New Zealand Proverbs

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

• Let someone else sing your praise.
• The bird that eats the berry owns the forest. The bird that feasts on knowledge owns the world.
• It is the job of the children to smash the calabash.
• Only the foolish visit the land of the cannibals.
• Even food can attack.
• A man who speaks once.
• Walk in the valley of our ancestors, learn of the history, and marvel at the beauty.
• A warrior dies in battle; a mountain climber on the rocks; but a farmer dies of old age.
• The more you ask how much longer it will take, the longer the journey will seem.
• Hold on tight to the words of your ancestors.
• In peace, be faithful; in war, be valiant.
• The flounder does not go back to the mud it has stirred up.
• There is more than one way to achieve a goal.
• Survival is the treasured goal.
• Turn your face to the sun, and the shadows fall behind you.
• It may only be a small storm, yet a successful outcome is imminent.
• A house full of people is a house full of different points of view.
• Don’t die like an octopus; die like a hammerhead shark.
• The prudent embark when the sea is calm, the rash when it’s stormy.
• Let us keep close together, not far apart.
• A hand that is ready to hit may cause you great trouble.
• A little axe, when well used, brings lots of food.
• Be quick to follow up an advantage.
• Don’t spend time with people who don’t respect you.
• Take time to enjoy life’s roses.
• Land persists, but human possessions do not.
• The block of wood should not dictate to the carver.
• Seek the treasure you value most dearly: if you bow your head, let it be to a lofty mountain.
• Like a dog follows his nose, man will find opportunity.
• In this world, I greet my oldest survivor: the earth.

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