.


 * 부뚜막의 소금도 집어넣어야 짜다.
 * No pains, no gains.


 * 부전자전 (父傳子傳)
 * Like father, like son.


 * 부화뇌동 (附和雷同)
 * One sheep follows another.


 * 비 온 후에 땅이 굳는다.
 * After the storm comes the calm.


 * 빈대 잡으려 초가삼간 태운다.
 * To burn one's house to get rid of the mice.
 * Don't cut off your nose to spite your face.


 * 빈 수레가 더 요란하다.
 * Empty vessels make the greatest sound.
 * Shallow streams(waters) make most din.


 * 빛 좋은 개살구.
 * Appearances are deceptive.
 * It is not the beard that makes the philosophers.

[ ㅅ, ㅇ ]
 * 사람은 죽어서 이름을 남기고, 호랑이는 죽어서 가죽을 남긴다.
 * He who leaves the fame of good works after him does not die.


 * 사촌이 땅을 사면 배가 아프다.
 * An envious man waxes with the fatness of his neighbor.


 * 사후약방문 (死後藥方文)
 * Prescription after death. While men go after a leech, the body is buried.


 * 산 사람의 목구멍에 거미줄 치랴.
 * Every day brings its bread with it.


 * 산에서 물고기 찾기. 연목구어 (緣木求魚)
 * To seek a hare in a hen's nest.
 * You cannot get blood from a stone.


 * 상부상조 (相扶相助)
 * Claw me, and I'll claw thee. Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.
 * Roll my log and I'll roll yours.


 * 서당개 3년에 풍월 읊는다.
 * Practice makes perfect.


 * 선 무당이 사람 잡는다.
 * A little knowledge is dangerous.


 * 선 무당이 장구 탓한다.
 * A bad workman always blame his tools.


 * 세월은 쏜살같다.
 * Time flies like an arrow.


 * 세 살 버릇 여든 간다.
 * Habit is the second nature. Old habit die hard.
 * What is learned in cradle is the carried to the tomb.


 * 세월이 약.
 * Time cures all things. Time is a healer.


 * 소 귀에 경읽기.
 * To sing psalms to a dead horse.
 * To whistle psalms to the traffrail.
 * Knock at a deaf man's door.


 * 소문난 잔치에 먹을 것 없다.
 * Great boast and small roast.


 * 소 발에 쥐잡기.
 * The net of the sleeper catcher fish.


 * 소 잃고 외양간 고친다.
 * Prevention is better than cure.
 * It is too late to shut the stable door when the steed is stolen.


 * 속히 더운 방 쉬 식는다.
 * Soon hot soon cold.


 * 쓸데없는 걱정 말라.
 * Don't cry before you are hurt.


 * 시장이 반찬이다.
 * Hunger is the best sauce.


 * 시작이 반이다.
 * Well begun is half done.


 * 식자우환 (識字憂患)
 * A little learning is a dangerous thing.


 * 십인십색 (十人十色)
 * So many men, so many opinions. So amny herds, so many wits.
 * Many lords, many laws.


 * 아끼다 똥된다.
 * He who saves for tomorrow saves for the cat.


 * 아내가 귀여우면 처갓집 말뚝보고 절한다.
 * Love me, love my dog.


 * 아는 길도 물어가라.
 * Better ask the way than go astray.


 * 아니 땐 굴뚝에 연기 날까
 * No smoke without some fire.


 * 안 되는 놈은 자빠져도 코가 깨진다.
 * The bread never falls but on its buttered side.
 * Ill comes on the back of worse.


 * 알까기 전에 병아리 세지 마라.
 * To count one's chickens before they are hatched.


 * 암탉이 울면 집안이 망한다.
 * It is a sad house where the hen crows louder than the cock.
 * It is a sorry flock where the ewe bears the bell.


 * 양두구육 (羊頭狗肉), 양의 머리에 개고기.
 * A fair face may hide a foul heart.


 * 양약은 입에 쓰다.
 * A good medicine tastes bitter.


 * 엎친 데 덮친 격, 설상가상 (雪上加霜)
 * It never rains but it pours. Ill comes often on the back of worse.


 * 웃는 낯에 침 뱉으랴.
 * A soft answer turned away wrath.


 * 어부지리 (漁父之利)
 * Two dogs strive for a bone, and a third runs away with it.
 * One beats the bush and another catches the birds.


 * 여자 셋만 모이면 쇠접시도 녹인다.
 * Three women and a goose makes a market.
 * Little strokes fell oaks.


 * 연목구어 (緣木求魚)
 * It is very hard to shave an egg.


 * 열 번 찍어 안 넘어가는 나무 없다.
 * Little strokes fell oaks.


 * 오는 말이 고와야 가는 말이 곱다.
 * Soft answer turnth away wrath.


 * 오는 정이 있어야 가는 정이 있다.
 * To give one as one gets.


 * 옥에도 티가 있다.
 * No silver (gold) without its dross.
 * There are spots even in the sun.
 * The best cloth may have a moth in it.


 * 옷이 날개라.
 * Fine feathers make fine birds. Fine feathers make fair fowls.
 * Apparel makes the men. The tailor makes the man.
 * Clothes make the man.


 * 용두사미 (龍頭蛇尾)
 * To start off with a bang and to end with a whimper.
 * He who begins many things, finishes but few.
 * Great cry and little wool.


 * 우물에 가 숭늉 찾는다.
 * To seek hot water under cold ice.


 * 웃는 낯에 침 뱉으랴.
 * A soft answer turned away wrath.
 * Good words are good cheap.
 * Good words cost nought.


 * 윗물이 맑아야 아랫물이 맑다.
 * Parents are patterns.
 * One sheep follows another.


 * 이열치열 (以熱治熱)
 * One poison drives another. The smell of garlic takes away the smell of onions.
 * Fight fire with fire.


 * 일각여삼추 (一刻如三秋)
 * Every minutes seems like a thousand.


 * 일석이조 (一石二鳥)
 * To catch two pigeons with one bean.
 * To kill two birds with one stone(bolt, sling)


 * 일장춘몽 (一場春夢)
 * The mirth of the world dureth but a while.


 * 임도 보고 뽕도 딴다.
 * To catch two pigeons with one bean.
 * To kill two birds with one stone.

[ ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅎ ]
 * 자라 보고 놀란 가슴 솥뚜껑 보고 놀란다.
 * Birds once snared fear all bushes.
 * He that has been bitten by a serpent, is afraid of a rope.
 * Whom a serpent has bitten, lizard alarms.


 * 자승자박 (自繩自縛), 자업자득 (自業自得)
 * To sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.
 * As you make your bed, so you must lie on it.


 * 재주는 곰이 넘고 돈은 되놈이 번다.
 * One beats the bush and another catches the birds.
 * Two dogs strive for a bone, and a third runs away with it.


 * 적반하장 (賊反荷杖)
 * Save a stranger from the sea, and he'll turn your enemy.
 * Save a thief from the gallows and he'll cut your throat.


 * 제 버릇 개 줄까.
 * It is hard to break a hog of an ill custom.
 * A leopard cannot change his spots.


 * 죽어 보아야 저승을 알지.
 * Nothing venture, never win.


 * 중용 (中庸)을 지켜라.
 * Measure is a merry mean. Measure is treasure.


 * 쥐구멍에도 볕들 날 있다.
 * Fortune knocks once at least at every man's gate.


 * 지나친 것은 모자람 못 하다. 과유불급 (過猶不及)
 * Don't bite off more than you can chew.


 * 지렁이도 밟으면 꿈틀 한다.
 * Even a worm will turn.
 * Tread on a worm and it will turn.


 * 짚신도 짝이 있다.
 * Every Jack has his Jill.


 * 천리 길도 한 걸음부터.
 * Step after step the ladder is ascended.
 * A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.


 * 천생연분 (天生緣分)
 * Match made in heaven.


 * 철나자 망령난다.
 * Life is half spent before we know what it is.


 * 초년 고생은 돈 주고 산다.
 * Experience is the best teacher. Experience is the mother of wisdom.
 * Experience keeps a dear school.


 * 취중진담 (醉中眞談)
 * There is truth in wine.
 * In vino veritas.
 * What soberness conceals drunkenness reveals.


 * 칠전팔기 (七顚八起) 일곱 번 넘어져도 여덟 번 일어선다.
 * If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again.


 * 콩을 팥이라 해도 곧이 듣는다.
 * To say the crow is white.


 * 타산지석 (他山之石)
 * Let another's shipwreck be your sea-mark.
 * It is good to learn at other men's cost.


 * 털어서 먼지 안 나는 사람 없다.
 * Every man has his faults. No man is infallible.


 * 토끼 둘을 잡으려다 하나도 못 잡는다.
 * If you run after two hares, you will catch neither.


 * 티끌 모아 태산.
 * Little and often fills the purse.
 * Penny and penny laid up will be many.
 * A pin a day is a groat a year.
 * Many a little makes a mickle.
 * Many small make a great.
 * Many drops make a shower.


 * 팔이 안으로 굽는다.
 * Men are blind in their own causes.
 * Charity begins at home.


 * 하늘보고 침 뱉기.
 * Who spits against the the wind, it falls in his face.


 * 하늘이 무너져도 솟아날 구멍이 있다.
 * If it were not for hope the heart would break.
 * Every cloud has a silver lining.


 * 하룻강아지 범 무서운 줄 모른다.
 * Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.


 * 호랑이 굴에 들어가야 호랑이를 잡는다.
 * Nothing ventured, nothing gained.


 * 호랑이도 제 말 하면 온다.
 * Talk of the devil, and he is sure to appear.


 * 혹 떼러 갔다가 혹 붙여 온다.
 * Many go out for Wool and come home shorn.

English Proverbs of Western Origin

 * 건강한 신체에 건전한 정신.
 * A sound mind in a sound body.


 * 꾸준히 하는 사람이 성공한다.
 * Slow and steady wins the race.


 * 구르는 돌에는 이끼가 끼지 않는다.
 * A rolling stone gather no moss.


 * 경험은 바보조차 현명하게 만든다.
 * Experience makes even fools wise.


 * 내 집보다 더 좋은 곳은 없다.
 * There is no place like home.


 * 너희가 받고 싶은 대로 남에게 행하라.
 * Do to others as you would be done by.


 * 눈에서 멀어지면 마음마저 멀어진다.
 * Out of sight, out of mind.


 * 돈을 빌려주면 친구를 잃는다.
 * Lend your money and lose your friend.


 * 돼지 앞에 진주.
 * Casting pearls before swine.


 * 뜻이 있는 곳에 길이 있다.
 * Where there's a will, there's a way.


 * 로마는 하루에 건설되지 않았다.
 * Rome was not built in a day.


 * 막다른 쥐가 고양이를 문다.
 * Don't back him into a corner.


 * 말하기는 행동보다 쉽다.
 * Easier said than done.


 * 물방울이 큰바위를 뚫는다.
 * Water will wear away stone.


 * 뭐 묻은 개가 겨 묻은 개 나무란다.
 * The pot calls the kettle black.


 * 미인은 거죽 한 꺼풀이다.
 * Beauty is but skin deep.


 * 바구니 하나에 계란을 모두 담지 마라.
 * Don't put all your eggs in one basket.


 * 반짝인다고 모두 금은 아니다.
 * All that glitters is not gold.


 * 뿌린 만큼 거둔다.
 * As you sow, so shall you reap.


 * 사람을 겉만 보고 판단하지 마라.
 * Never judge by appearances.


 * 사람은 자신의 일을 가장 잘 안다.
 * Every man knows his own business best.


 * 사람이 없어야 그가 소중한 줄 안다.
 * Absence makes the heart grow fonder.


 * 선착순 (先着順)
 * First come, first served.


 * 설상가상 (雪上加霜)
 * Out of frying pan into the fire


 * 세월은 사람을 기다리지 않는다.
 * Time and tide wait for no man.


 * 쇠꼬리보다는 닭머리가 낫다.
 * Better be the head of a dog than the tail of lion.


 * 시작과 끝을 바꾸지 마라.
 * Don't put the cart before the horse.


 * 아는 것이 힘이다.
 * Knowledge is power.


 * 어려울 때 친구가 진정한 친구다.
 * A friend in need is a friend indeed.


 * 얻어먹는 주제에 찬밥 더운밥 가리랴.
 * Beggars can't be choosers.


 * 연습이 완벽을 이룬다.
 * Practice makes perfect.


 * 일(공부)만 하고 놀지 않으면 바보가 된다.
 * All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.


 * 1보 전진을 위한 2보 후퇴.
 * Better bend than break.


 * 잔잔한 물이 깊게 마련이다.
 * Still waters run deep.


 * 전체는 부분의 합보다 크다.
 * The whole is more than the sum of its parts.


 * 제 눈에 안경.
 * Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.


 * 지나가는 것을 내버려두어라.
 * Let by goes be bygones.


 * 찢어지게 가난하다.
 * As poor as a church mouse.


 * 진퇴양난 (進退兩難)
 * Between a rock and a hard place.


 * 짓는 개는 물지 않는다.
 * Barking dogs seldom bite.


 * 친구를 보면 그 사람을 알 수 있다. 유유상종 (類類相從)
 * A man is known by the company he keeps. Birds of a feather flock together.


 * 털어서 먼지 안 나는 사람 있으랴.
 * Everyone has a skeleton in his closet.


 * 필요는 발명의 어머니.
 * Necessity is the mother of invention.


 * 한 가지에 전부를 걸지 마라.
 * Don't put all your eggs in one basket.


 * 한꺼번에 너무 많은 일을 벌이지 마라.
 * Don't have too many irons in the fire.