Lithuanian Proverbs and Sayings with Meanings
Showing: 40
Work
Eyes fear the task; hands do the work.
A task can look frightening before practical effort makes it manageable. Use it to encourage a start while acknowledging real difficulties.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 469; LPP 122; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LTR - 70b(1822) · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Work
Barbė with nine jobs.
This saying describes someone juggling many jobs. Nine stresses abundance; the tone may praise versatility or gently criticise taking on too much.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 5407; LPP 1132; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LTR: 618(28/104) · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Work
Without effort, you will not even pull a fish from a pond.
Even a modest gain requires effort. Fishing illustrates the problem of wanting a result without taking action.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 10663; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LTR: 3518(1642) · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Work
Without work there is no treasure.
Skarbas means treasure or wealth. The rhyme links possessions to effort; it is not a complete explanation of why poverty exists.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 10664; LPP 2032; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LTR: 214(501/191) · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Work
Without work it is dull; with work it is hard.
The proverb admits both boredom and fatigue. It can be a sigh after a working day rather than a demand for constant labour.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 10661; LPP 2031; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LTR: 4007(222) · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Work
Every tool is bad for a bad worker.
A failure is blamed on tools when skill or care may be lacking. Its use depends on distinguishing an excuse from genuinely faulty equipment.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 11230; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: MST: 24 · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Work
Work earns bread; idleness earns hardship.
Bread stands for a livelihood and hardship for its absence. The contrast urges effort; it does not establish that everyone in need is idle.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 10725; LPP 2040; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LTR: 70b(3072) · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Work
After work, even a crust of bread tastes good.
Hunger after effort makes a simple meal welcome. Satisfaction depends on circumstances rather than the luxury of the food.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 11095; LPP 2081; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LTR: 458(73/152) · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Learning
Someone who reads and writes need not beg for bread.
Literacy is linked to earning an independent living. It expresses hope in education, not a guarantee of income for every educated person.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 17515; LPP 2935; tipo antraštė; atskiro varianto signatūra viešame apraše nepateikta · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Learning
To lack learning is like lacking eyes.
Sight is a metaphor for understanding the world through knowledge. It concerns learning, not a literal judgement of people's physical abilities.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 873; LPP 179; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LMD - III 173(205 · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Learning
Repetition is the mother of learning.
Returning to something read or practised helps it take hold. Mother is an image of origin, not a rule about family roles.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 27120; LPP 7165; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LTR: 6462(333) · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Learning
Learning opens the eyes.
New knowledge reveals something previously misunderstood. The expression suits a discovery or a change in perspective.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 50661; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: TD - II(IX) 183 · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Learning
Learning does not tear the pocket.
Knowledge is pictured as wealth that is no burden to carry. This is about the usefulness of acquired skills, not a claim that education costs nothing.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 50666; LPP 12305; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LTR - 465(36/2134) · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Learning
Learning has bitter roots and sweet fruit.
The plant image contrasts difficult early study with later benefits. It can encourage someone whose results still feel distant.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 50684; LPP 12319; tipo antraštė; atskiro varianto signatūra viešame apraše nepateikta · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Learning
You will never find the end of learning.
Knowledge does not end with one completed course or task. Experience keeps producing new questions.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 50681; LPP 12317; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LKal - 30 · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Learning
Learning will not put bread in your mouth.
This voices doubt about education's practical return. Beside the saying about literacy earning bread, it reveals conflicting attitudes recorded in tradition.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 50653; LPP 12300; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LTR - 1834(1010) · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Time
Time is worth more than money.
Money cannot always recover a missed opportunity or lost time. The proverb encourages attention to what should not be postponed.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 52496; LPP 9682; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LTR - 64(994) · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Time
Time in the busy season is worth more than gold.
Darbymetis evokes seasonal work such as sowing, haymaking or harvest. Weather and the season can make one suitable day exceptionally valuable.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 11203; LPP 2096; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LTR: 64(236) · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Time
You cannot hold back the day with a finger.
The passing day becomes something one might try to hold in place. The image suits delay or a wish for a moment to last.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 15182; LPP 2290; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LMD: I 261(164) · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Time
Harvest at the wrong time and you will taste no good bread.
Bread depends on grain harvested at the right time. More broadly, a useful action can fail when its timing is wrong.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 52459; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LKŽ - IX 896 · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Time
Caution after the event achieves nothing.
A precaution helps before harm occurs. The saying comments on belated care and the value of preparation.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 3520; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LTR:465(36/149) · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Bread
To sit down to one's own bread.
This means beginning to support oneself through one's own earnings or household. Bread represents an independent livelihood.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 12973; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LTR: 3544(53) · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Bread
Eat bread and salt, and keep your tongue in check.
Sharing a meal calls for restraint in speech. Bread and salt connect ordinary eating with consideration for others.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 13026; tipo antraštė; atskiro varianto signatūra viešame apraše nepateikta · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Bread
Search as you would for bread, and you will find it.
The need for bread becomes a measure of a thorough search. It urges another careful look before declaring something lost.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 13198; LPP 2904; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LTR: 210(205/3) · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Bread
Once another bread baking has begun, you are no longer a guest.
A bread-baking cycle measures a guest's prolonged stay: the visitor becomes almost part of the household. It is an image of domestic rhythm, not a fixed number of days.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 13107; LPP 2879; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LTR: 3186(152) · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Bread
Why are you crying—must you buy the bread and salt?
Buying essentials stands for the worries of supporting a household. The question downplays someone's distress, so it can hurt as well as attempt to comfort.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 13325; LPP 2942; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LMD: I 677(494) · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Friendship
A friend becomes known in misfortune.
Friendship shows itself through help in difficulty. The focus shifts from pleasant company to reliability when support takes effort.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 12326; LPP 2680; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LMD: I 240(161) · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Friendship
Friends are many while a person prospers.
Success attracts company, but not everyone stays when fortune changes. It warns about self-interested friendliness rather than condemning all friends.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 12318; LPP 2678; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LTR: 3043(248) · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Friendship
Friendship is like glass: break it and you cannot mend it.
Fragile glass stands for vulnerable trust. The absolute wording urges care, though real relationships can sometimes be repaired.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 12470; LPP 2710; tipo antraštė; atskiro varianto signatūra viešame apraše nepateikta · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Home
At home, as you yourself see fit.
Home offers freedom to arrange life in one's own way. The saying concerns autonomy, while shared households also involve other people's needs.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 71721; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: 3503(94) [eLPP interpretacijos nuoroda] · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Home
Home is no hare; it will not run away.
A host may say this to a guest preparing to leave. The stationary house is playfully contrasted with a fast-moving hare.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 71726; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: SlančR F1-3861(46) [eLPP interpretacijos nuoroda] · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Money
Without money, even the truth looks black.
The proverb criticises a setting where money distorts justice. Black describes a truth made to look discreditable, not its actual worth.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 63356; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LTR - 2653(50) · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Money
Trouble does not take account of your pocket or money.
Trouble does not wait until savings are adequate. The saying can also point to money's inability to prevent every misfortune.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 6025; LPP 1251; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: MST: 22 · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Money
More money than sense.
This comments on foolish spending or an unwise decision by someone with means. It separates wealth from judgement.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 63384; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LTR - 2683(227) · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Money
No money, no lord—even in a fine coat.
Žiponas is an old name for an outer garment. Fine appearance is contrasted with actual wealth and social standing.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 63360; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LKŽ - X 424 · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Speech
A kind word warms through two winters.
Winter's cold highlights the lasting effect of encouragement. Two winters is expressive exaggeration, not a precise duration.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 34231; LPP 4233; tipo antraštė; atskiro varianto signatūra viešame apraše nepateikta · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Speech
A stone splits the head; a cruel word splits the heart.
Physical injury is compared with emotional harm. Speech can wound without leaving a visible mark.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 1288; LPP 292; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LTR: 5788(285/12 · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Speech
Your tongue will show you the way.
Asking brings directions. The tongue stands for speech and the willingness to seek help when unsure.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 53954; LPP 10488; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LTR - 30(804) · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Work
Know the diligent by their work, the idle by their talk.
The measure is completed work rather than abundant promises. The contrast suits a situation where assurances never turn into action.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 10826; LPP 2057; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LTR: 4620(31) · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#Time
Remember the good; let the bad go.
The saying encourages release from lingering resentment. It need not mean forgetting useful lessons or recurring harm.
LLTI: Lithuanian Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (eLPP), type heading · eLPP 68535; LPP 4159; tipo antraštė; tipo šaltinių nuoroda: LTR - 465(36/132) · Traditional folklore text; Lithuanian Copyright Act, Article 5(6).
#No entries match this search.
Proverbs, sayings and situations
A proverb often generalises experience or offers advice; a proverbial phrase vividly characterises a person or situation. Their boundaries overlap, so the two are presented together.
The 60 entries cover work, learning, time, bread, friendship, home, money and speech. Tone matters: a phrase may encourage, tease or hurt.
What the texts and source locators mean
The Lithuanian texts reproduce the exact type headings in the linked LLTI eLPP records. They are documented proverbial type names, not our transcriptions of manuscripts or verbatim quotations attributed to one informant. Heading spelling, punctuation and parentheses are retained in Lithuanian. The English texts are our meaning translations, not English folk equivalents and not attempts to recreate the Lithuanian rhyme. Each explanation discusses the particular image or use.
Every entry retains its eLPP record number and, when supplied, a printed LPP type number and a type-level bibliographic or archival reference. Such a reference belongs to the catalogue description; it does not mean we checked the wording of that manuscript variant. Missing public variant signatures are explicitly noted in the original locator.
A conversation, not a rule for every life
Sayings can disagree. One links literacy with earning bread, while another doubts that learning can feed a person. Both views are documented; neither should become a universal factual claim.
Try finding one situation in which a saying helps and another in which it feels unfair. Older Lithuanian words such as skarbas, žiponas and nedėlia are explained beside the relevant entry.
Selection, explanations and rights
Lietuva.love prepared the selection, topics, explanations and meaning translations. The eLPP scholarly commentary, database structure and published translations are not reproduced.
The underlying traditional folklore texts are outside copyright protection under Article 5(6) of Lithuania’s Copyright and Related Rights Act. This is not a claim that the entire eLPP database or modern editorial material is openly licensed.