Robert Christy, comp. Proverbs, Maxims and Phrases of All Ages. 1887.
Peasant
A rich peasant, like a shaggy dog, only keeps himself warm with his money.Romanian.
An ennobled peasant does not know his own father.
“At home,” says the peasant, “I am king.”German.
Better a healthy peasant than a sickly king. (Said by Ferdinand III.)German.
Better a rich peasant than a poor nobleman.German.
He who would cheat a peasant must take one with him.German, Dutch.
If the thunder is not loud the peasant forgets to cross himself.Russian.
It is easier to make a lady of a peasant girl, than a peasant girl of a lady.
Peasant erect is taller than peasant on bended knee.Turkish.
Princes and lords may flourish or may fade;
A breath can make them as a breath has made;
But a bold peasantry, their country’s pride,
When once destroyed can never be supplied.Goldsmith.
Set a peasant on horseback and he forgets both God and man.Spanish.
The peasant is a peasant though he sleep till mid-day.German.
The peasant reaches heaven as soon as the nobleman.German.
There is no knife cuts deeper, than a peasant become a nobleman.German.
When a peasant gets rich he knows neither relations nor friends.Spanish.
When the peasant would become a nobleman, he becomes a beggar.German.