“Tell the waitress I’ll come back to Zanzibar”
Here are some proverbs dealing with books and reading from As They Say in Zanzibar: Proverbial Wisdom from Around the World - a compilation of more than 2,000 proverbs gathered by David Crystal:
Books
- A book holds a house of gold (China)
- It is better to be entirely without a book than to believe it entirely (China)
- Many books do not use up words; many words do not use up thoughts(China)
- Scholars talk books; butchers talk pigs (China)
Reading and Writing
- After three days without reading, talk becomes flavourless (China)
- The wise read a letter backwards (Germany)
- Learn to handle a writing-brush, and you’ll never handle a begging-bowl(China)
- A love-letter sometimes costs more than a three-cent stamp (U.S.)
Literature
- Life without literature is death (Latin)
- Poets are fathers of lies (Latin)
- Poets and pigs are appreciated only after their death (Italy)
- Those that begin the play must continue it (Turkey)
