61 Indian Proverbs That Make Sense Even Today

Proverbs really do teach us so much especially if they are very old and passed on over the last few centuries.

I was researching some Indian topics online and was fortunate enough to find thousands of proverbs that seem to make a lot of sense even today.

I hope that you enjoy these proverbs as much as I enjoyed putting them together for you.

Here then are the 61 Indian proverbs that make sense even today...

1. A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.
2. A dog always bites under the knee.
3. Don't delay today's work until tomorrow.
4. A house without children is a graveyard.
5. What was hard to bear is sweet to remember.
6. A friend advises in his interest, not yours.
7. One and one sometimes make eleven.
8. There is nothing noble in being superior to some other person.
9. Follow the river and you will get to the sea.
10. To the mediocre, mediocrity appears great.
11. The worst kind of poverty is to have many debts.
12. You do not stumble over a mountain, but you do over a stone.
13. Every dog is a tiger in his own street.
14. Stolen sugar is the sweetest.
15. Speak like a parrot; meditate like a swan; chew like a goat; and bathe like an elephant.
16. A mother is a school, preparing her is like preparing a good nation.
17. Any water in the desert will do.
18. No strength within, no respect without.
19. Something done at the wrong time should be regarded as not done.
20. Smiles that you broadcast, will always come back to you.
21. The tongue is safe; even among thirty teeth.
22. Faith keeps the world going.
23. Whoever eats a pancake never counts the holes in it.
24. Walking slowly, even the donkey will reach Lhasa.
25. It is little use to dig a well after the house has caught fire.
26. Dependence on another is perpetual disappointment.
27. Learning is a treasure no thief can touch.
28. True happiness lies in giving it to others.
29. Where the needle goes, the thread follows.
30. Pearls are of no value in a desert.
31. It's better to pick a fight with your in-laws than with your neighbors.
32. Complaining is the weak man's weapon.
33. There are three uncertainties: woman, wind, and wealth.
34. A man without a woman is only half a man.
35. A problem is solved when it gets tougher.
36. Poverty makes thieves, like love makes poets.
37. If you live on the river, befriend the crocodile.
38. No one was ever lost on a straight road.
39. A man without money is like a bow without arrows.
40. Advice sharpens a rusty opinion.
41. Believe what you see and not all you hear.
42. A monkey that amuses me is better than a deer astray.
43. A known mistake is better than an unknown truth.
44. Better a hundred enemies outside the house than one inside.
45. If you are up to your knees in pleasure, then you are up to your waist in grief.
46. In a tree that you can't climb, there are always a thousand fruits.
47. Call on God, but row away from the rocks.
48. Better to have a diamond with a few small flaws than a rock that is perfect.
49. He who has a true friend, has no need of a mirror.
50. One finger can't lift a pebble.
51. You can often find in rivers what you cannot find in oceans.
52. Death is a camel which sleeps in everyone's house.
53. A fight in your neighbor's house is refreshing.
54. Consult the wise and do not disobey him.
55. Fish and guests smell when they are three days old.
56. Among the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
57. Ask thy purse what thou should buy.
58. Only two things matter in this world: a son and a daughter.
59. The money you dream about will not pay your bills.
60. Patience is the most beautiful prayer.
61. Regularity is the best medicine.

A few more added to this list which I really like...
62. Never stand in front of a judge or behind a donkey.
63. Don't eat your bread on someone Else's table.
64. Great anger is more destructive than the sword.
65. He that is bald headed has no need for a comb.
66. A tree starts with a seed.
67. To sing to the deaf, to talk with the dumb, and to dance for the blind are three foolish things.
68. The eyes do not see what the mind does not want.
69. Don't bargain for fish which are still in the water.

I would really appreciate if you could tell me which ones you really liked and if you could add some of your own Indian proverbs to my list.

Thanks!

 

Number#10 is my favorite as I have to fight against this daily with some around me. As to #13....I am that little dog.

 

LOL @ No.10. Wonder who that person is.

 

Wow great list I like this 4 from them

14. Stolen sugar is the sweetest. (I had tried on Mangoes )
39. A man without money is like a bow without arrows.
43. A known mistake is better than an unknown truth.
44. Better a hundred enemies outside the house than one inside.

 

I would like to add some proverbs to it:

• Necessity is the mother or invention
• An apple a day keeps the doctor away
• Try try but never surrender
• If life gives you lemon, make lemonade
• Practice makes the man perfect

 

I have seen quite a few of these attributed to non-Indian sources. Where exactly did you get all of these?

 

These are not Indian ones

 

These are practical everyday -

39. A man without money is like a bow without arrows.
43. A known mistake is better than an unknown truth.
44. Better a hundred enemies outside the house than one inside.

 

55 is a cracker too. 55. Fish and guests smell when they are three days old.

 

12. You do not stumble over a mountain, but you do over a stone. great proberb. We to often forget about this rule to live by.

 

well thats funny..... 13. Every dog is a tiger in his own street.

 

Thank you! Your list has made my day! I will save it.
14. Stolen sugar is the sweetest - and, by the way, "talent borrows, genius steals" (c)

 

I love it. Ancient wisdom.

 

I love No 56, this one is so cool

 

I love it. Ancient wisdom.

 

Name the idiot who said this?

 

what, i don't understand this at all. :/