Russian Proverbs

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

• One cannot make a fur coat from thanks.
• Work is afraid of a skilled worker.
• A good merchant has neither money nor goods.
• A bachelor is never sent as a go-between.
• Beauty is the sister of idleness and the mother of luxury.
• Friendship is friendship, but service is service.
• A fool is not afraid to lose his mind.
• The moon gives us light but no heat.
• The naked don’t fear robbery.
• Seven troubles, one response.
• Abuse doesn’t hang on the collar.
• When money speaks, the truth is silent.
• If the fool ties a knot, even a clever person can’t untie it.
• God wanted to punish mankind, so he created lawyers.
• For a drunk, the sea is knee-deep.
• A clever head, but given to foolishness.
• Hypocrites kick with their hind feet while licking with their tongues.
• Hope for God, but do not be reliant.
• He who doesn’t risk never gets to drink champagne.
• You don’t get a headache from what other people have drunk.
• Eat what is cooked; listen to what is said.
• Unless thunder strikes, a man won’t cross himself.
• The horse may run quickly, but it can’t escape its own tail.
• The wolf is not afraid of the sheepdog, but he is of his chain.
• When he mounts his horse, he forgets God; when he dismounts, he forgets his horse.
• You don’t milk a cow with your hands in your pockets.
• Be fair to the devil.
• Bad luck is fertile.
• A toad too would like to crack nuts, but he has no teeth.
• Death is not found behind mountains but right behind our shoulders.
• If everyone gives one thread, the poor man will have a shirt.
• Wisdom is born; stupidity is learned.
• You can’t drive straight on a twisting lane.
• You must chop down the tree that gives too much or too little shade.
• Hunger is not your aunt.
• The offender never forgives.
• Where necessity speaks, it demands.
• All lay loads on a willing horse.
• Vodka is the aunt of wine.
• Without the shepherd, sheep are not a flock.
• If you don’t crack the shell, you can’t eat the nut.
• Acknowledgment is half of correction.
• It will snap where it’s thinnest.
• Cut down the tree that you are able to.
• Don’t have a friend who always agrees with you, but have a friend who argues with you.
• The wolf will hire himself out very cheaply as a shepherd.
• When you live next to the cemetery, you cannot weep for everyone.
• If the claw is stuck, the whole bird is lost.
• If you are a host to your guest, be a host to his dog also.
• On an empty belly, every burden is heavy.
• Envy sees the sea but not the rocks.
• Paper will endure anything.
• All ages are submissive to love.
• Not everything is a mermaid that dives into the water.
• Simplicity is worse than thievery.
• The noblemen’s quarrels can be read on the backs of the peasants.
• Another city, another temper.
• Don’t buy the house; buy the neighborhood.
• The agreement costs more than money.
• The wolves are sated, and the sheep are intact.
• Don’t wade into a river without knowing a ford.
• If God sends you meal, the devil takes the sack.
• He can cheat a fish of its skin.
• If you don’t have a hundred rubles, make sure you have a hundred friends.
• Sorrow doesn’t kill, but it blights.
• Morning is wiser than the evening.
• No one is dragged to heaven by the hair.
• Every vegetable has its time.
• Words are silver; silence is gold.
• Only chained bears dance.
• It is easier to fill twenty bellies than one pair of eyes.
• In the lake of lies, there are many dead fish.
• On the tongue, there’s honey; and on the heart, there’s ice.
• Time makes the best healer.
• You’ll learn from those you hang out with.
• Poverty is not a sin—it’s worse than that.
• It is unpleasant to go alone, even to be drowned.
• If you rush things, you’ll only make others laugh.
• He who offers his back should not complain if it is beaten.
• What you go looking for, you will find.
• For a big ship, a big voyage.
• Who wants heat must endure the smoke.
• One good daughter is worth seven sons.
• Those who love you will make you weep; those who hate you will make you laugh.
• Haste is good only for catching flies.
• It is better to be a cripple than always sitting down.
• Partnership is an invention of the devil.
• He took the devil’s mat, but he’ll pay it back with his skin.
• Men will not be fortunate without a helping hand from misfortune.
• Jesus Christ was crucified by public opinion.
• When death is there, dying is over.
• Whoever wants honey must breed bees.
• Tell God the truth, but give money to the judge.
• Who lives in exile finds that spring has no charm.
• God keeps those safe who keep themselves safe.
• If rubles fell from heaven, the poor would have no bag.
• The calmer you go, the further along you will be.
• Fear the law, not the judge.
• The peasant will not cross himself before it begins to thunder.
• There are no friends in tastes and colors.

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