#french proverbs

Il faut se méfier de l’eau qui dort (beware of sleeping waters) : means that the quiet ones can turn out to be the worst and that you shouldn’t assume what they’re really like (it’s pretty negative)

Tout vient à point à qui sait attendre : All things come to those who wait (à point means at just the right time)

Un tiens vaut mieux que deux tu l’auras (a ‘here you go’ is better than two ‘you’ll have it’) : A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush (tbvh I prefer the French way of saying it, it’s just a bit clearer lol)

Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir (preventing is better than healing) : better safe than sorry

[Il ne faut pas] mettre tous ses oeufs dans le même panier : you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket

[Il ne faut pas] mettre la charrue avant les boeufs (one shouldn’t put the plow before the steers) : you shouldn’t put the cart before the horse

Mieux vaut être seul que mal accompagné : it’s better to be alone than in bad company

Les bons comptes font les bons amis (good reckonings make good friends) : a debt paid is a friend kept; short reckonings make long friends (you should have a healthy financial relationship with your friends if you want to stay on good terms)

Paris ne s’est pas fait en un jour (Paris wasn’t built in one day) : French version of ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’ (we still use the Rome version from time to time)

Tel père, tel fils/telle mère, telle fille : like father, like son/like mother, like daughter, etc. (obv ‘tel père telle fille’ and ‘telle mère, tel fils’ work too)

C’est la goutte d’eau qui fait déborder le vase (it’s the water drop that makes the vase overflow) : it’s the final straw

C’est la cerise sur le gâteau (it’s the cherry on the cake) : it’s the icing on the cake

and it means “it is better to prevent than to cure”

“Il n'y a pas plus sourd que celui qui ne veut pas entendre.” 

“No one is as deaf as the one who does not want to listen.”

“Qui vivra verra”

“He/she who lives, shall see.” This phrase is usually used when an outcome is unpredictable or uncertain, like in the English “the future will tell.”

“La barbe ne fait pas le philosophe.” which in English is translated as  “A beard does not make a philosopher” or, similarly,

“L’habit ne fait pas le moine”

“The vestment does not make the monk.”

Its significance, though, is that just because a monk is wearing a renunciate’s robe, it doesn’t mean that the monk is sincere in his intentions.

“Chacun voit midi à sa porte”

“Everyone sees noon at his doorstep.” It means that every individual is occupied, first and foremost, with his or her own personal interests, and each feels their subjective opinions as objective truths.

“Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir”

“It is better to prevent than to heal / to solve it afterwards”

If you know that you’re going to have a problem afterwards you might as well do everything you can to avoid it happening, preventing it from happening, instead of having to deal with it later.

“Petit a petit, l’oiseau fait son nid”

“Little by little, the bird makes its nest.” This proverb designates patience and perseverance.

“Qui court deux lievres a la fois, n’en prend aucun”

« En avril, ne te découvre pas d’un fil. En mai, fais ce qu’il te plaît ! »

- In April, don’t take off even a thread of your clothes. In May, do as you wish!