Proverb

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A proverb is an common quotation, usually offering a piece of wisdom in reference to a present situation. Proverbs are commonly sourced from folklore, historical allusion, or tribal memories. (TNG: "The Naked Now").

1 List of proverbs and sayings
2 External link

List of proverbs and sayingsEdit

AtreanEdit

"A child born from parents who love each other will have nothing but goodness in his heart." (TNG: "Inheritance")

BajoranEdit

"He who studies evil is studied by evil." (DS9: "The Changing Face of Evil")

"If you're not fighting them, you're helping them." - In the Bajoran Resistance (DS9: "Rocks and Shoals")

"The land and the people are one" (DS9: "The Storyteller")

CardassianEdit

"Confession is good for the soul." (DS9: "Tribunal")

"Enemies make dangerous friends." (DS9: "The Search, Part II")

DenobulanEdit

"When in Fellebia, do as the Fellebians do." (ENT: "Unexpected")

This would seem to be inspred by "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."

FerengiEdit

The Rules of Acquisition performed a function similar to proverbs in Ferengi culture.

The following were quoted as Ferengi sayings, but were not stated to be included in the Rules of Acquisition:

"Never ask when you can take." (DS9: "Babel")

"A good lie is easier to believe than the truth." (VOY: "Shattered")

"Good things come in small packages" (DS9: "Move Along Home")

"discretion [is] the better part of valour" (DS9: "The House of Quark")

Claimed to be an old Ferengi saying by Quark.

FoundersEdit

"To become a thing is to know a thing. To assume its form is to begin to understand its existence." (DS9: "The Search, Part II", "Behind the Lines")

"The drop becomes the ocean...The ocean becomes the drop..." (DS9: "Behind the Lines")

HumanEdit

"A needle in a haystack." (TNG: "The Naked Now"; DS9: "Blaze of Glory")

"When in Rome... do as the Romans do." (TNG: "Justice"; DS9: "Let He Who Is Without Sin...")

"Fortune favors the bold." (DS9: "Favor the Bold", "Sacrifice of Angels")

"As healthy as a horse" (TOS: "Tomorrow is Yesterday")

"Easy as pie." (VOY: "Future's End")

"Power corrupts. And absolute power corrupts absolutely." (TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before", "Patterns of Force"

Sometimes shortened to "Power corrupts". (TNG: "Hide and Q"; )

"You don't kick a man when he's down." (ENT: "Judgment")

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." (TOS: "Friday's Child"; VOY: "Warhead")

Claimed to be Russian in origin by Pavel Chekov.

"No good deed goes unpunished." (ENT: "The Andorian Incident")

"Blood is thicker than water." (VOY: "Survival Instinct")

"Even the eagle must know when to sleep." (VOY: "Resolutions")

Used amongst Chakotay's people.

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions." (DS9: "In the Pale Moonlight")

"May you live in interesting times." (VOY: "The Cloud")

This was described as "an ancient Chinese curse" by Harry Kim

"A stranger is a friend you just haven't met yet." (VOY: "Fair Haven", "Spirit Folk")

Michael Sullivan speculated that this might be of Irish origin.

"Home is wherever you happen to be." (VOY: "Deadlock")

Atributed to Kolopak.

"The devil finds work for idle hands." (VOY: "Good Shepherd")

"Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach him to fish and he eats for a lifetime." (ENT: "Marauders")

"In for a penny, in for a pound" (TNG: "Pen Pals"; VOY: "Rise")

"All good things must come to an end." (TNG: "All Good Things..."; DS9: "Business as Usual")

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained." (DS9: "Move Along Home")

"The early bird gets the worm." (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds")

This was transformed into "The early bird gets the gagh" by the EMH when adressing B'Elanna Torres (VOY: "Drone")

"Best defense is a good offense." (VOY: "In the Flesh")

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." (ENT: "Cold Front")

"A watched pot never boils." (TNG: "Timescape")

"The proof is in the pudding." (ENT: "Rogue Planet")

"Two heads are better than one." (DS9: "Bar Association")

"The ball's in your court." (ENT: "Cease Fire")

"If you're going to ride in the Kentucky derby, you don't leave your prized stallion in the stable" (Star Trek)

Used where Leonard McCoy was from.

"A hundred thousand welcomes" (VOY: "Fair Haven")

Described as an old (in the 19th century) Irish saying.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend" (TNG: "Legacy")

"there's a warm wind blowing in from Minicoy" (DS9: "The Circle")

"Those who can't, coach" (DS9: "Take Me Out to the Holosuite")

"A man who's always looking over his shoulder is waiting for trouble to find him" (DS9: "Captive Pursuit")

"one cannot cheat fate" (TNG: "Time's Arrow")

The use of the word "one" might not be standard, but rather attributable to Data's speech idiosyncrasies.

"Look before you leap" (VOY: "Bliss")

Claimed to be an antiquated adage by Seven of Nine.

"times flies when you're having fun" (TNG: "We'll Always Have Paris")

"Follow your heart" (ENT: "E²")

"The customer's always right" (ENT: "Dead Stop")

"To beard the lion in its den" (DS9: "In the Cards")

"Time heals all wounds, but absence makes the heart grow fonder" (ENT: "These Are the Voyages...")

Picard also once referenced an old horse trainer's adage about putting too much weight on a young back. (TNG: "Pen Pals")

Various Latin phrases and Biblical allusions served a function similar to proverbs in Human society.

Additionally, a deleted scene from "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II" established "the die is cast" as a mirror universe Human saying.

Jem'HadarEdit

"Obedience brings victory." (DS9: "Rocks and Shoals")

"Victory is life" (DS9: "by Inferno's Light")

KlingonEdit

"Four thousand throats may be cut in one night by a running man with a knife." (TOS: "Day of the Dove")

"Only a fool fights in a burning house." (TOS: "Day of the Dove")

"Revenge is a dish that is best served cold." (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)

While often associated with Star Trek, this is a real expression predating the movie. It is sometimes claimed to originate with the Pashtun people of South Asia.

"You cannot loosen a man's tongue with root beer." (DS9: "Rapture")

"Today is a good day to die"

Actually originated from the Lakotan warrior Crazy Horse.

In addition, various sayings of Kahless served a function similar to proverbs in Klingon culture.

Mikhal TravelerEdit

"My course is as elusive as a shadow across the sky." (VOY: "Darkling")

RomulanEdit

"Never turn your back on a Breen." (DS9: "By Inferno's Light")

In addition, a Romulan Commander described the fact that Vulcans are incapable of lying as a well-known saying. (TOS: "The Enterprise Incident")

TalaxianEdit

"Good news has no clothes." (VOY: "Lineage")

"When the road before you splits in two, take the third path." (VOY: "Author, Author")

"The dream dreams the dreamer." (VOY: "Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy")

VulcanEdit

"Only Nixon could go to China." (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)

"One man can summon the future." (ENT: "United")

Among mirror universe Vulcans, this saying was "One man cannot summon the future." (TOS: "Mirror, Mirror")

"In accepting the inevitable, one finds peace." (VOY: "Once Upon a Time")

XindiEdit

"It's easier to count the stars in the sky than it is for an aquatic to reach a decision." (ENT: "The Council")

"Dealing with reptilians is like bargaining with the sun. You make no progress, and you come away burned." (ENT: "Azati Prime")

"Patience is for the dead." (ENT: "Azati Prime")

Other and of unknown originEdit

"It's lonely at the top." - Claimed to be an Arachnian saying by Queen Arachnia.

"Stay out of harm's way." - Claimed to be a Chinese expression by Harry Kim, but disputed by Tom Paris

"Put the shoe on the right foot first, but put the left foot first into the bathtub." - quoted by Jadzia Dax while under the influence of Saltah'na energy spheres. (DS9: "Dramatis Personae")

"There's no time like the past." - In use by crews of 29th century timeships. (VOY: "Relativity")

"There's no time like the present" - In use by Starfleet's Temporal Mechanics Department in an alternative 2404. (VOY: "Endgame")

Note that given the time periods involved, these two sayings are not mutually exclusive.

"The early bird that hesitates gets wormed"

A perversion of "The Early bird gets the worm", stated by the Minosian peddler. Since he had an adaptive design and learned from each encounter, it seems that his incomplete knowledge of this proverb stemmed from his earlier encounter with the Federation starship USS Drake.

"Little birds in their nest get along" (VOY: "Real Life")

This would seem to be a 24th century variation on "Birds in their little nests agree"

"Once a thief" (DS9: "Resurrection")

On face value this might look like a Human saying, but the fact that it was quoted by a Kira, as "an old saying", without referencing Humanity, might suggest that it has come into wider use.

Comparisons Edit

"Healthy as a Rigellian ox" (TNG: "The Schizoid Man")

"Hot as Vulcan" (TOS: "Amok Time")

"Dry as Vulcan" (VOY: "Concerning Flight")

Refering to the Italian island.

"Colder than a Breen winter" (DS9: "Crossfire")

Referring to emotional coldness.

"Blind as a stump" (TNG: "Loud As A Whisper")

"Bigger then Elvis" (DS9: "It's Only a Paper Moon")

"Rich as Rockefeller" (DS9: "It's Only a Paper Moon")

"Poor as a church mouse" (DS9: "It's Only a Paper Moon")

"Clear as Tabalian glass" (DS9: "For the Cause")

External link Edit

Proverb at Wikipedia

Retrieved from "http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Proverb"

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