“What is learnt is a handful of sand, while what is unknown is the size of the world.”

(Avvaiyar, Ancient Tamil Poet)

In Tamil: கற்றது கைமண் அளவு, கல்லாதது உலகளவு (ஔவையார்)

Transliteration: kattradhu kaimann alavu, kallaathathu ulagalavu

'It's better to light a candle than curse the darkness.'

Chinese proverb.

'Shared joy is a double joy: shared sorrow is half a sorrow.'

Swedish proverb.

Reading books removes sorrows from the heart.

Moroccan proverb.

When the sun rises, it rises for everyone.

Cuban proverb.

"We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing though. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love...and then we return home."

Australian Aboriginal saying.

"If you look up, there are no limits."

Japanese proverb.

"If a man has no tea in him, he is incapable of understanding truth and beauty."

Japanese proverb

You are made of stars.

Serbian proverb.

Laughter is a language everyone understands.

Chadian proverb.

Lord! Give us weak eyes for things which are of no account and clear eyes for all Thy truth.

Sören Kierkegaard. Quoted at the beginning of a Japanese work of Christian theology.

God loves each one of us as if there were only one of us to love.

Saint Augustine.

灯不拨不亮，理不辩不明 dēng bù bō bù liàng, lǐ bù biàn bù míng.

An oil lamp becomes brighter after trimming, a truth becomes clearer after being discussed.

Ukakhala mwana mphanje umayambira pa mchenga.

When you are a child you start a garden in the sand.

Mwana wa ng'ona sakulira dziwe limodzi.

The child of a crocodile does not grow up only in one pool.

Kadziwa mwini mkhuto wafulu.

'Only the tortoise itself knows whether it has eaten to the full.'

'If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.'

African proverb

'Peace is costly but it is worth the expense.'

Kenyan proverb

He is blind in both eyes who does not look with the heart.

English Anglo-Saxon proverb translated by Eleanor Parker.

'Les absents ont toujours torts' (French proverb)

'Those who don't turn up for meetings are always wrong [because they cannot contribute their points.]'

'In manussiya magparuparu, sagawa’ Tuhan in magbaya.'

(Tausūg, a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken in parts of the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia.)

'Man plans, but God decides.'

'Haba na haba hujaza kibaba' (Kiswahili proverb)

'Little by little fills the tin'.

Gyf þu well sprece, wyrc æfter swa.

‘If you speak well, act accordingly’. 

English Anglo-Saxon translated b Eleanor Parker. 

Betere byþ oft feðre þonne oferfeðre.

'Better to be often loaded than overloaded.'

English Anglo-Saxon proverb translated by Eleanor Parker.

Ne sceal man to ær forht ne to ær fægen.

‘One should not be too soon fearful, nor too soon joyful’.

Anglo-Saxon proverb, translated by Eleanor Parker.

'Lempar batu sembunyi tangan.' (Indonesian proverb) 'The hand that throws the stone is hidden.'

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself."

Iranian proverb, one of the Rumi's, offered by Sara Afshari.

'The only trouble with the rat race is that if you win it, you are still a rat.'

English proverb via Sam Gibbs

'Better late in this world than early in the next.'

Kenyan traffic sign.

'Pole, pole, ndyio mwendo.' (Kiswahili proverb)

'Slowly, slowly is the way to go.' i.e. 'Slowly, gently, unhurriedly, is the best way to proceed.'

'Not all of those who wander are lost.'

J R R Tolkien

'Haraka, haraka, haina baraka.' (Kiswahili proverb)

'Hurry, hurry, no blessing.' ie 'There is no blessing to be found in hurrying.'

[not, 'if you hurry the hyenas will be blessed...though that may also be true!']

'If you want to travel fast, travel alone. If you want to travel far, travel with others.'

N'gambai proverb, from The Gambia.

'Mvumulivu hula mbivu' (Kiswahili). 'The patient persevering person gets to eat something that is perfectly ready and ripe.'  Tweeted by Sam Gibbs