proverb · Traditional
Alertness and courage are life’s shield.
Alertness and courage as a shield picture attention and resolve as protective qualities. The saying presents them as supports for facing difficulty.
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1,208 matching explanations
proverb · Traditional
All are not thieves that dogs bark at.
An accusation or hostile reaction does not prove that its target did anything wrong. Look for relevant evidence instead of treating suspicion as a reliable verdict.
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All feet tread not in one shoe.
One arrangement will not fit everyone. Differences between people may require different provisions, just as feet of different sizes cannot all use the same shoe comfortably.
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All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
The saying links hard work with profit and mere talk with poverty. It favours carrying out an undertaking over speaking about it alone.
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All is fair in love and war.
The saying claims that everything is fair in love and war. It portrays powerful aims as reasons to suspend ordinary limits on conduct.
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All lay load on the willing horse.
A person willing to help may be given more and more work because others find it easy to ask them. Share responsibilities instead of making reliability a reason for overload.
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All seeds answer light, but the color is different.
Seeds answering light with different colours pair a shared influence with varied results. The saying gives difference a place within a common response.
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All that we do on earth, we shall account for by kneeling in heaven.
Earthly actions to be accounted for while kneeling in heaven express a religious view of eventual judgment. The saying connects conduct with an imagined transcendent responsibility.
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All time spent angry is time lost being happy.
Angry time counted as lost happy time contrasts two emotional experiences. The saying places a cost on dwelling in anger.
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All who have died are equal.
The saying places the dead on equal terms. It contrasts distinctions in life with a shared condition after death.
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All wish to live long, but none likes to be called old.
Wanting a long life while resisting the label old contrasts a desired future with discomfort about its description. The saying questions attitudes toward ageing.
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All's fair in love and war.
The saying suspends ordinary fairness in love and war. It presents intense aims or conflict as an excuse for otherwise questionable means.
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Although Agathi is a thousand dry, it is on the outside.
The supplied wording is unclear. Its accompanying gloss rejects the value of many fruits, suggesting that abundance alone does not establish usefulness.
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An ass here, in another city becomes its head.
An ass in one city becoming another city’s head contrasts local judgment with authority elsewhere. The saying questions status that changes with a setting.
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An evil eye can see no good.
An evil eye unable to see good gives hostile judgment an image of selective perception. The saying questions an outlook that notices only faults.
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An excessively modest man goes hungry at times.
Excessive modesty linked with sometimes going hungry questions restraint that prevents a need being expressed. The saying gives self-effacement a possible practical cost.
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An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
The saying pairs an eye with an eye and a tooth with a tooth. It presents a response to harm in terms of a matching loss.
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An honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work.
The saying pairs honest pay with honest work. It presents fair compensation and a genuine contribution as matching responsibilities.
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An honest man does not play dog for the sake of a bone.
An honest person refusing to act like a dog for a bone rejects degrading compliance for a reward. The saying connects integrity with resistance to manipulation.
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An idle man is the devil’s playfellow.
The saying makes an idle man the devil’s playfellow. It gives inactivity a threatening moral companion.
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An ignorant consent is no consent.
Consent given without understanding is denied full consent in this moral assertion. The saying values an informed choice rather than a word of agreement alone.
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An ignorant doctor is no better than a murderer.
An ignorant doctor compared with a murderer stresses the possible harm of inadequate professional knowledge. The saying gives competence a grave responsibility.
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An ill marriage is a spring of ill fortune.
A harmful partnership can create repeated difficulties in daily life. The spring image makes one troubled relationship a source from which other problems flow.
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An imaginary illness hurts the most.
An imaginary illness hurting most gives a presumed unreal condition an extreme claim of suffering. The saying presents a judgment about perceived illness.
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