A Sprichwort (proverb) is a short memorable sentence or saying, which summarizes reoccurring experiences of human mankind. They can be found in almost every language.
English and German language roots and cultural influences are  closely linked and therefore many proverbs are very similar in both languages. For the foreign language student  it is very desirable, the icing on the cake so to speak, to master proverbs in the other language.
I would like to introduce some proverbs from time to time in my blog to encourage students to use them when speaking German. Continue reading if you want to find out about proverbs, their English language equivalent, literal translations and practical examples from German speaking articles.
Vorsicht ist besser als Nachsicht - Better safe than sorry
Prevention should come first. You ought to think about your actions (or the lack of it) before it is too late.
How is it used: from pocketbytes
Vorsicht ist besser als Nachsicht: Sicherungskopien im Handumdrehen erstellenSpb Backup fertigt Sicherungskopien Ihrer Handheld-Daten an.
Wer rastet, der rostet - A rolling stone gathers no moss
Literally translated: He or she who rests, will be rusting.
If you stop moving in a physical or an intellectual sense it gets harder to start moving again.
How is it used: from Chiropraktiker Schweiz
"Wer rastet, der rostet", sagt der Volksmund. Und in der Tat, ist Bewegung fuer den Koerper etwas Gutes. Wir wissen, dass uns allen etwas mehr bewegen gut tun wuerde. Unter "mehr" wird aber von vielen Menschen ganz etwas Unterschiedliches verstanden."
