Proverbs and Sayings

[Mari]

I had a class on different sayings in different countries and I was surprised at how much the sayings were different but still the same. It seems that all the way back in history our ancestors had the same kinds of wisdoms, but adapted to their own environment.
For example:
Even a monkey can fall from a tree (Taiwan, Japan)
Even the tusk of an elephant can be broken (Indonesia or Thailand)
Even the best knitter may have a flaw in her knitting (The Netherlands)
All meaning that everybody makes mistakes.

Anyway, I wanted to see if there were more proverbs and sayings that differ but are the same, so I started this thread. I'll just contribute a few Dutch proverbs and let's see if we can find some more! (Sorry if I mixed up the countries I mentioned above, but hey, zelfs de beste breister laat wel eens een steek vallen nietwaar? for translation see the aforementioned Dutch proverb )

So here are a few Dutch proverbs etc.:

Saying: Zoeken naar een naald in een hooiberg
In English: searching for a needle in the haystack
Meaning: trying to do something impossible

Saying: Spreken is zilver, zwijgen is goud
In English: Speaking is silver, silence is gold
Meaning: there are times when it is best to just shut up.

Saying: Niet geschoten is altijd mis
In English: When you don't shoot you'll always miss
Meaning: if you don't try something, you'll never know whether you can do it or not or if you like it or not

Saying: Met de hoed in de hand komt men door het ganse land
In English: With your hat in your hand you can travel through all of the land
Meaning: With politeness you can open doors that might otherwise stay closed. The point being that you can gain a lot by just bing polite.

Saying: Voor niets gaat de zon op
In English: The sun rises for free
Meaning: You get nothing for free in life, except off course the rising of the sun.

Well, there are many more proverbs off course, but let's just start with these.
I hope there will be some interesting results/differences/similarities/etc.