SPANISH QUOTES AND SAYINGS.

Quotes and sayings have been an important part of the Spanish language and culture throughout time. They offer comfort, advice and a reflection of the way society truly is with all its ironies and complexities. A quote can sometimes sum up in a few words many different feelings and ideas and have been used many a time to illustrate or punctuate conversations, arguments and talks on all levels. I have put together some of my favourite Spanish quotes for you to contemplate with their English translations. The sources for them have been as varied as the quotes themselves from my grandmothers Valenciano sayings to quotes from Spanish politicians hopefully you could use one or two in your own conversations.

(Valenciano-anon.)

Avaricia rompe el saco.

Greed breaks the bag.

(Valenciano – anon.)

Cuanto más te agachas mas te enseñas el culo.

The more you bend down the more you show your ass.

(Meaning the more you do things for people the more they take you for granted.)

(Valenciano – anon.)

El jorobado no puede ver su joroba.

The hunchback can’t see his hump.

(Meaning that people find it hard to see their own faults.)

(Noel Clarasó – Spanish writer)

La conciencia es como un huésped pesado, que grita siempre.

Your conscience is like an unwanted guest that is always shouting.

(Jorge Valdano – football trainer.)

Hay que vender el fútbol sin pisar hierba ni la ética.

You should sell football without standing on grass or ethics.

(Spanish – anon.)

La conciencia es la presencia de Dios en el hombre.

Conscience is the presence of God in man.

(Valenciano – anon.)

Perro ladrador poco mordedor.

The dog that barks the most is the dog that bites the least.

(Meaning those who threaten us the most verbally are the ones who are the least likely to follow through with them)

(Julio Caro Boroja – Spanish anthropologist and Nobel Prize winner.)

Estoy orgulloso de no pertenecer a una raza pura. Es una visión muy corta creer que el aislamiento y la pureza de sangre son signos de superioridad.

I am proud not to belong to a pure race. It is a very narrow minded view to believe that isolation and pureness of blood are signs of superiority.

(Miguel Debiles de Castro – Spanish biologist)

La naturaleza no tiene conciencia ni voz; a la Tierra el da igual los números de especias. No piensa, no sufre. El hombre sí es una catástrofe par el resto de seres vivos que están aquí y tiene el riesgo de serlo también para si mismo.

Nature has no conscience no voice; the earth doesn’t care how many species exists. It doesn’t think and doesn’t suffer.

Mankind is a catastrophe for the rest of living things and runs the risk of being so as well to itself.

(Felipe González (Ex president of Spain)

Al gobernar aprendí a pasar de la ética de los principios la ética de las reponsabilidades.

When I began to govern I learnt to change my ethical principles to ethical responsibilities.

  By Connie

Chiva English Centre