AMBICIJA
- Bolje je biti prvi u selu no poslednji u gradu. # Better be first in a village than second in Rome.
- Bolje je i na najgorem konju jahati nego pešice ići. # Better ride a poor horse than go afoot. * Better ride on an ass that carries you than a horse that throws you.
- Bolje na mačku glava, nego na lavu rep. * Bolje je biti pevac jedan dan nego kokoš mesec. # Better be the head of a dog than the tail of a lion.
- Čovek ne živi o samom hlebu. # Man cannot/does not live by bread alone.
- Ko dva zeca goni, nijednog ne uhvati. # If you run after two hares, you will catch neither.
- Ko kuca, tome se i otvara. * Kucajte, i otvoriće vam se. # Ask and it is given.
- Ko ništa ne probira, ništa i ne dobija. # Nothing seek, nothing find.
- Ko visoko leti, nisko pada. # The higher they fly, the harder they fall. * The highest tree has the greatest fall. * The higher the mountain, the greater descent.
- Mnogo hteo, mnogo započeo. # He who begins many things, finishes but few. * Too much of ought is good for nought.
- Veća glava, više glavobolje. # A big head has a big ache. * The bigger the head, the larger the headache.
BAKSUZLUK
- Da ne pade na leđa, razbio bi nos. # An unhappy man’s cart is easy to overturn.
- Hleb uvek pada na namazanu stranu. # The bread never falls but on its buttered side. * If anything can go wrong, it will. (Murphy’s law).
- Nesreća nikad ne dolazi sama. (lat. Calamitas nulla sola.) # Misfortunes never come singly. * Troubles come double. * It never rains but it pours.
- Nesreću ne treba zvati. # Mischief comes without calling for.
BESPOSLICA
- Besposlen pop i jariće krsti. * Besposlen Mujo i fišeke savija. # The dog that is idle barks at his fleas.
- Ko hrče, ne srče. # The sleepy fox has seldom feathered breakfast.
- Ko leti planduje, zimi gladuje. # They must hunger in frost that will not work in heat.
- Ko se ne muči u mladosti, kuku mu u starosti! # An idle youth, a needy age. * Young idler, an old beggar. * A young man idle, an old man needy.
- Nerad pothranjuje poroke. # Idleness is the root of all evil.
- Trla baba lan da joj prođe dan. # Who is more busy than he that has least to do. * The tongue of idle persons is never still.
BOG
- Bog govori: pomozi se sam, pomoći ću ti i ja. # For a web begun God sends the thread.
- Bog je spor, ali je dostižan. # God’s wheels grind slow but sure.
- Bog ne gleda ko je ko. # God is no respecter of persons.
- Bog nikome dužan ne ostaje. * Bog ne plaća svake subote. * Bog ne sudi svaki osmi dan. # God is a sure paymaster.
- Bog zatvori jedna vrata a otvori stotinu. # When one door shuts, another opens.
- Bog zna šta je bolje. * Bog znade šta valjade. # If God does not give us what we want, he gives us what we need.
- Čovek nalaže, a Bog raspolaže. # Man does what he can, and God what he will. * Man proposes, God disposes.
- Čovek snuje, a Bog odlučuje. # God makes and man shapes.
- Dobar je Bog, ali su i đavoli jaki. # Where God has his church, the devil will have his chapel. * God sends corn and the devil mars the sack.
- Iz tvojih usta u božije uši. # From your lips to God’s ears.
- Ko se čuva i Bog ga čuva. # God helps them that help themselves.
- Čudni su putevi gospodnji. # God moves in a mysterious way.
- Pijana i dete Bog čuva. # Heaven takes care of children, sailors and drunken men.