If you love the brevity and the wisdom of proverbs from around the world, here is a must-have resource by Gerd de Ley. It contains 8,000 proverbs from 300 nations and languages arranged alphabetically by country. This handy and accessible dictionary is indexed by 2,000 subjects.
Just to show how relevant and informed the editor Gered de Lay is, check out the tour de force introduction where he presents a wonderful batch of quotations and proverbs about proverbs. Here are a few examples:
• "Proverbs are not merely decorations on life, they have life itself in them. They are the bedrock substance of living, built up by many people and many years, they are the beginnings of all literature, the first metaphors and similes, the first comedies and tragedies, they are the first poetry we have."
— Robert Peter Tristram Coffin
• "Proverbs are little gospels."
— Spanish Proverb
• "A proverb has three characteristics: few words, good sense, and a fine image."
— Moses ibn Ezra
• "Proverbs are the people's wisdom."
— Russian Proverb
• "When the occasion arises, there is a proverb to suit it."
— Oji
• "There is no proverb without a grain of truth."
— Russian Proverb
