Just for amusement, here are some proverbs for foragers. A collection of quotes about wild plants, animals and nature – sayings for foraging.
Before eating, always take time to thank your food.
Arapaho Indian
Love this proverb from Japan.
Tade kū mushi mo suki zuki (蓼食う虫も好き好き) Some insects eat water pepper and like it. [There’s no accounting for taste!]
Look for Persicaria hydropiper beside streams and in damp places.
Üres kalász fenn tartja a fejét. An empty husk holds its head up high.
Hungarian proverb
Happamia, sanoi kettu pihlajanmarjoista kun ei niihin yltänyt. Sour, said the fox, to the rowan berries out of reach. [Sour grapes]
Finnish proverb.
Look for the red berries of Sorbus acuparia to make jellies and sauces.
Kuin kaksi marjaa. Like two berries. [Like two peas in a pod]
Finnish proverb
In Finland there are many edible wild berries in the Vacinnium species.
Not every sweet root gives birth to sweet grass.
Native American
Although its often the other way round!
A tree does not move unless there is wind. An Afghan proverb. In Hungarian it goes: Nem zörög a haraszt, ha nem fúj a szél. Dry leaves don’t rustle if no wind blows. [There’s no smoke without a fire]
Even a white flower casts a black shadow.
Hungarian proverb
Painted flowers have no scent.
Unknown, Holland
Nem esik messze az alma a fájától.
An apple never falls far from the tree.
Hungarian proverb
A dead bee makes no honey.
Unknown
A man who chases two rabbits catches none.
Roman proverb
Bagoly mondja verébnek, hogy nagyfejű. The owl tells the sparrow that her head is big. [The pot calling the kettle black]
Hungarian proverb
One swallow does not a summer make.
Unknown
Every path has its puddle.
English proverb
A heart in love with beauty never grows old.
Turkish proverb
We will be known forever by the tracks we leave.
Dakota Indian
And a few sayings:
Reading about nature is fine, but if a person walks in the woods and listens carefully, he can learn more than what is in books.
George Washington Carver
Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.
Frank Lloyd Wright
Nature does not hurry, yet everything gets done.
Taoist proverb
Shall I not have intelligence with the earth? Am I not partly leaves and vegetable mold myself.
Henry David Thoreau