proverb · Traditional
A cat may look at a king.
A person of modest status can still take notice of someone powerful. Rank should not be used to deny ordinary attention or dignity to those below it.
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191 matching explanations
proverb · Traditional
A free dog is braver than a caged lion.
A free dog ranked braver than a caged lion gives freedom an advantage over an imposing appearance. The saying contrasts agency with restricted capacity.
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A good surgeon must have an eagle's eye, a lion's heart, and a lady's hand.
The saying gives a good surgeon an eagle’s eye, a lion’s heart and a lady’s hand. Its three images praise observation, courage and a gentle or careful touch.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
A good swordsman is never quarrelsome.
A person who is secure in a skill may have less need to prove it through conflict. The source’s absolute wording offers an ideal of restraint, not a guarantee about the behaviour of skilled people.
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A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
The saying puts a single first step at the beginning of a thousand-mile journey. It makes a large undertaking approachable through an initial action.
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A lion sleeps in the heart of every brave man.
A lion sleeping within every brave person gives courage a latent inner image. The saying pictures resolve as a capacity that may emerge when needed.
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A man can do more than he can.
A person may achieve more than an initial estimate suggests. The apparent contradiction encourages reconsidering a limit, without denying real constraints or demanding that someone exceed a safe and sustainable capacity.
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A man is valued according to his own estimate of himself.
The confidence or hesitation with which a person presents themselves can influence how others assess them. That influence is not a fair measure of their worth, competence or entitlement to respect.
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A person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the man doing it.
The person declaring a task impossible is asked not to interrupt someone attempting it. The saying favours practical initiative over dismissive commentary.
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After the hyena has gone, the dog barks.
A dog barking after a hyena leaves contrasts a bold display with the absence of its apparent challenge. The saying questions courage performed only when the risk has passed.
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Alertness and courage are life’s shield.
Alertness and courage as a shield picture attention and resolve as protective qualities. The saying presents them as supports for facing difficulty.
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All beginnings are hard.
The saying calls every beginning hard. It gives difficulty at the outset a place in the experience of starting.
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All cats love fish but hate to get their paws wet.
The saying makes cats want fish while resisting wet paws. As an analogy, wanting a result can conflict with accepting what pursuing it involves.
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An elephant does not die of one broken rib.
An elephant surviving one broken rib gives a single injury an image of limited effect on a larger whole. The saying values resilience through an exaggerated animal comparison.
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And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
The saying pictures a bud choosing to blossom when staying closed becomes more painful than opening. It compares change with remaining in a constricted state.
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As hard as nails.
The phrase compares a person with hard nails. In the supplied reading, it describes toughness or an unyielding attitude.
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As one door closes, another always opens.
The saying closes one door and always opens another. It offers hope that a lost opportunity may be followed by a different one.
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At an ambuscade of villains a man does better with his feet than his hands.
When someone is trapped by hostile people, getting away can be wiser than fighting. The contrast between feet and hands challenges the assumption that courage always requires confrontation.
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Attack is the best form of defence.
The saying ranks attack as the best defence. It favours taking the initiative against a threat rather than only responding.
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Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience.
The saying urges bravery and risk-taking while calling experience irreplaceable. It values firsthand involvement over remaining entirely outside an undertaking.
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Bear with evil and expect good.
The saying combines endurance of present difficulty with hope for something better. It can support patience during a bounded setback, but hope does not guarantee improvement and bearing evil should never require accepting abuse, danger or preventable wrongdoing.
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Before the time great courage; when at the point, great fear.
Confidence before an event can give way to fear when the moment arrives. The contrast between anticipation and the actual point tests a claim of courage against experience.
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Better free in a foreign land, than a serf at home.
Freedom abroad preferred to servitude at home gives liberty priority over familiar location. The saying contrasts belonging with coercive dependence.
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Better late thrive than never do well.
The saying prefers thriving late to never doing well. It values a delayed improvement over its complete absence.
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