Refranes
Spanish proverbs are bits of common sense and cultural wisdom.
| English | Spanish | Literal Translation |
| Actions speak louder than words. | Obras son amores, que no buenas razones. | Deeds are love, good reasons aren't. |
| Advice when most needed is least heeded. | El que no oye consejo no llega a viejo. | He who hears no advice will not reach old age. |
| After the feast comes the reckoning. | A un gustazo, un trancazo. | To a pleasure, a blow with a club. |
| All cats are gray in the dark. | De noche todos los gatos son pardos. | At night all cats are brown. |
| All that glitters is not gold. | No es oro todo lo que brilla. | |
| An apple a day keeps the doctor away. | La mejor medicina es la buena comida. | The best medecine is good food. |
| Ask and you shall receive. | Quien tiene lengua, a Roma llega. | Who has a tongue, gets to Rome. |
| Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. | El sapo a la sapa tiénela por muy guapa. | The male toad finds the female toad very pretty. |
| Better late than never. | Más vale tarde que nunca. | |
| Better safe than sorry. | Más vale precaver que tener que lamentar. | Better to prevent than have to lament. |
| Better the devil you know than the devil you don't. | Más vale malo conocido que bueno por conocer. | Better known evil than good yet to know. |
| A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. | Más vale pájaro en mano que ciento volando. | Better to have bird in hand than a hundred flying. |
| Birds of a feather flock together. | Cada quien con su cada cual. | Each person with his each one. |
| Clean slate. | Borrón y cuenta nueva. | Smudge and new account. |
| A closed mouth catches no flies. | En boca cerrada no entran moscas. | In a closed mouth flies do not enter. |
| Clothes do not make the man. | El hábito no hace al monje. | The habit does not make the monk. |
| Cold hands, warm heart. | No hay pan sin corteza. | There is no bread without crust. |
| The devil finds work for idle hands to do. | Cuando el diablo no tiene qué hacer, con el rabo mata moscas. | When the devil has nothing to do, he kills flies with his tail. |
| Do as I say, not as I do. | Haz lo que yo digo y no lo que yo hago. | Do what I say and not what I do. |
| Don't count your chickens before they're hatched. | Hacer las cuentas de la lechera. | Do the dairymaid's accounts. |
| Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. | A caballo regalado no se le mira el colmillo. | Don't look a gift horse in the eyetooth. |
| Don't make a mountain out of a molehill. | No hay que ahogarse en un vaso de agua. | One should not drown in a glass of water. |
| Don't put off for tomorrow what you can do today. | No dejes para mañana lo que puedes hacer hoy. | |
| Don't rest on your laurels. | Camarón que se duerme, se lo lleva la corriente. | The shrimp that falls asleep, is carried off by the current. |
| Don't spread yourself too thin. | Quien mucho abarca, poco aprieta. | One who spreads out too much squeezes little. |
| The early bird catches the worm. | Al que madruga Dios lo ayuda. | God helps the one who gets up early. |
| Easier said than done. | Del dicho al hecho hay largo trecho. | From said to done there is a long way. |
| Easy come, easy go. | Los dineros del sacristán, cantando se vienen y cantando se van. | The sexton's money sing as it comes and sings as it goes. |
| Eat to live, don't live to eat. | Come para vivir y no vivas para comer. | |
| Empty vessels make the most noise. | Mucho hablar y poco decir juntos suelen ir. | Talking much and saying little usually go together. |
| Every cloud has a silver lining. | No hay mal que por bien no venga. | There's no evil that does not bring some good. |
| Familiarity breeds contempt. | Con los años vienen los desengaños. | With the years come the disappointments. |
| Forewarned is forearmed. | Hombre prevenido vale por dos. | A warned man is worth two. |
| A friend in need is a friend indeed. | Amigo en la adversidad, es amigo de verdad. | Friend in adversity is a real friend. |
| Give credit where credit is due. | Al César lo que es del César y a Dios lo que es de Dios. | To Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God. |
| A good deed is never lost. | Haz bien y no mires a quién. | Do good and do not look to whom. |
| Good neighbors are hard to find. | No hay mejor hermano que un buen vecino al lado. | There is no better brother than a good neighbor. |
| The greatest scholars are not the best preachers. | Unos dicen lo que saben y otros saben lo que dicen. | Some say what they know and others know what they say. |
| Healthy mind, healthy body. | Mente sana en cuerpo sano. | |
| He that knows nothing doubts nothing. | Quien nada sabe, de nada duda. | |
| He who laughs last laughs best. | El que ríe último ríe mejor. | |
| His bark is worse than his bite. | Perro ladrador, poco mordedor. | Barking dog, little biting. |
| Honesty is the best policy. | Vale más una verdad amarga que muchas mentiras dulces. | Better a bitter truth than many sweet lies. |
| If you lie down with dogs, you'll get up with fleas. | El que anda con lobos, a aullar se enseña. | He who walks with wolves learns to howl. |
| In unity there's strength. | En la unión está la fuerza. | |
| It's a labor of love. | Todo sea por el amor al arte. | All be for the love of art. |
| Jack of all trades, master of none. | Aprendiz de todo y maestro de nada. | Apprentice of everything and master of nothing. |
| Keep your chin up. | A mal tiempo buena cara. | To bad weather, good face. |
| Kill two birds with one stone. | Matar dos pájaros de un tiro. | Kill two birds with one shot. |
| Knowledge is power. | El saber no ocupa lugar. | Knowledge does not occupy space. |
| Know your neighbor from the books he reads. | Si a tu vecino quieres conocer, averigua qué libros suele leer. | If you want to know your neighbor, find out which books he usually reads. |
| Let sleeping dogs lie. | Agua que no has de beber, déjala correr. | Water that you shall not drink, let it run. |
| Like father, like son. | De tal palo, tal astilla. | From such wood, such splinter. |
| Live within your means. | Vive como rico y ahorrarás como pobre. | Live like a rich man and you will save like a poor one. |
| Look before you leap. | Antes que te cases, mira lo que haces. | Before you marry, look at what you do. |
| Love is blind. | El amor es ciego. | |
| Man does not live on bread alone. | No sólo de pan vive el hombre. | |
| A man is known by the company he keeps. | Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres. | Tell me who you walk with and I'll tell you who you are. |
| Man is the master of his destiny. | Cada quien es el arquitecto de su propio destino. | Each one is the architect of his own destiny. |
| Misery loves company. | Como el perro del hortelano, ni come ni deja comer. | The farmer's dog neither eats nor allows others to eat. |
| A moment on the lips, a lifetime in the heart. | El que dice lo que quiere, oye lo que no quiere. | He who says what he wants, hears what he does not want. |
| Money talks. | Con dinero baila el perro. | With money the dog dances. |
| Necessity is the mother of invention. | La experiencia es la madre de ciencia. | Experience is the mother of science. |
| Nobody's perfect. | Al mejor escribano se le va un borrón. | Even the best writer slips up with a smudge. |
| Nothing is certain but death and taxes. | Todo tiene solución, menos la muerte. | Everything has a solution, except death. |
| Once bitten twice shy. | El gato escaldado del agua fría huye. | The scalded cat flees from cold water. |
| One good turn deserves another. | Amor con amor se paga. | Love is paid with love. |
| One man's trash is another man's treasure. | El piso de uno es el techo de otro. | The floor of one is the ceiling of another. |
| One swallow does not a summer make. | Una golondrina no hace el verano. | |
| Out of sight, out of mind. | Ojos que no ven, corazón que no siente. | Eyes that do not see, heart that does not feel. |
| Out of the mouths of babes. | Los niños y los locos dicen las verdades. | Children and crazy people tell truths. |
| The pen is mightier than the sword. | Más vale maña que fuerza. | Better cunning than force. |
| A picture is worth a thousand words. | Vale más una imagen que mil palabras. | A picture is worth more than a thousand words. |
| A place for everything and everything in its place. | Un lugar para cada cosa y cada cosa en su lugar. | |
| Possession is nine-tenths of the law. | El que se fue a Sevilla, perdió la silla. | He who went to Seville lost his chair. |
| The road to hell is paved with good intentions. | El infierno está lleno de buenas propósitos, y el cielo de buenas obras. | Hell is full of good intentions, and heaven with good works. |
| Rome wasn't built in a day. | En una hora no se ganó Zamora. | Zamora didn't win in an hour. |
| Seeing is believing. | Ver y creer. | |
| Sleep on it. | Antes de hacer nada, consúltalo con la almohada. | Before doing anything, consult your pillow. |
| Something is better than nothing. | Algo es algo, peor es nada. | Something is something, nothing is worse. |
| The squeaky wheel gets the grease. | Niño que no llora no mama. | Child who does not cry does not nurse. |
| There's more than one way to skin a cat. | Todos los caminos llevan a Roma. | All the roads go to Rome. |
| There's no honor among thieves. | Piensa el ladrón que todos son de su condición. | The thief thinks that all are of his condition. |
| There's none so deaf as those who will not hear. | No hay peor sordo que el que no quiere oír. | |
| To each his own. | Sobre gustos no hay nada escrito. | There is nothing written about taste. |
| Too many cooks spoil the broth. | Son muchas manos en un plato. | There are a lot of hands on one plate. |
| The walls have ears. | Las paredes oyen. | The walls hear. |
| A watched pot never boils. | No por mucho madrugar amanece más temprano. | For the early riser the dawn comes not the sooner. |
| What's done is done. | A lo hecho, pecho. | To what's done, courage. |
| When in Rome, do as the Romans do. | Allá donde fueres, haz como vieres. | There where you go, do as you see. |
| When one door shuts, another opens. | Donde una puerta se cierra, otra se abre. | |
| The woman is the key of the house. | Casa sin madre, río sin cauce. | A house without a mother, a river without a course. |
| You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. | Aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona se queda. | Even if a monkey dresses in silk, it's still a monkey. |
| You can't see the forest for the trees. | Los árboles no están dejando ver el bosque. | The trees don't let you see the woods. |
| You can't turn back the clock. | El diente miente, la cana engaña, pero la arruga no ofrece duda. | The tooth lies, the gray hair fools, but the wrinkle offers no doubt. |
| You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. | Más moscas se cogen con una gota de miel que con un cuarto de vinagre. | More flies are caught with a drop of honey than with a quart of vinegar. |
| You reap what you sow. | Quien siembra vientos recoge tempestados. | He who sows winds reaps tempests. |
| You're never too late to learn. | Nunca es tarde para aprender. | |
| You've made your bed, now lie in it. | Quien mala cama hace, en ella se yace. | He who makes a bad bad lies in it. |
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