Russian Proverbs
Russian language proverbs are words of wisdom created in Slavic languages by Slavic peoples. The proverbs originated from oral history and ancient written texts dating as far back as the 12th century. The Russian language is replete with many hundreds of proverbs (пословица ) and sayings (поговоркa ). The proverbs express a universal concept, have a moral lesson and provide an insight into many aspects of history, culture, and national character of the people who created them. By the 17th century, the proverbs were collected and documented. They were studied in the 19th and 20th centuries. Vladimir Dal was a famous lexicographer of the Russian Empire whose collection was published in Russian language in the late 19th century as The Sayings and Bywords of the Russian People, featuring more than 30,000 entries. They continue to endure in modern literature and folklore. Evidence of this is seen in the collection of Russian anti-proverbs collected by Reznikov.
Read more about Russian Proverbs: Origin of Russian Language Proverbs
Famous quotes containing the words russian and/or proverbs:
“A criminal trial is like a Russian novel: it starts with exasperating slowness as the characters are introduced to a jury, then there are complications in the form of minor witnesses, the protagonist finally appears and contradictions arise to produce drama, and finally as both jury and spectators grow weary and confused the pace quickens, reaching its climax in passionate final argument.”
—Clifford Irving (b. 1930)
“Some friends play at friendship but a true friend sticks closer than one’s nearest kin.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Proverbs 18:24.