Norwegian Proverbs

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

• Tomorrow is the day that idlers get busy.
• From a gruff word, both harm and murder may ensue.
• The ancients were no fools.
• The headless army can be in for a hard time.
• Better to live with certainty than in hope.
• The craziest speak most truly.
• The patch always has to be larger than the hole.
• Too shy gets nowhere ahead.
• The eye wants to be where it is dear, and the hand where it hurts.
• The best friends are fewest.
• To be a hero, hang on for a minute longer.
• Respect gives power.
• Everything does not go as we guess.
• Better bend to get through the door than run one’s head against a stone wall.
• Shameful deeds bring on revenge.
• All madmen are not the same.
• There is a knack to every handicraft.
• There is no wind that blows right for the sailor who doesn’t know where the harbor is.
• Other times, other customs.
• The lame runs if he has to.
• The taller the house, the heavier the storm.
• The burden of someone else is always light.
• Straight ahead is shortest, but not always easiest.
• The afterthought is good, but forethought is better.
• Everyone wants to turn the prettiest side forward.
• Children do children’s work.
• Fodder and care make the cattle pleasant.
• In every woman, there is a queen. Speak to the queen, and the queen will answer.
• All food does not come upon one single dish.
• To gather and spare can last long.
• It is easier to learn from the damage of another.
• If you bend the bow too much, it will break.
• Most prayers go unanswered anyway.
• A weeping suitor, a barefoot smith, a runaway horse and a stammering minister—who do you prefer?
• Bad is called good when worse happens.
• Better wind one’s way on dry land than lie in water and call.
• The best cure meets the disease before it enters the home.
• Too clean has no taste.
• Child memories will last long.
• Hidden away hardly means forgotten.
• Age wants honor.
• Better barefooted than without jeans.
• The old are the eldest.
• Age is nothing to boast of; you get it for free.
• The best fruits hang highest.
• On the road between the homes of friends, grass does not grow.
• It’s no shame to look into the warm spring sun and regret a lost limb.
• Better an iron dictatorship than a golden anarchy.
• Not everyone can have the bishop for his uncle.
• There never was so bad a crow that it did not want a mate.

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