proverb · Traditional
As you sow, so shall you reap.
The saying compares consequences with harvesting what was sown. It connects earlier conduct with later results.
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proverb · Traditional (Spanish-language collection)
Ask not after a good man’s pedigree.
Good conduct should not be dismissed because a person lacks an admired family background. The saying places the individual’s worth ahead of pedigree, without claiming that one favourable impression establishes character.
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Associate with the good, and you will be one of them.
The company of people acting well can encourage similar conduct. Association is presented as an influence, without guaranteeing goodness, making moral worth contagious or dividing people into permanently good and bad groups.
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Attribute your faults to nature; it does not change the nature of your faults.
Attributing faults to nature is said not to change the faults themselves. The saying distinguishes explaining conduct from altering its effects.
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Bad workmen always complain of their tools.
A person may blame equipment to avoid examining their own method or skill. Before accepting that explanation, check both the tools and how the task was performed.
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Banks are heartless.
Banks called heartless presents financial institutions as lacking compassion. The saying criticises impersonal treatment through a human-feeling image.
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Be as you would seem to be.
Let your conduct match the impression you want to give. The saying asks for substance behind a respectable appearance, rather than a performance designed only to win approval.
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Be captain of your own ship.
Take an active part in directing your own decisions. The ship’s captain represents responsibility and agency, without implying that a person controls every circumstance or should reject help, obligations or advice.
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Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes.
The saying warns against shame turning mistakes into crimes. A qualified reading concerns responding to an error without concealment or further wrongdoing.
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Be not weary of well-doing.
Continue worthwhile action without letting discouragement alone decide its end. The appeal to well-doing needs to include the limits of a person’s capacity.
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Be slow in choosing, but slower in changing.
The saying asks for slow choosing and even slower changing. It values care in a decision and steadiness after it is made.
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Be slow to promise, but quick to perform.
Consider a commitment carefully before making it, then follow through without unnecessary delay. The contrast between slow promising and quick performing values realistic agreement and dependable action, rather than hesitation in every conversation.
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Beauty is but skin deep.
Outward attractiveness does not tell you whether someone is kind, capable or trustworthy. Character and conduct deserve attention beyond physical appearance.
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Beauty is eloquent even when silent.
Beauty called eloquent while silent gives appearance an influence without spoken words. The saying notices an impression that may precede explanation.
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Beauty is only skin deep, but ugliness is deep to the bone.
Beauty superficial but ugliness reaching bone gives a harsh asymmetry to judgments of appearance. The saying intensifies a negative label rather than fairly assessing conduct.
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Beauty may open doors but only virtue may enter.
Beauty opening doors but virtue entering contrasts an initial impression with conduct needed to sustain acceptance. The saying questions appearance as sufficient merit.
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Beauty without virtue is like a rose without perfume.
Beauty without virtue compared with a rose without perfume gives admired appearance an image of something missing. The saying asks what qualities lie beyond looks.
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Bees do not become hornets.
The bee and hornet are contrasted as different kinds. The image questions an assumed change of character, but should not be used to declare a person permanently good or bad.
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Before you trust a man, eat a peck of salt with him.
Trust is developed through time and shared experience rather than a first impression alone. Eating a large quantity of salt together stands for repeated ordinary encounters in which reliability can become clearer.
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Beggars can't be choosers.
The saying denies choice to people asking for help. It portrays need as limiting the terms on which assistance is available.
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Beggars on horseback will ride to the devil.
The horseback image criticises reckless use of newly acquired power or advantage. Its description of beggars carries a contemptuous social judgment, so a useful reading should examine conduct after a change in position without treating poverty as evidence of bad character.
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Behind every great man stands a strong woman.
The saying places a strong woman behind a great man. It draws attention to support that may receive less recognition than public success.
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Bend the twig while it is young.
Early guidance can shape later habits while they are still developing. The flexible twig pictures that opportunity, without establishing that a person’s future is fixed or that harsh discipline is justified.
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Better a fortune in her than on her.
A partner’s qualities matter more than the wealth attached to them. The contrast between fortune in and on a person redirects attention from possessions to character.
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