Polish Proverbs [Paperback]

Joanne Asala (Compiler)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0971702543 | ISBN-13: 978-0971702547 | Publication Date: September 1, 2002

Just as an author's books are the key to his or her personality, a people's proverbs are a doorway to its culture's accumulated wisdom. Poles are gregarious, cheerful, hard-working, earnest people. These qualities are reflected in their proverbs. While many of the proverbs have been around for hundreds of years and reflect traditional values, they are also universal, illuminating unchanging aspects of human nature. Some examples: "Love enters a man through his eyes and a woman through her ears." "Without work there is no bread." "Do not push the river; it will flow on its own accord."

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Joanne Asala is a writer and editor dedicated to the preservation of folklore and traditional customs. Of Polish and Finnish descent, she grew up in Bloomingdale, Illinois, and earned an English degree from the University of Iowa with an emphasis in medieval literature. Joanne has traveled extensively through Eastern and Western Europe gathering folktales, proverbs, and tradtional recipes. Her titles for Penfield include "Fairy Tales of the Slav Peasants and Herdsmen" and "Czech Proverbs." She currently lives in Chicago, near the neighborhood known as "Little Poland," an area of approximately 40 blocks of Polish-American businesses serving Polish immigrants and their descendants.

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Penfield Pr (September 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971702543
• ISBN-13: 978-0971702547
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,076,073 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There is a proverb for everything!, November 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Polish Proverbs (Paperback)

Beautiful wycinanki, a Polish art form that creates traditional designs by paper cutting, graces front and back covers in full color. Wycinanki designs in black and white illustrate the pages of Polish proverbs inside.

Proverbs gathered from historical and modern day sources offer insight and wit on such topics as love and marriage, romance, law and order, religion, home and family, bread and beer, nature, money, friends, and the cycle of life.

Examples of Polish proverbs:

Love yourself, and be hated by the multitudes.

May the Lord grant me a sword and no need to use it.

Krakow was not built in a day.

Without work there is no bread.

Nowadays to meet an angel, you must go to Heaven.

Trust in the Lord, and then put your shoulder to the wheel.

Eat short banquets, live a long life.

Love your neighbor, but do not remove the fence.

Polish Proverbs is one of a series of proverb books published by Penfield Press. Joanne Asala of Chicago, Ill., is an editor and writer dedicated to the preservation of folklore and traditional customs. Of Polish and Finnish descent, she grew up in Bloomingdale, Ill., and earned an English and Medieval literature degree from the University of Iowa. She is the author of Fairy Tales of the Slav Peasants and Herdsmen, and has edited several collections of proverbs for Penfield Press, including Norwegian Proverbs, Swedish Proverbs, Words of Wisdom from the Vikings, and Czech Proverbs.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Short Book of Pithy Polish Proverbs, August 11, 2008

By 

Jan Peczkis "Scholar and Thinker" (Chicago IL, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Polish Proverbs (Paperback)

This small book (64 pages) packs a wallop! Some of my favorite Polish proverbs are:

"In church, at the inn, and in the grave, all men are equal." (p. 23)

"You should fear the Lord and you should fear him who has no fear of the Lord." (p. 25)

"Mother's voice is God's voice." (p. 28)

"Every vixen praises her own tail." (p. 35). (I remember a different version from childhood: "Every cat praises its own tail.")

"There is no rose without thorns." (p. 38)

"A guest sees more in an hour than the host in a year." (p. 46)

"He who lends money to a friend makes an enemy." (p. 48)

"A good listener makes a good teacher." (p. 59)


A list is provided of books of proverbs for further reading.

1.0 out of 5 stars A waste of money, June 12, 2009

By 

Books Lover (Sacramento, Ca) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Polish Proverbs (Paperback)

There are just a few proverbs, not even the most common ones and just a couple of those have both Polish and English versions.