Change Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old Change quotes, Change sayings, and Change proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.


A fool and his money are quickly parted.      -- J. Bridges (1587)
A watched pot never boils.      -- unknown
A word once let out of the cage cannot be whistled back again.      -- Horace (65-8 BC)
Always be prepared.      -- unknown
Be careful what you ask for; you may get it.      -- unknown (Thanks to J. Martin)
Be careful what you wish for.      -- unknown
Be ever vigilant but never suspicious.      -- English (on vigilance)
Because we focused on the snake, we missed the scorpion.      -- Egyptian (on caution and care)
Better the devil you know than the one you don't      -- R. Taverner (1539)
Better to be safe than sorry.      -- Samuel Lover (1797-1868)
Beware a rickety wall, a savage dog and a quarrelsome person.      -- Iranian (on caution and care)
Beware the door with too many keys.      -- Portuguese (on vigilance)
Beware the fury of a patient man.      -- John Dryden (1631-1700)
Beware the Greeks bearing gifts.      -- Virgil (70-19 BC) "I fear the Greeks even when bearing gifts."
Beware the person with nothing to lose.      -- Italian (on prudence)
Buyer beware.      -- Latin Proverb "Caveat emptor"
Choose your neighbors before you buy your house.      -- Hausa (West African) (on planning)
Creditors have better memories than debtors.      -- English (on business)
Do not allow sins to get beyond creeping.      -- Hawaiian (on the conduct of life)
Don't be caught flat     -- ed. - unknown
Don't sail out farther than you can row back.      -- Danish (on prudence)
Easy does it.      -- T. Taylor (1863)
Eggs have no business dancing with stones.      -- Haitian (on prudence)
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.      -- John Philpot Curran (1750-1817)
Fear the Greeks bearing gifts.      -- Virgil (70-19 BC) "I fear the Greeks, even when bringing gifts."
Fine feathers don't make fine birds.      -- Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
Fish don't get caught in deep water.      -- Malay (on caution and care)
Forewarn'd, forearm'd.      -- Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Great good nature without prudence is a great misfortune.      -- Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
He that scatters thorns, let him not go barefoot.      -- Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
Hear reason or she will make you feel her.      -- Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
If the bird hadn't sung, it wouldn't have been shot.      -- Japanese (on prudence)
If you are going a long way, go slowly.     -- Ilocano (Filipino) (on journeys)
If you buy what you don't need, you steal from yourself.      -- Swedish (on thrift)
If you call one wolf, you invite the pack.      -- Bulgarian (on caution and care)
Ill weeds grow fast.      -- John Heywood (c.1497-1580)
It's an ill wind that blows no good.      -- John Heywood (c.1497-1580)
It's but little good you'll do a     -- ring the last year's crop. - George Eliot (1819-1880)
Keep no more cats than will catch mice.      -- J. Dare (1673)
Look before you leap.      -- John Heywood (c.1497-1580)
Measure a thousand times; cut once.      -- Turkish (on caution and care)
Mind your p's and q's.      -- English Proverb
Never reveal the bottom of your purse or the depth of your mind.      -- Italian (on caution and care)
Nothing seems expensive on credit.     -- Czech (on indebtedness)
Once a word is spoken, it flies, you can't catch it.      -- Russian Proverb
Once bitten, twice shy.      -- unknown
One must not play on the nose of a sleeping bear.      -- German (on prudence)
One thing leads to another.      -- unknown
Only a fool tests the water with both feet.      -- African Proverb
Out of the frying pan, into the fire.      -- John Heywood (c.1497-1580)
Penny wise, pound foolish.      -- Robert Burton (1577-1640)
Pick your poison.      -- unknown
Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite.      -- Colonial American Saying
Sleeping people can't fall down.      -- Japanese (on caution and care)
Tap even a stone bridge before crossing it.      -- Korean (on vigilance)
The crab that walks too far, falls into the pot.      -- Haitian (on caution and care)
The hardest person to awaken is the person already awake.      -- Tagalog (Filipino)(on vigilance)
The honey is sweet but the bee has a sting.      -- Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
The prudent embark when the sea is calm     -- e rash when the sea is stormy. - Maori (on prudence)
The second word makes the quarrel.      -- Japanese Proverb
Walls have ears.      -- unknown
When in doubt, do nothing.      -- George John Whyte-Melville (1821-1878)
Whoever has a tail of straw should not get too close to the fire.      -- Latin American (on caution and care)
You never know what lies right around the corner.      -- unknown