Australian Proverbs

Enjoy dozens of witty and insightful Australian proverbs and idioms that have been passed down from one generation to the next for hundreds of years!

• One nation, one people, one destiny.
• Don’t blow your own trumpet.
• A bad worker blames his tools.
• None as deaf as those who would not hear.
• Once bitten, twice shy.
• The flounder does not return to the place he left when disturbed.
• This land shall be inhabited.
• May as well be here; we are as where we are.
• Half a loaf is better than none.
• One man’s meat is another man’s poison.
• Out in the bush, the tarred road always ends just after the house of the local mayor.
• The more you know, the less you need.
• Those who lose dreaming are lost.
• God helps those who help themselves.
• We are all visitors to this time, this place.
• The clash of ideas brings forth the spark of truth.
• You might as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb.
• Blood is thicker than water.
• Women! Australia needs you too!
• Australia—land of tomorrow.
• If you catch a man, throw him back!
• In the planting season, visitors come singly; and in harvest time, they come in crowds.
• A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
• Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.
• The bigger the hat, the smaller the property.
• Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love; and then we return home.
• It’s like the axe that’s had two new blades and three new handles but otherwise is just as it was when grandfather bought it.
• None so deaf as those who would not hear.
• Dog must not steal from dog.

For thousands more proverbs and words of wisdom, collected from over 40 countries, check out Proverbs from Around the World!