Oral tradition continues with proverbs. Considering daily life, proverbs embody the deepest feelings and beliefs of the Turkish people. They reveal a nation’s character in its finest details.

Below are some typical Turkish proverbs

– Stretch your legs to the length of your blanket. (Know your limits)
– Water priority to the youngsters, talking priority to the elders.
– Who handles honey has the chance to lick his fingers.
– When a bald man dies, everybody remembers “what golden hair he had”; when a blind man dies, they say “what beautiful eyes he had”.
– Two tightrope walkers cannot perform on the same tightrope.
– A vinegar seller with a smiling face makes more money than a honey seller with a sour face.
– The hunter may be hunted.
– You reap whatever you sow.
– A tree is bent while yet it is young.
– If God wants to make a poor man happy he first makes him lose his donkey and then allows him to find it again.
– There is nothing more expensive than what is bought cheaply and there is nothing cheaper than what is bought expensively