“He who rises early, God helps.”
A quien madruga, Dios le ayuda.
Source: Traditional Spain proverb, public-domain oral tradition
Traditional Spain Wisdom
Refranes españoles
Folk & Oral Tradition
Who is Traditional Spain Wisdom?
Traditional Spain Wisdom gathers the proverbs and sayings (refranes) that have been passed down orally among the Spanish people for many centuries. These lines have no single named author; they are the shared inheritance of farmers, shepherds, artisans, and grandmothers who compressed hard-won experience into a few memorable, often rhyming words. Spanish refranes draw richly on rural life, weather, animals, food, faith, and family, and they teach prudence, patience, thrift, discretion, and caution in speech. The tradition is so central to Spanish culture that Cervantes filled the mouth of Sancho Panza in 'Don Quixote' with a torrent of such sayings, and great collections like the 'Refranero' preserve thousands of them. Because they live in everyday speech rather than in a fixed printed source, small variations exist between regions and retellings across Spain and the wider Spanish-speaking world. This platform records the widely recognised forms and, in keeping with its accuracy rule, presents them as traditional rather than attributing them to any one person.
Sources: Traditional Spanish oral tradition (refranes), public-domain folk wisdom · Spanish refranero tradition reflected in Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote de la Mancha (1605, 1615)
Quotes by Traditional Spain Wisdom
“Flies do not enter a closed mouth.”
En boca cerrada no entran moscas.
Source: Traditional Spain proverb, public-domain oral tradition
“A bird in the hand is worth more than a hundred flying.”
Más vale pájaro en mano que ciento volando.
Source: Traditional Spain proverb, public-domain oral tradition
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“There is no evil that does not come for a good reason.”
No hay mal que por bien no venga.
Source: Traditional Spain proverb, public-domain oral tradition
“Raise crows and they will peck out your eyes.”
Cría cuervos y te sacarán los ojos.
Source: Traditional Spain proverb, public-domain oral tradition
“A barking dog seldom bites.”
Perro ladrador, poco mordedor.
Source: Traditional Spain proverb, public-domain oral tradition
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“Do not look at the teeth of a gift horse.”
A caballo regalado no le mires el diente.
Source: Traditional Spain proverb, public-domain oral tradition
“Tell me who you walk with, and I will tell you who you are.”
Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres.
Source: Traditional Spain proverb, public-domain oral tradition
“He who grasps too much holds little tightly.”
Quien mucho abarca, poco aprieta.
Source: Traditional Spain proverb, public-domain oral tradition
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“Eyes that do not see, heart that does not feel.”
Ojos que no ven, corazón que no siente.
Source: Traditional Spain proverb, public-domain oral tradition