95 Short Spanish Quotes & Proverbs With English Translations

“Vale mas huir, que morir.” Running away is better than dying. Tomorrow brings another chance to fight.

“Es tan corto el amor y tan largo el olvido.” Love is so short and the forgetting so long.

“A beber y a tragar, que el mundo se va a acabar.” Eat, drink and have fun. As we all are gonna die one day.

“Los árboles no están dejando ver el bosque.” The trees aren’t allowing one to see the forest. (You can’t see the forest for the trees.)

“Qué bonito es ver la lluvia y no mojarse.” How nice it is to see the rain and not get wet. (Don’t criticize others for the way they do something unless you’ve done it yourself.)

“A otro perro con ese hueso.” To another dog with that bone. (Tell that to someone who will believe you.)

“Pequenos momentos, grandes recuerdos.” Small moments, great memories.

“Al mejor escribano se le va un borrón.” To the best scribe comes a smudge. (Even the best of us make mistakes. Nobody’s perfect.)

“De malas costumbres nacen buenas leyes.” All the good laws are originated from bad customs.

“El arte es una mentira que nos acerca a la verdad.” Art is nothing but lie, it shows us the hard reality.

“En la union esta la fuerza.” The strength is in joining.

“A los tontos no les dura el dinero.” Money does not last long with a fool.

“Piedra sin agua no aguza en la fragua.” To achieve something in life, you have to put hard work.

“A cada cerdo le llega su San Martín.” Every pig gets its San Martín. (What goes around comes around. You deserve what you get. San Martín refers to a traditional celebration in which a pig is sacrificed.)

“A lo hecho, pecho.” To what is done, the chest. (Face up to what is. What is done is done.)

“Borra con el codo lo que escribe con la mano.” He/she erases with the elbow what his/her hand is writing. (Whatever good actions or decisions he makes, he invalidates by other actions)

“La democracia la felicidad no producen gran literatura.” No great literature can be produced in happiness and democracy.

“Gobernar es prever.” To govern is to foresee. (It is better to prevent problems than to fix them. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.)

“La verdadera amistad resiste el tiempo, la distancia, y el silencio.” True friendship resists time, distance, and silence.

“A falta de pan, tortillas.” Lack of bread, tortillas. (Make do with what you have. Half a loaf is better than none.)

“Todos los caminos llevan a Roma.” All roads lead to Rome. (There’s more than one way to reach a goal. All actions have the same result.)

“Después de los años mil, torna el agua a su carril.” In a hundred years we will be dead anyway.

“Nadie da palos de balde.” Nobody gives sticks for free. (You can’t get something for nothing. There’s no such thing as a free lunch.)

“Seamos realistas y hagamos lo imposible.” Let’s be realistic and accomplish the impossible.

“Hay que sentir el pensamiento y pensar el sentimiento.” You must feel your thought and think your feeling.

“Nunca tendré compasión por los que no supieron morir a tiempo.” I will never have sympathy for those who do not die on time.

“El hábito no hace al monje.” The habit doesn’t make the monk. (Clothes do not make the man.)

“Tengo un día. Si lo sé aprovechar, tengo un tesoro.” I have one day. If I know how to make the most of it, I will have struck gold.

“Un hombre solo tiene derecho de mirar a otro hacia abajo cuando tiene que ayudarle a levantarse.” A man must only have the right to look down upon another when he has to help them up.

“La lengua no tiene hueso, pero corta lo más grueso.” The tongue doesn’t have a bone, but it cuts the thickest thing. (Words are more powerful than weapons.)

“Este mundo no va a cambiar a menos que estemos dispuestos a cambiar nosotros mismos.” The world won’t change unless we’re willing to change ourselves.

“Desgracia compartida, menos sentida.” Shared misfortune, less sorrow. (Misery loves company.)

“La incertidumbre es una margarita cuyos pétalos no se terminan jamás de deshojar.” Uncertainty is a daisy whose petals you will never finish pulling off.

“Dame pan y dime tonto.” Give me bread and call me a fool. (Think of me what you will. As long as I get what I want, it doesn’t matter what you think.)

“La muerte no existe, la gente solo muere cuando la olvidan; si puedes recordarme siempre estaré contigo.” Death does not exist, people only die when they are forgotten; if you can remember me I will always be with you.

“Lo que no sueltas no te suelta.” What you do not let go does not let go.

“Devolver bien por mai.” If life gives you lemon, make lemonade.

“Quien en ano quiere ser rico, al medio le ahorcan.” There is no short cut for getting rich, for an honest man.

“Camarón que se duerme se lo lleva la corriente.” The shrimp that falls asleep is carried by the current. (Don’t let the world pass you by. Stay alert and be proactive. Don’t fall asleep at the wheel.)

“Toda la tierra está llena de su gloria.” – Isaías 6:3 (Bible Verse). All the earth is full of his glory.

“Donde no hay harina, todo es mohina.” Where there’s no flour, everything is an annoyance. (Poverty breeds discontent. If your needs aren’t met, you won’t be happy.)

“Enamórate de ti de la vida y luego de quien tu quieras.” – Frida Kahlo. Fall in love with you of life and after who you want.

“Prefiero morir de pie que vivir siempre arrodillado.” I would prefer to die in a standing position than living forever on my knees, just like a slave.

“El trabajo según la paga.” You reap what you sow.

“Algo es algo; menos es nada.” Something is something; less is nothing. (It’s better than nothing. Half a loaf is better than none.)

“Sin la mujer, la vida es pura prosa.” Woman makes this world a beautiful place to live. Without them it is as boring as prose.

“El amor es como el agua que no se seca.” Love is like water that never evaporates. (True love lasts forever.)

“No existe gran talento sin gran voluntad.” There is no great talent without great will.

“No hay que ahogarse en un vaso de agua.” It isn’t necessary to drown oneself in a glass of water. (Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill.)

“La familia lo es todo.” Family is everything

“Gracias madre por tu amor infinito.” Thank you mother for your infinite love.

“No hay libro tan malo, que no tenga algo bueno.” No book is useless. Every book contains something good for someone.

“Todo lo que puede ser imaginado es real.” Everything that can be imagined is real.

“No soy perfecta pero dios me hizo unica y especial.” I’m not perfect but God made me unique and special.

“No hay peor sordo que el que no quiere oír.” There is not a worse deaf person than the one who doesn’t want to hear. (There is none so blind as he who will not see.)

“De músico, poeta y loco, todos tenemos un poco.” We all have a little bit of musician, poet and crazy person in ourselves. (We’re all a little bit crazy.)

“Donde hay humo, hay fuego.” Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

“Veo al final de mi rudo camino, que yo fui el arquitecto de mi propio destino.” What I have learned from my life is that man is the maker of his own destiny.

“Lo que no me mata, me alimenta.” What doesn’t kill me, nourishes me.

“Con el tiempo todo se consigue.” You can have it all. What you need is a little patience.

“Al mejor escribano se le va un borrón.” Making mistakes is normal.

“Tal vez sea verdad: que un corazón es lo que mueve el mundo. Perhaps it is true: it is a heart which moves the world.

“Nunca es tarde para aprender.” It never is late for learning. (It is never too late to learn.)

“No dejes para mañana lo que puedas hacer hoy.” Don’t leave for tomorrow that which you can do today.

“Tal hijo, tal padre.” A son is always a reflection of his father. Like father, like son.

“No dejes para mañana lo que puedas hacer hoy.” Do not postpone today’s work for tomorrow.

“La vida no es la que uno vivió, sino la que uno recuerda, y cómo la recuerda para contarla.” Life isn’t what one has lived, but what one remembers, and how one remembers it in order to retell it.

“Consejo no pedido, consejo mal oído.” Advice not asked for, advice poorly heard. (Someone who doesn’t ask for advice doesn’t want to hear it. Don’t give advice unless you’re asked.)

“Nunca serás capaz de cruzar el océano hasta que pierdas de vista la costa.” You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.

“En boca cerrada no entran moscas.” Flies don’t enter a closed mouth. (You won’t make a mistake if you don’t talk.)

“Obras son amores y no buenas razones.” Acts are love and good reasons aren’t. (Actions speak louder than words.)

“Quien bien ama, tarde se olvida.” Age can never affect true love.

“El mundo hay que fabricarselo uno mismo, hay que crear peldaños que te suban, que te saquen del pozo. Hay que inventar la vida porque acaba siendo verdad.” You have to build the world around you, yourself: you have to create the steps that will take you up, and help you out of the well. You have to invent life, ...

... because in the end it will eventually be real.

“Algo es algo; menos es nada.” Something is better than nothing.

“Costumbre adquirida en la mocedad, se deja muy mal en la vejez.” Old habit die hard.

“Nunca es tarde para aprender.” It is never too late for learning.

“Esta bien no estar bien.” It is good not to be good.

“La cabra siempre tira al monte.” The goat always heads toward the mountain. (The leopard doesn’t change its spots. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.)

“Aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona se queda.” Ugly remains ugly, even if you wrap it in silk.

“Toma las cosas como vienen.” Accept, whatever life has to offer.

“Aprender a dudar es aprender a pensar.” Learning to doubt is learning to think.

“Es feliz el que soñando, muere. Desgraciado el que muera sin soñar.” He is happy the one who dies while dreaming. Disgraced is the one who dies without dreams.

“Donde una puerta se cierra, otra se abre.” When one door closes, another one opens.

“No dejes camino viejo por sendero nuevo.” Don’t leave the old road for a new trail. (It’s better to stick with what works. A shortcut isn’t always quicker.)

“Dame pan y dime tonto.” Live your life your own way, no matter what others think of you.

“No vendas la piel del oso antes de cazarlo.” Don’t sell the bear’s hide before you hunt it. (Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.)

“De musico, poeta y loco, todos tenemos un poco.” We all have musician, poet or a crazy person hidden inside us.

“A los tontos no les dura el dinero.” Money does not last for fools. (A fool and his money are soon parted.)

“La raíz de todos los males es el amor al dinero.” The root of all evils is love toward money. (Love of money is the root of all evil.)

“El amor todo lo puede.” Love can do it all. (Love will find a way.)

“Caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar.” Walker, there is no path, you make it as you walk.

“Sin prisas, pero sin pausas.” Without hurry, but without stopping.

“El mundo es un pañuelo.” The world is a handkerchief. (It’s a small world.)

“A beber y a tragar, que el mundo se va a acabar.” Here’s to drinking and swallowing, for the world is going to end. (Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.)

“Arból de la esperanza, mantente firme.” Tree of hope, stand firm.