Proverbs from around the world:

• Don’t buy someone else’s problems. (Chinese)
• Strange smoke irritates the eyes. (Lithuanian)
• The poor lack much, but the greedy more. (Swiss)
• It is the mind that wins or loses. (Nepalese)
• The point of the needle must pass first. (Ethiopian)
• God did not create hurry. (Finnish)
• When you go, the road is rough; when you return, smooth. (Thai)
• If you want to marry wisely, marry your equal. (Spanish)
• Where is there a tree not shaken by the wind? (Armenian)
• Wherever you go, you can’t get rid of yourself. (Polish)
• Money swore an oath that nobody that did not love it should ever have it. (Irish)
• Character is habit long continued. (Greek)
• Where you were born is less important than how you live. (Turkish)
• It is better to prevent than to cure. (Peruvian)
• Don’t do all you can, spend all you have, believe all you hear, or tell all you know. (English)
• Better is better. (German)

(From Reynold Feldman and Cynthia Voelke, A World Treasury of Folk Wisdom, 1992.)