Algerian Proverbs

God pardons the ignorant.

Patience is the key to paradise.

The land where the stones know you is worth more than the land where the people know you.

If you open the eyes of a blind man he wants to go back to the darkness.

The prayer of the innocent has no wings.

You should make a new bucket whilst you still have the old one.

Your secret is your blood -- when you shed it you die.

I won't tie up the mule in a horse's place, says the widow.

Exile is the brother of death.

He who rides a camel should not be afraid of dogs.

You are worth as much as your purse.

Better to be watched by a wild animal than a nosey man.

Who is brave enough to tell the lion that his breath smells?

I only have my nails to scratch with and my feet to walk on.

Silence is the door of consent.

With tender words you have less luck with a woman than with jewels.

Is the white camel made of fat?

Fire purges everything.

We let him in, and now he shows us the door.

Boil the water and the scum will rise to the top.

Except for my father and my mother everybody lies.

A well educated man always has a kind word to say about the place where he spends the night.

Your eye is the only way you can judge things.

You know who your friend and your enemy are during difficult moments.

Who got it, did get it; and who left it, did regret it.

We taught them to pray, they got to the Mosque before us.

They only fall asleep after having mutually taken an oath and then they betray each other.

The union of means triumphs over the lion.

The soft tongue is sucked by the lioness.

The only thing left in the wadi are its stones.

The one whose belly isn't full of straw isn't afraid of fire.

The one who shows his fears ensures his salvation.

The hand which gives is better than the one which receives.

The crow wanted to mimic the pigeon's walk and forgot his own.

The absent has always got a justification.

Speak kindly or refrain you from talking.

Peace wins over wealth.

Friendship, we call it friendship, but without sincerity.

Do bad and remember, do good and forget.

Cross the loud river but don't cross the silent one.

As we didn't say a word, he thought he could do anything he liked.

A sensible enemy is better than a narrow-minded friend.

A secret for two is soon a secret for nobody.

A friend is someone who shares your happiness and your pains.