Every culture has its own set of proverbs. Here are one hundred proverbs from Egypt. Some are modern while others have been found on ancient architecture.


He who wants something will pay for it with his hat.

Money goes to peacocks.

They couldn't find any reason to criticize the roses, so they complained that they were red.

The house of the unjust oppressor is destroyed, though it should happen in distant times.

An answer if profitable in proportion to the intensity of the quest.

One should do nothing with a false heart.

Shining I Inside, let Him guide my heart.

If you put a rope around your neck, many people will be glad to drag you by it.

Those who burn their tongue when eating soup, will blow in the yogurt.

A blow to another's purse is like a blow to a mountain of sand.

A house has the character of the man who lives in it.

A back does not break from bending.

If you are wise, look after your house; love your wife without alloy.

I believe what you say, I'm only surprised at what you do.

Dress-up the beetle, it becomes the lady of the ladies.

Go far, you'll be loved more.

Listen to your conviction, even if they seem absurd to your reason.

When your son grows up, treat him as a brother.

The eye will never be higher than the eyebrow.

A person with a wound on his head keeps touching it.

Raise your voice otherwise their arguments will beat you!

Envious greed must govern to possess and ambition must possess to govern.

The person who is not ashamed does whatever he wants.

Every man must act in the rhythm of his time, such is wisdom.

Love and let the world know, hate in silence.

When a woman is not singing, she is not working much either.

A sad woman has no chance for happiness even if she tries to be so.

Put a stout heart to a steep hill.

We let him in; but then he brought his donkey along, too.

After fasting for so long, he feasts on an onion.

Man fears time - Time fears the pyramids.

Oh you getting in between the onion and its peel, you want get anything other than its bad smell.

There grows no wheat where there is no grain.

Believe the liar up to the door of his house and no further than that.

Whoever is ashamed to sleep with his wife will never have children.

Declare your line of conduct without reticence.

Great God is the ruler of all the gods.

No discussion can throw light if it wanders from the real point.

A camel does not tease another camel about his humps.

The costly news of today will be free tomorrow.

The seed cannot sprout upwards without simultaneously sending roots into the ground.

The bullet that doesn't hit anything still makes a noise.

You do good and what you get back is evil.

Nature is to the grave.

When the angels appear, the devils run away.

In trying to put make-up around the eye, he blinded it.

Safety is in caution/slowness, and regret is in haste.

If his heart rules him, his conscience will soon take the place of the rod.

Organization is impossible unless those who know the laws of harmony lay the foundation.

Cover up the good you do -- do like the Nile and conceal your sources.

Don't play matchmaker for your son but rather for your daughter.

Whoever marries my mother, I'll call him uncle.

What comes this way, goes this way.

Pride and dignity would belong to women if only men would leave them alone.

Understanding develops by degrees.

Lies have no legs.

He who couldn't overcome the donkey took on the saddle.

Always watch and follow nature.

Do not rejoice over what has not yet happened.

The funeral is hot while the dead is a dog.

Images are nearer reality than cold definitions.

Bathe her and then look at her.

The wise man never takes a step too long for his leg.

The dream of cats is all mice.

Knowledge is in the head, not the copybook.

Block the door where the wind comes from, and relax.

Social good is what brings peace to family and society.

This cub is from that lion.

The only active force that arises out of possession is fear of losing the object of possession.

He who knows not shame does whatever he likes.

If you live in a glass house, don't throw stones.

Evil words fill some with astonishment.

Friendship doubles joy and halves grief.

For every joy there is a price to be paid.

To seek without finding, equals waste of time.

Youth is beauty, even in cattle.

Patience is the key to release.

The best and shortest road towards knowledge of truth is nature.

Honorable is the person who is aware of his power, yet refrains from inflicting bad things onto others.

The skillful spinster spins with the leg of a donkey.

It is no use whatever preaching Wisdom to men: you must inject it into their blood.

The miserable got together with the hopeless.

Man, know thyself ... and thou shalt know the gods.

If there were no wrongdoing, there would be no forgiveness.

Wealth can come through your Creator's good-will.

The unlucky will stay unlucky, even if they hang a lantern on his head.

Physical consciousness is indispensable for the achievement of knowledge.

Having brains make a person look good.

The thief has a feather on his head.

The knowledgeable can taste up to seven spoonfuls!

The man who marries my mother, I call him uncle.

Learn to rise up out of the enigmatic egg in the hidden land.

Wish thy friend joy of his journey, but pray in secret that he have no joy, for then may he return quickly to thee.

Beautiful discourse is rarer than emerald, yet it can be found among the servant girls at the grindstones.

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

All organs work together in the functioning of the whole.

A beetle saw her children on the wall, she said they look like a string of pearls.

When a slave mounts a camel he wants to ride on both humps.

He who insulted you is he who told you about the insult.

As small as a button but a big trouble maker