Proverb

A proverb or precept was a saying commonly sourced from folklore, historical allusion, tribal memories, or religion. ()
The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition were written as the sacred precepts upon which all Ferengi society was based. ()
== Proverbs ==
;"A child born from parents who love each other will have nothing but goodness in his heart."
*An Atrean proverb. ()
;"A doctor who operates on himself has a petaQ for a patient." 
* ()
;"A good lie is easier to believe than the truth." 
* A Ferengi saying… ()
;"A hundred thousand welcomes." 
* Described as an old (in the 19th century) Irish saying. ()
;"A man who's always looking over his shoulder is waiting for trouble to find him." 
* ()
;"A stranger is a friend you just haven't met yet." 
* Michael Sullivan speculated that this might be of Irish origin. ()
;"Absence makes the heart grow fonder"
* ()
;"All good things (must come to an end)" 
* (; ; )
;"Beware Romulans bearing gifts."
* Spoken by Leonard McCoy as he delivered a bottle of Romulan ale to James T. Kirk, as a variation of the Roman "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts." ()
;"Blood is thicker than water."
* 
;"Bred-in-the-bone" 
* Spoken by K'nera to Worf. ()
;"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" / "Truth is in the eye of the beholder" / "Treason is in the eye of the beholder"
* ; 
;"Confession is good for the soul." 
* A Cardassian proverb… ()
;"Discretion [is] the better part of valor."
* Claimed by Quark to be an old Ferengi saying. ()
;"(Don't look a) gift horse in the mouth." 
* A gift horse was, traditionally, a horse which was given as a gift, and as such, was not open to criticism, since aging the horse was determined by looking in its mouth.
* In 2151, after leader Silik managed to sneak aboard and preemptively stop an antimatter cascade from destroying the starship, Temporal Agent requested the help of the Enterprise crew to capture Silik. Suggesting that they do otherwise, Commander expressed to Enterprise Captain Jonathan Archer about Silik, "Maybe we shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth." ()
* In 2256, Harcourt Fenton Mudd indirectly referenced this proverb in reply to Captain offering to turn over Michael Burnham, the , and Paul Stamets in return for Mudd promising to spare the starship's crew complement. Mudd's response was to tell Lorca, "Well, I've never been one to look a gift captain in the mouth," and then gleefully accept Lorca's terms. ()
* In 2375, when Elim Garak was attempting to persuade Julian Bashir to develop a cynical attitude to life, Bashir sarcastically replied, "Well, I shall endeavor to become more cynical with each passing day, look gift horses squarely in the mouth, and find clouds in every silver lining." ()
;"Enemies make dangerous friends." 
* A Cardassian proverb… ()
;"Even the eagle must know when to sleep."
* A phrase used among Chakotay's people. ()
;"Every cloud has a silver lining."
* (; )
;"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." 
* Claimed by Pavel Chekov to be Russian in origin. (; )
;"Fortune favors the bold." 
* A Human saying… ()
;"Four thousand throats may be cut in one night by a running man with a knife."
* A Klingon saying. () 
;"Good news has no clothes."
* A Talaxian saying. ()
;"Good things come in small packages." 
* (; )
;"Good things come to those who wait." 
* ()
;"He who studies evil is studied by evil." 
* A Bajoran proverb, said to be an old saying. ()
;"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."
* Spoken by Deanna Troi to Worf. ()
;"His is worse than his bite."
* Attributed to Trevis and a Krenim commandant encountered by Voyager. ()
;"Home is wherever you happen to be."
* Attributed to Kolopak. ()
;"If [the] shoe fits, wear it."
* According to Pavel Chekov this was derived from the "Russian folk epic" of Cinderella. He spoke the saying when confronting with the gravity boot found in his locker that implicated him as the assassin of Klingon Chancellor Gorkon. The boot promptly turned out not to fit. ()
;"If you're not fighting them, you're helping them." 
* A Bajoran proverb, used within the Bajoran Resistance. ()
;"In accepting the inevitable, one finds peace." 
* A Vulcan saying quoted by Tuvok to Tom Paris. ()
;"It never rains but it pours." ()
;"It's lonely at the top." 
* Claimed to be an n saying by Queen Arachnia.
;"Little birds in their nest get along." 
* Stated by The Doctor. ()
;"Live long and prosper." 
* A common Vulcan greeting or farewell. (; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; , , , , , , )
;"May you live in interesting times."
* Described as "an ancient Chinese curse" by Harry Kim. ()
;"My course is as elusive as a shadow across the sky."
* A Mikhal Traveler saying. ()
;"No good deed goes unpunished." 
* ()
;"Nothing ventured, nothing gained." 
* ()
;"Never ask when you can take." 
* The 52nd Ferengi Rule of Acquisition. ()
;"No Changeling has ever harmed another."
* A saying often spoken by the Founders. ()
;"Once a thief." 
* A saying quoted by Kira, described as "an old saying". ("…always a thief" is implied.)
* ()
;"One man can summon the future."
* A Vulcan saying. () 
;"One man cannot summon the future."
* A Vulcan saying in the mirror universe, spoken by . James T. Kirk, understood Spock's statement, but pushed back stating, "But one man can change the present." ()
;"One man's priceless is another man's worthless." 
* Spoken by Quark to Fallow after tasting the Wadi's so-called "priceless" alpha-currant nectar. ()
;"One man's villain is another man's hero."
* A Cardassian proverb… ()
;"Only a fool fights in a burning house."
A quote spoken by Kang. ()
;"Only Nixon could go to China." 
* ()
;"Out of harm's way." 
* According to Harry Kim, "There's an old Chinese expression. Stay out of harm's way," but it was disputed by Tom Paris. Kim, nevertheless replied, "If it works, use it." ()
* (; )
;"Own the day."
* A favorite saying of Lyndsay Ballard, said to be from an old Klingon battle cry. ()
;"Out of the mouths of babes." 
* (; )
;"Patience is for the dead." 
* A Xindi saying… ()
;"Power corrupts. And absolute power corrupts absolutely." 
* (; )
;"Put the shoe on the right foot first, but put the left foot first into the bathtub." 
* This was quoted by Jadzia Dax while under the influence of Saltah'na energy spheres. ()
;"Revenge is a dish that is best served cold."
* According to Khan Noonien Singh, this was a Klingon proverb. ()
;"Sauce for the goose (is sauce for the gander)"
* ()
;"Scared Kelpien makes for tough Kelpien."
* A saying in the mirror universe. ()
;"Seize the day!"
* Spoken by Gowron. ()
;"Spare the rod and spoil the child." 
* Data associated this saying with a traditional doctrine on parenting, contrasted with more liberal ones. (; )
;"The angels themselves take pleasure in their bodies of light."
* A holographic described this as something that is said. ()
;"The customer's always right." 
* ()
;"The devil finds work for idle hands." 
* (; )
;"The dream dreams the dreamer."
* A Talaxian saying. ()
;"The drop becomes the ocean… The ocean becomes the drop…"
* A Changeling saying… ()
;"The early bird gets the worm." 
* An Minosian peddler encountered in 2364, stated a perversion of this quote, "The early bird that hesitates gets wormed." Designed to indicate the impending demise of the uncertain purchaser. ()
* Commander Elizabeth Shelby's reasoning for beaming down for an away mission prior to the scheduled time. ()
* The Doctor later spoke a variation on this saying, "The early bird gets the gagh", when addressing B'Elanna Torres. ()
;"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
* claimed this to be "an Arab proverb attributed to a prince who was betrayed and decapitated by his own subjects." ()
* Hayne of Turkana IV referred to this "old saying" to Captain Jean-Luc Picard when he justified assist locating the Federation hostages, adding, "I've decided it's in my best interest to help you get your crewmen back." ()
;"The land and the people are one." 
* A Bajoran proverb… ()
;"The proof is in the pudding." 
* ()
;"The road to hell is paved with good intentions." 
* Attributed by Captain Sisko to his father. ()
;"The way to a woman's heart is through her stomach."
* Attributed by Captain Sisko to his father. ()
;"The whole is greater than the sum of its parts." 
* ()
** "More than the sum of our parts" () 
** "More than just the sum of its parts." () 
** "More than just the sum of her parts" ()
** "The sum of the parts cannot be greater than the whole." ()
;"There's a warm wind blowing in from Minicoy." 
* Described by Captain Sisko as an old saying. ()
;"There's no time like the past."
* In use by crews of 29th century timeships. ()
;"There's no time like the present." 
* In use by Starfleet's Temporal Mechanics Department in an alternative 2404. ()
;"To each his own" 
* (; )
;"To become a thing is to know a thing. To assume its form is to begin to understand its existence." 
* A Changeling saying… ()
;"Today is a good day to die." / "Chech chew jaj-Vam jaj-kak!" 
* Said to be the battle cry of Kahless the Unforgettable. ()
* Quoted by Worf to Duras, son of Ja'rod, before adding, "and the day is not yet over." ()
* (; )
;"Two heads are better than one." 
* ()
;"Waste not, want not." 
* ()
;"When in Fellebia, do as the Fellebians do."
* A Denobulan variant of the Human phrase (below). ()
;"When in Rome, we'll do as the Romans do."
* Jonathan Archer stated "When in Rome" to T'Pol in 2154. Her response was "I beg your pardon?" ()
* James T. Kirk made this observation after encountering the Excalbian , indicating that he intended to play along with the ruse, using it as his only means of "dealing with an unknown and apparently highly advanced life-form." (
* During the away team's visit to Rubicun III in 2364, William T. Riker observed that running was ahe Edo custom on the planet, adding, "When in Rome, eh?" to Worf. His response was "When in where, sir?" ()
* Upon arriving on Risa in 2373, Jadzia Dax announced she was "going to change into something more comfortable," Leeta followed, describing it as a "good idea". Julian Bashir, then bowed to the inevitable, and xfollowed as well to change, citing, "When in Rome." ()
;"When in the Collective, adapt."
* Spoken by Chakotay as his advice for Harry Kim to deal working with Seven of Nine. ()
;"When the cat's away (the mice will play)"
* The first part of this proverb was spoken by the to the Human Nyota Uhura; however, the second part was not spoken as the Uhura interrupted him with slapping his hand away. ()
;"When the road before you splits in two, take the third path."
* A Talaxian saying. ()
;"Wouldn't hurt a fly." 
* ()
;"You cannot loosen a man's tongue with root beer."
* A supposed Klingon proverb spoken by Worf. ()
;"You don't kick a man when he's down." ()
== External link ==
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