A theme across cultures
Effort is the theme that pretends to be advice but is really comfort. A proverb about persistence rarely teaches anything you didn’t already know. It just confirms that someone, somewhere, also stayed at the task.
The differences across languages are mostly differences of metaphor, and the metaphors are nearly always small. Ovid, exiled to the Black Sea, wrote gutta cavat lapidem — a drop hollows the stone — and the medieval grammar schools added the hinge, non vi sed saepe cadendo: not by force, but by often falling. Persian lets the drops pile up instead: qatreh qatreh jamʿ gardad, vāngahi daryā shavad, drop by drop they gather, and then become a sea. Vietnamese works metal — có công mài sắt, có ngày nên kim, grind iron with enough effort and one day it becomes a needle. Stone, sea, needle: the image gives you the patience the words can’t quite carry.
A second group refuses to let effort and faith be pulled apart. The Spanish a Dios rogando y con el mazo dando yokes them into a single motion: praying to God, and swinging the mallet. When a Bedouin asked the Prophet whether to hobble his camel or trust in God, the answer was iʿqil-hā wa-tawakkal — hobble her, and trust. A Greek saying answers a shipwrecked man who is shouting promises to the goddess instead of swimming: syn Athēnāi kai cheira kinei, together with Athena, move your hand as well. Sanskrit sets effort against wishing rather than prayer — deer do not walk into the mouth of a sleeping lion — and the Diné teaching t’áá hwó ají t’éego, it is up to you, makes self-reliance itself a spiritual discipline.
The archive also keeps the proverbs effort would rather not hear. Mandarin’s zhú lán dǎ shuǐ yī chǎng kōng — drawing water with a bamboo basket, all for nothing — and the Latin adage cribro aquam haurire, to draw water with a sieve, both describe labor that leaks however hard it is carried. Telugu moves the failure from the tool to whatever the work lands on: some effort falls like rain on a buffalo’s back and runs straight off. Beside them, Ovid’s stone stops looking incidental. The drop works because the stone keeps every mark.
A Dios rogando y con el mazo dando
a dios rogando y con el mazo dando
A sixteenth-century Spanish proverb yokes the prayer and the mallet into a single motion. Arabic, Greek, Sanskrit and a much-quoted line with no papers each cut the same knot differently — and Spain is the only one that refuses to let go of either end.
σὺν Ἀθηνᾷ καὶ χεῖρα κίνει
syn athēnāi kai cheira kínei
A rich Athenian goes into the sea and starts bidding for rescue. The correction reaches him from a stranger with no authority and no spare breath — six Greek words in which the goddess is left standing with nothing to do.
Ἐὰν μὲν ὁμοφρονῆτε, ἀχείρωτοι τοῖς ἐχθροῖς ἔσεσθε· ἐὰν δὲ στασιάζητε, εὐάλωτοι.
eàn mèn homophronête, akheírōtoi toîs ekhthroîs ésesthe; eàn dè stasiázēte, eualōtoi
An Aesopic father proves what he cannot say: bound, the rods hold; loosed, they snap. It is the one saying about unity that travelled — because a demonstration can be restaged anywhere, in any language, by anyone with sticks.
Один в поле не воин
odin v pole ne voin
The Russian proverb says one man in a field is not a warrior. But the field was farmland before it was a battlefield, and the lone figure standing in it was a ploughman.
Cribro aquam haurire
cribro aquam haurire
A Latin adage sends fifty sisters to the river forever. Erasmus filed the sieve under 'vain labor' — and Mandarin, Russian, and Vietnamese cousins each relocate the leak: to the tool, to the fool, to the sea.
竹篮打水一场空
zhú lán dǎ shuǐ yī chǎng kōng
Why Chinese warns that some effort leaks away no matter how hard you carry it — and how Telugu, Latin, and Persian weigh the same futile labor from very different sides.
石の上にも三年
ishi no ue ni mo sannen
A Japanese proverb says that even a cold stone warms if you sit on it for three years — and how Latin, Vietnamese, and Greek cousins each imagine patience differently.
Хүүхэд нэг эрдэнэ, хүмүүжил мянган эрдэнэ
khüükhed neg erdene, khümüüjil myangan erdene
Why a Mongolian proverb says a child is one treasure but raising one is a thousand — and how a Maori, a Sanskrit, and another Mongolian saying agree, then argue, about whether the gift or the work is what counts.
Nzira mbiri dzinokanganisa bere
nzira mbiri dzinokanganisa bere
A Shona proverb about the hyena paralysed between two paths — and how Turkish, Korean, and Hindi traditions diagnose the same failure of divided attention.
దున్నపోతు మీద వాన కురిసినట్టు
dunnapōtu mīda vāna kurisinaṭṭu
Why Telugu speakers say a thing has fallen 'like rain on a buffalo' — and how Mandarin, Arabic, and Bengali sayings circle the same truth about effort that cannot find a surface to land on.
उद्यमेन हि सिध्यन्ति कार्याणि न मनोरथैः। न हि सुप्तस्य सिंहस्य प्रविशन्ति मुखे मृगाः॥
udyamena hi sidhyanti kāryāṇi na manorathaiḥ / na hi suptasya siṃhasya praviśanti mukhe mṛgāḥ
Why a Sanskrit verse says deer do not walk into a sleeping lion's mouth — and how a Hebrew, a Mandarin, and a Yiddish saying agree, then quarrel, over whether effort is really what accomplishes things.
Świeca, co innym świeci, sama się spala.
świeca co innym świeci sama się spala
Polish says the candle that shines for others burns itself up. A folk proverb about service and self-consumption — and a Tang dynasty poet, a Latin institutional motto, and a Hindi diya each arrive at the same flame from three very different directions.
Aanhin pa ang damo kung patay na ang kabayo?
aanhin pa ang damo kung patay na ang kabayo?
Why Filipinos ask what use the grass is once the horse is dead — and how Chinese, English, and Spanish proverbs treat lateness, prevention, and the help that arrives a moment after it could have mattered.
A fo ben, bid bont
a fo ben, bid bont
Why the Welsh say that whoever would lead must become a bridge — and how Hawaiian, Māori, and Tswana proverbs locate the weight of leadership in very different places.
Repetitio est mater studiorum
re-pe-ti-ti-o est ma-ter stu-di-o-rum
“Repetition is the mother of learning” comes from the Latin school-tag repetitio est mater studiorum. What it means, where it’s from, and its Asian cousins.
اعقلها وتوكّل
iʿqil-hā wa-tawakkal
A Bedouin asks the Prophet whether to hobble his camel or trust in God. The answer — both — has echoed from Athens to Castile to the Russian steppe.
ሸረሪቶች ሲተባበሩ አንበሳ ያስሩ
sheraritoč si-tetabaru anbesa yasiru
Why Ethiopians say that spider webs, united, can bind a lion — and how Mandarin, Korean, and Aesopic traditions reach the same improbable reversal.
He lawaiʻa no ke kai hohonu, he loa ke aho
he lawaiʻa no ke kai hohonu, he loa ke aho
A Hawaiian fishing proverb measures your reach by the length of line you bring — and Mandarin, Russian, and English cousins set the same truth against danger, toil, and the climb.
ቀስ በቀስ እንቁላል በእግሩ ይሄዳል
qes be qes, enqulal be'egru yihedal
An Amharic proverb watches an egg grow legs and walk — patience not as wearing-down but as transformation. Vietnamese, Mandarin, and Japanese cousins time the same change three other ways.
Ama suwa, ama llulla, ama qhilla
ama suwa, ama llulla, ama qhilla
Three Quechua prohibitions still printed on Andean public buildings — and why a moral code that compresses a whole civilization into a refusal travels so far, even as its Inca pedigree is quietly disputed.
எண்என்ப ஏனை எழுத்துஎன்ப இவ்விரண்டும் கண்என்ப வாழும் உயிர்க்கு
eṇ eṉpa ēṉai eḻuttu eṉpa ivv-iraṇṭum kaṇ eṉpa vāḻum uyirkku
A couplet from the Tamil Tirukkuṟaḷ calls literacy and numeracy the two eyes of every living soul — and Latin, Arabic, and Chinese each reach for sight or light to say what learning does to a person.
A rocky vineyard does not need a prayer, but a pick ax.
a rocky vineyard does not need a prayer, but a pick ax.
A 'Navajo proverb' about stony ground and a pick ax that almost certainly isn't Navajo — and the genuinely old Spanish, Arabic, and Greek sayings that make the same demand: pray if you like, but pick up the tool.
Олуул бол хүчтэй.
oluul bol khüchtei
A Mongolian proverb says simply: together, there is strength. The steppe made the argument not in philosophy but in weather and wolves. Swahili, Korean, and Russian circle the same necessity from three different directions.
Simba mwenda kimya ndiye mla nyama.
simba mwenda kimya ndiye mla nyama
A Swahili proverb says the silent lion is the one that eats. An Italian road, a Spanish shrimp, and a Japanese stone complete the thought from three directions.
Có công mài sắt, có ngày nên kim.
có công mài sắt, có ngày nên kim
A Vietnamese proverb says patient effort sharpening iron makes a needle. The essay begins where Vietnamese folk song does — a white heron waiting in the rice paddy. Latin, Japanese, and Persian circle the same insistence from three different directions.
趁热打铁
chèn rè dǎ tiě
Chinese says strike the iron while it is hot — but the verb is 趁, to take advantage of, which turns the blacksmith into a strategist of timing rather than a craftsman of force.
Chi va piano, va sano e va lontano
chi va piano, va sano e va lontano
Why Italian says the one who goes slowly goes healthily and goes far — and how a Roman emperor, a Russian winter road, and a Greek tortoise make the same claim from three opposite directions.
Gutta cavat lapidem, non vi sed saepe cadendo
gutta cavat lapidem, non vi sed saepe cadendo
Why Ovid, exiled by the Black Sea, said a drop hollows the stone — and how Persian, Mandarin, and Hebrew tell the same story about small repeated actions in three other temperaments.
Umoja ni nguvu, utengano ni udhaifu
umoja ni nguvu, utengano ni udhaifu
Why Swahili says unity is strength and division is weakness — and how Mongolian magpies, an Aesopic bundle, and a Mandarin rampart make the same claim in three very different temperaments.
Strike while the iron is hot
strike while the iron is hot
English keeps 'strike while the iron is hot' in the drawer by the front door. The first time anyone wrote it down in English, though, it was the wrong people saying it — and a wiser voice in the same tale had to talk them down.
T'áá hwó ají t'éego.
tah hwoh-ah-jee tay-go (approx.)
A documented Diné teaching — t'áá hwó ají t'éego, 'it is up to you' — places your life in your own hands. Latin, Aesop, and Russian agree, but only the Diné one makes self-reliance a spiritual discipline.
Эвтэй шаазгай ингэ барьдаг.
evtei shaazgai inge bardag
A Mongolian proverb watches magpies mob a camel — and finds, in the arithmetic of small things agreeing, the same truth that Swahili, Aesop, and Chinese say in utterly different rooms.
同舟共济
tóng zhōu gòng jì
Why Mandarin says people in the same boat cross together — and how the Sun Tzu image of two enemies forced into tactical alliance differs from the Māori canoe-as-identity and the English boat-of-crisis.
案ずるより産むが易し
anzuru yori umu ga yasushi
Why Japanese mothers and managers say that giving birth is easier than worrying about it — and how Russian, Mandarin and Latin reach the same observation about the gap between fear and the act.
باغ بیباغبان نمیماند
bāgh-e bī-bāghbān nemīmānad
A Persian proverb about the garden that cannot keep itself — and how three other languages, from Mencius to Ovid to a modern English shrug, circle the same observation about cultivation and decay.
Świeca, co innym świeci, sama się spala.
świeca, co innym świeci, sama się spala
The Polish proverb “the candle that shines for others burns itself up” — its meaning, the Latin motto aliis inserviendo consumor, and Tang and Sufi cousins.
Mzee wa kazi haitwi mtoto.
mzee wa kazi haitwi mtoto
Why the Swahili coast says an elder of work is not called a child — and how Yoruba clean hands, a Chinese old horse, and an English grandmother circle the same earned authority.
Kuj železo, dokud je žhavé
kuj železo, dokud je žhavé
Czech says strike the iron while it is hot. So do English, German, Mandarin, Latin — half the world's literate cultures agree. The smith was a choice, though. Horace chose a flower.
Βραδέως ἀλλὰ βεβαίως
bradeōs alla bebaiōs
Slow and steady wins the race — Aesop's fable became Europe's most-quoted maxim on persistence. Japanese, Mandarin, Korean, and Russian all make the same claim, with very different bodies under it.
백지장도 맞들면 낫다
baekjijang-do matdeulmyeon natda
Why Koreans say even a sheet of paper is lighter when lifted together — and how English, Swahili, Mandarin, and Russian carry the same claim in very different bodies.
Mater artium necessitas.
mater artium necessitas
Why a Latin proverb names necessity the mother of the arts — and how Greek calls her teacher, Persian the parent of invention, and Mandarin compresses the same claim into four characters about haste and wisdom.
قطره قطره جمع گردد، وانگهی دریا شود
qatreh qatreh jamʿ gardad, vāngahi daryā shavad
Saadi's drops gather into a sea. Ovid's drops hollow a stone. Swahili grain fills a small wooden cup. Japanese dust becomes a mountain. Five languages chose five different small things — and the smallness, in each case, is exactly the point.
Many hands make light work.
many hands make light work
Why English wisdom says many hands make light work — and how Korean, Swahili, and Mandarin make the same observation by trading lightness for strength.
Rome ne fu pas faite toute en un jour.
rome ne fu pas faite toute en un jour
Why a 12th-century French proverb about Rome traveled into nearly every European language — and how each successor culture changed the great work being measured.
Soupe au caillou.
soupe au caillou
Why a single fable about boiling a stone keeps reappearing across French, Portuguese, and Russian — and what each version's choice of object reveals about how a culture imagines coaxing generosity out of strangers.
千里之行，始於足下。
qiān lǐ zhī xíng, shǐ yú zú xià
Why Laozi said the thousand-li journey begins beneath the foot — and how Japanese, English, and Persian preserved the lesson while changing the picture beneath it.
לֵךְ־אֶל־נְמָלָה עָצֵל; רְאֵה דְרָכֶיהָ וַחֲכָם.
lekh el-n'malah atzel; re'eh drakheha va-hakham
Why Hebrew wisdom literature sent the lazy man to the ant — and how Aesop, La Fontaine, and Mandarin make the same recommendation with very different feelings about the ant herself.
不入虎穴，焉得虎子
bù rù hǔ xué, yān dé hǔ zǐ
Why a Han-dynasty general's pre-raid line became China's standard maxim about risk — and how Latin, Russian, and Italian recruit a goddess, a wolf, and a merchant's bite to argue the same case.
Семь раз отмерь, один раз отрежь
sem' raz otmer', odin raz otrezh'
Why a Russian tailor's proverb counts seven measurements before one cut — and how English, German, and Mandarin weigh, leap, and think their way into the same caution.
Festina lente
festina lente
Why Augustus carried a Greek motto about hurrying slowly — and how Italian, Arabic, and Russian reach for the body, theology, and the bench to argue the same paradox.
Ọmọ tó mọ ọwọ́ rẹ̀ wẹ̀ á bá àgbà jẹun
ọmọ tó mọ ọwọ́ rẹ̀ wẹ̀ á bá àgbà jẹun
Why Yoruba families say a child who learns to wash his hands earns a seat at the elders' meal — and how Igbo, English, and Confucian traditions imagine the same small discipline opening four very different doors.
Camarón que se duerme se lo lleva la corriente
camarón que se duerme se lo lleva la corriente
Why a Mexican proverb against complacency picks the smallest creature in the sea — and how Italian, Swahili, and Japanese reach for an idle fisherman, a sleeping lion, and a samurai's four-character compression to argue the same case.
Act while the moment is right; opportunity will not keep.
Strike while the iron is hot
Literally: Strike the iron while it is still hot
English · England
Bound together you cannot be broken. Loosed, you are broken one at a time.
Ἐὰν μὲν ὁμοφρονῆτε, ἀχείρωτοι τοῖς ἐχθροῖς ἔσεσθε· ἐὰν δὲ στασιάζητε, εὐάλωτοι.
Eàn mèn homophronête, akheírōtoi toîs ekhthroîs ésesthe; eàn dè stasiázēte, eualōtoi
Literally: If you are of one mind, you will be unsubdued by your enemies; but if you fall into faction, easily taken.
Ancient Greek · Greece
σὺν Ἀθηνᾷ καὶ χεῖρα κίνει
syn Athēnāi kai cheira kínei
Literally: Together with Athena, move the hand also
Ancient Greek · Greece
The candle that shines for others burns itself up.
Świeca, co innym świeci, sama się spala.
Literally: The candle, which to others shines, itself reflexive burns-up.
Polish · Poland
A child is one treasure; raising one well is a thousand.
Хүүхэд нэг эрдэнэ, хүмүүжил мянган эрдэнэ
Khüükhed neg erdene, khümüüjil myangan erdene
Literally: A child is one treasure, upbringing is a thousand treasures
Mongolian · Mongolia
A child who knows how to wash his hands will dine with the elders
Ọmọ tó mọ ọwọ́ rẹ̀ wẹ̀ á bá àgbà jẹun
Literally: A child who knows his hands [to] wash, will-with elders eat
Yoruba · Nigeria
Do not steal, do not lie, do not be lazy
Ama suwa, ama llulla, ama qhilla
Literally: Don't steal, don't lie, don't be idle
Quechua · Peru
Drawing water with a bamboo basket: all for nothing.
竹篮打水一场空
Zhú lán dǎ shuǐ yī chǎng kōng
Literally: Bamboo basket draws water — one scene, empty
Mandarin Chinese · China
Drop by drop they gather, and then become a sea
قطره قطره جمع گردد، وانگهی دریا شود
Qatreh qatreh jamʿ gardad, vāngahi daryā shavad
Literally: Drop drop, gathered becomes, and-then sea becomes
Persian · Iran
Effort accomplishes; wishing does not — deer don't walk into a sleeping lion's mouth.
उद्यमेन हि सिध्यन्ति कार्याणि न मनोरथैः। न हि सुप्तस्य सिंहस्य प्रविशन्ति मुखे मृगाः॥
udyamena hi sidhyanti kāryāṇi na manorathaiḥ / na hi suptasya siṃhasya praviśanti mukhe mṛgāḥ
Literally: By effort tasks are accomplished, not by wishes; for deer do not enter the mouth of a sleeping lion
Sanskrit · India
An elder of work is not called a child.
Mzee wa kazi haitwi mtoto.
Literally: Elder of work is-not-called child.
Swahili · Tanzania / Kenya
Even the slightest task is lighter when two carry it.
백지장도 맞들면 낫다
Baekjijang-do matdeulmyeon natda
Literally: Even a sheet of white paper, if lifted together, is better.
Korean · Korea
Given time, the thing with no legs grows the legs to walk on.
ቀስ በቀስ እንቁላል በእግሩ ይሄዳል
Qes be qes, enqulal be'egru yihedal
Literally: Slowly, slowly, an egg walks on its legs.
Amharic · Ethiopia
A great undertaking starts wherever you happen to be standing.
千里之行，始於足下。
Qiān lǐ zhī xíng, shǐ yú zú xià
Literally: A thousand-li journey begins beneath the foot.
Mandarin Chinese · China
Great works take time; do not measure the labour against an hour.
Rome ne fu pas faite toute en un jour.
Literally: Rome was not made entirely in a day.
French · France
Help that comes too late is no help at all
Aanhin pa ang damo kung patay na ang kabayo?
Literally: What will you do with the grass if the horse is already dead?
Tagalog · Philippines
If you don't enter the tiger's den, how will you get the tiger's cubs?
不入虎穴，焉得虎子
Bù rù hǔ xué, yān dé hǔ zǐ
Literally: Not enter tiger den, how get tiger cub
Mandarin Chinese · China
In the same boat, we get across together.
同舟共济
Tóng zhōu gòng jì
Literally: Same boat together cross
Mandarin Chinese · China
It is the quiet one, moving with purpose, who achieves.
Simba mwenda kimya ndiye mla nyama.
Literally: The lion that walks silently is the one that eats meat.
Swahili · Kenya
It's easier to give birth than to worry about it.
案ずるより産むが易し
Anzuru yori umu ga yasushi
Literally: Than worrying, giving birth is easy
Japanese · Japan
Like rain on a buffalo's back — it runs right off.
దున్నపోతు మీద వాన కురిసినట్టు
Dunnapōtu mīda vāna kurisinaṭṭu
Literally: As if rain poured on a buffalo
Telugu · India
Look at the small steady worker, and learn what wisdom looks like.
לֵךְ־אֶל־נְמָלָה עָצֵל; רְאֵה דְרָכֶיהָ וַחֲכָם.
Lekh el-n'malah atzel; re'eh drakheha va-hakham
Literally: Go to the ant, sluggard; observe her ways and be wise.
Hebrew · Israel
Festina lente
Literally: Hurry slowly
Latin · Roman Empire
A meal coaxed from a village by the appearance of needing nothing more than a stone.
Soupe au caillou.
Literally: Soup of stone.
French · France
Семь раз отмерь, один раз отрежь
Sem' raz otmer', odin raz otrezh'
Literally: Seven times measure, one time cut
Russian · Russia
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Mater artium necessitas.
Literally: Mother of arts, necessity.
Latin · Italy
No garden survives without a gardener
باغ بیباغبان نمیماند
Bāgh-e bī-bāghbān nemīmānad
Literally: A garden without a gardener does not remain
Persian · Iran
Number and letter are the two eyes of every living soul.
எண்என்ப ஏனை எழுத்துஎன்ப இவ்விரண்டும் கண்என்ப வாழும் உயிர்க்கு
Eṇ eṉpa ēṉai eḻuttu eṉpa ivv-iraṇṭum kaṇ eṉpa vāḻum uyirkku
Literally: Number, they say; the other, letter, they say — these two — eyes, they say, to living beings
Tamil · India
One man alone is not a warrior.
Один в поле не воин
Odin v pole ne voin
Literally: One in field not warrior
Russian · Russia
Patience and perseverance will transform even the most uncomfortable situation.
石の上にも三年
Ishi no ue ni mo sannen
Literally: Even on a stone, three years
Japanese · Japan
Persistent effort, however small, will one day produce its result.
Có công mài sắt, có ngày nên kim.
Literally: With effort sharpening iron, one day it becomes a needle.
Vietnamese · Vietnam
Pray to God — and keep swinging the mallet.
A Dios rogando y con el mazo dando
Literally: To God praying, and with the mallet striking
Spanish · Spain
Repetition is the mother of learning.
Repetitio est mater studiorum
Literally: Repetition is the mother of studies
Latin · Medieval European school tradition
The shrimp that falls asleep is carried away by the current
Camarón que se duerme se lo lleva la corriente
Literally: Shrimp that itself sleeps, itself-it-takes the current
Spanish · Mexico
Slow and steady wins the race.
Βραδέως ἀλλὰ βεβαίως
Bradeōs alla bebaiōs
Literally: Slowly but surely
Greek (Aesopic tradition) · Greece
Stony ground answers to labor, not to supplication.
A rocky vineyard does not need a prayer, but a pick ax.
Literally: A rocky vineyard does not need a prayer, but a pick ax.
English · United States
趁热打铁
chèn rè dǎ tiě
Literally: Take advantage of the heat; strike the iron
Mandarin Chinese · China
Kuj železo, dokud je žhavé
Literally: Strike (the) iron, while it is hot
Czech · Czech Republic
Those who spend themselves in service to others are consumed by that very service.
Świeca, co innym świeci, sama się spala.
Literally: The candle that shines for others burns itself up.
Polish · Poland
Tie your camel, then trust in God.
اعقلها وتوكّل
Iʿqil-hā wa-tawakkal
Literally: Hobble her and place your trust [in God]
Arabic · Arabia (Hadith tradition)
To labor at what cannot, by its nature, come to anything.
Cribro aquam haurire
Literally: To draw water with a sieve.
Latin · Italy
Together we are strong; alone, each is weak.
Олуул бол хүчтэй.
Oluul bol khüchtei
Literally: When together, there is strength.
Mongolian · Mongolia
Together we are strong; apart we are weak.
Umoja ni nguvu, utengano ni udhaifu
Literally: Unity is strength, division is weakness.
Swahili · Tanzania
Nzira mbiri dzinokanganisa bere
Shona · Zimbabwe
The unhurried pace is what preserves both the body and the journey.
Chi va piano, va sano e va lontano
Literally: He who goes slowly, goes healthily and goes far.
Italian · Italy
United, the small overcome what none of them could face alone.
Эвтэй шаазгай ингэ барьдаг.
Evtei shaazgai inge bardag
Literally: Magpies in concord bring down a she-camel.
Mongolian · Mongolia
What strength cannot do, repetition can.
Gutta cavat lapidem, non vi sed saepe cadendo
Literally: A drop hollows the stone, not by force but by often falling.
Latin · Italy
When many people share a task, the task becomes light.
Many hands make light work.
Literally: Many hands make light work.
English · England
When spider webs unite, they can tie a lion
ሸረሪቶች ሲተባበሩ አንበሳ ያስሩ
Sheraritoč si-tetabaru anbesa yasiru
Literally: Spiders, when they cooperate, tie a lion
Amharic · Ethiopia
Whoever would lead must make himself the crossing
A fo ben, bid bont
Literally: He who would be head, let him be bridge
Welsh · Wales
You reach only as far as you have prepared yourself to reach.
He lawaiʻa no ke kai hohonu, he loa ke aho
Literally: A fisherman of the deep sea, long is his line.
Hawaiian · Hawaiʻi
Your life is in your own hands — meet it with your own effort.
T'áá hwó ají t'éego.
tah hwoh-ah-jee tay-go (approx.)
Literally: It is up to oneself to do it.
Navajo (Diné bizaad) · United States (Navajo Nation / Diné Bikéyah)
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