Welsh Proverbs

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

  • He who steals an egg will steal more.
  • Old age is a hundred disorders.
  • Better my own cottage than the palace of another.
  • Death considers not the fairest forehead.
  • A great sin can enter through a small door.
  • The will is a good horse.
  • If you want to be a leader, be a bridge.
  • Reason is the wise man’s guide, example the fool’s.
  • The best way to gather praise or recognition is to die.
  • A man without prudence is a ship without an anchor.
  • A nation without a language is a nation without a heart.
  • Repay evil with good, and Hell will not claim you.
  • Starting the work is two-thirds of it.
  • Perfect love sometimes does not come until the first grandchild.
  • A youth’s promise is like the froth of water.
  • A sword’s honor is its idleness.
  • The old know and the young suspect.
  • The young laugh when the old fall.
  • Without perseverance, talent is a barren bed.
  • The world is wide to everybody.
  • Things turn sour when you play with fire.
  • A ship and a woman are ever repairing.
  • The best candle is understanding.
  • The greater the hurry, the more obstacles there are.
  • A word to the wise, a stick to the unwise.
  • The old feel the blows suffered when young.
  • The seed of all evil is laziness.
  • Three things it is best to avoid: a strange dog, a flood, and a man who thinks he is wise.
  • Tapping persistently breaks the stone.
  • Speak well of your friend; of your enemy, say nothing.
  • The coldness of a friend and the coldness of linen: they never last long.
  • Adversity comes with instruction in its hand.
  • You must crawl before walking.
  • The spring sun is worse than poison.
  • Adversity brings knowledge, and knowledge brings wisdom.
  • Of a compliment, only one-third is meant.
  • To sing before breakfast is to weep before supper.
  • It is good to look homewards.
  • Three comforts of old age: fire, tea, and tobacco.
  • Be a friend to yourself, and others will.
  • At the end of the song comes payment.
  • A wife’s advice is not worth much, but woe to the husband who refuses to take it.
  • Home is home, no matter how poor it may be.
  • I was wise once: when I was born, I cried.
  • The strength of the old is their ready counsel.
  • Memory slips, letters remain.
  • Too much pudding will choke a dog.
  • Man learns from the cradle to the grave.
  • It’s raining old wives and walking sticks.
  • Anger is the mother of treachery.

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

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