Wisdom from the Countryside: Exploring Amish Sayings

You catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

Do not burn the candle at both ends.

Just as light brightens darkness, discovering knowledge dispels ignorance.

If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money can’t buy.

Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves for they shall never cease to be amused.

When it rains, it pours; but soon, the sun shines again.

Pray for a good harvest, but keep on hoeing.

The best way to predict the future is to create it.

God wouldn’t have given us dreams if he hadn’t given us the ability to achieve them.

Praying with faith is like farming with a plow. You can’t just pray for the harvest, you must also do the work.

Don’t worry about your problems, use them to help others and they will help you back.

Every path has a few puddles. Be prepared for a few stumbling blocks.

Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.

The quieter you become, the more you can hear.

If a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing well.

Patience is a virtue, timing is everything.

Raise your words, not your voice. It’s the rain that grows flowers, not the thunder.

If you want to see the sunshine, you have to weather the storm.

Keep your eye on the donut, not on the hole.

An empty room is a story waiting to happen, and you are the author.

Life is simple, it’s just not easy.

Take the time to listen before the silence is all you have left.

Faith can move mountains, but don’t forget to bring your shovel.

Measure twice and cut once.

The less I speak, the more I hear.

Patience is a virtue, but perseverance earns the reward.

Don’t let yesterday use up too much of today.

Speak less than you listen, for your ears learned more than your tongue.

Success grows where hard work is plowed.

Pride is concerned with who is right, humility is concerned with what is right.

An unplowed field spreads discontent.

One generation plants a tree, the next gets the shade.

The best view comes after the hardest climb.

Pray not for lighter burdens, but for stronger shoulders.

A man who works with his hands is a laborer, a man who works with his hands and his mind is a craftsman, but a man who works with his hands, his mind, and his heart is an artist.

Happiness doesn’t result from what we get, but from what we give.

A true community is not just about being geographically close to someone or part of the same social web network. It’s about feeling connected and responsible for what happens.

It is not what you gather, but what you scatter, that tells what kind of life you have lived.

Life isn’t about finding yourself, it’s about creating yourself.

If the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, then you must choose your direction wisely.

Where there’s no time spent, there’s no love grown.

Work is not a punishment, it’s the reward and the strength.

Your life is your garden, your thoughts are the seeds.

Open your mind before your mouth.

You cannot unscramble eggs.

Measure the corn of others with your own bushel.

Don’t throw away old buckets until you know whether the new ones hold water.

A clear conscience is a cozy pillow.

If you don’t know where you are, you probably won’t get where you’re going.

Just because it’s a common practice doesn’t mean it’s common sense.

It’s no sin to get sauce on your bib.

A soft answer turns away wrath.

The heaviest thing you can carry is a grudge.

The horses are hitched, but the barn’s still on fire.

The best way to predict the future is to invent it.

Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you’re a thousand miles from the corn field.

Every stump must serve its purpose.

Time reveals all things.

A strong faith is better than a weak defense.

The longer the explanation, the bigger the lie.

Every path has a few puddles.

Pray for a good harvest, but keep plowing.

If the water’s stagnant, move the stone.