List of Proverbs based on Various Skills

Semester 1 

Proverbs on Listening skills 

a. Listening is the beginning of understanding.... Wisdom is the reward of a lifetime of listening.

b. Listening requires more intelligence than speaking.

c. To listen well is as powerful a means of influence as to talk well, and is as essential to all true conversation.

d. Talk becomes an argument when one person stops listening.

e. Listening looks easy, but it is not simple. Every head is a world.

f. Who speaks sows; who listens reaps.

g. Eat what is cooked; listen to what is said.

h. Listen a hundred times; ponder a thousand times; speak once.

i. From listening comes wisdom and from speaking, repentance.

j. The wise man has long ears and a short tongue.

Proverbs on Teamwork skills 

a. United we stand, divided we fall.

b. Two heads are better than one.

c. Many hands make light work.

d. Many hands can shatter stout walls.

e. Gnats, in great numbers, can beat an elephant.

f. Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable.

g. Every spark adds to the fire.

h. A monk cannot shave his own head.

i. A single tree cannot make a forest.

j. When a husband and wife agree with each other, they can dry up the ocean with buckets.

Proverbs on Emotional Intelligence skills 

a. Be civil to all; serviceable to many; familiar with few; friend to one; enemy to none.

b. Do unto others as you would wish to be done unto you.

c. Faults are thick when love is thin.

d. People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.

e. If you know what hurts yourself, you know what hurts others.

f. A soft answer turns away anger.

g. Hate destroys the one who hates more than the one who is hated.

h. Anger is a bad adviser.

i. Where there is a will there is a way.

j. Good people think about the feelings of their animals.

Proverbs on Problem Solving skills 

a. Every cloud has a silver lining.

b. God helps those who help themselves.

c. There is no use crying over spilt milk.

d. Where there is a will there is a way.

e. Necessity is the mother of invention.

f. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

g. When you see an arrow that is not going to miss you, throw out your chest and meet it head on.

h. There are no cakes without work.

Semester 2

Proverbs on Assertive skills

a. He who asks is a fool for five minutes but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.

b. Kill your enemies with your kindness.

c. If you cannot make a person think as you do, make a person do as you think.

d. Seek till you find and you will not lose labour.

e. We do not walk on our legs, but on our will.

f. A person who will not flee will make his foe flee.

g. He who does not cry does not get fed.

h. Put your feet down where you mean to stand.

i. Speak the truth in love.

j. Come and let us reason together.

Proverbs on Learning skills

a. He who is afraid of asking is ashamed of learning.

b. The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.

c. Only after learning, do you know what you do not know.

d. You are never too old to learn.

e. Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.

f. Keep the old, but learn the new.

g. You will not grow at all if you think you know it all.

h. If you study to remember you forget; but if you study to understand, you will remember.

i. Live and learn.

j. If the child is not learning the way you are teaching, then you must teach in the way the child learns.

Proverbs on Adaptability skills

a. Change yourself and you change the earth.

b. Times change and we with time.

c. A reed before the wind lives on, while mighty oaks do fall.

d. Adversity makes strange bedfellows.

e. The unexpected happens.

f. New lords, new rules.

g. The wise adapt themselves to circumstances as water moulds itself to the pitcher.

h. Circumstances alter cases.

i. The dogs may bark but the caravan moves on.

j. To exist is to change; to change is to mature; to mature is to create oneself endlessly.

Proverbs on Non-verbal Communication skills

1. Action speaks louder than words
2. The face is the index of the mind.
3. Speeches and silence is golden.
4. A picture is worth thousand words.
5. Example is better than precept.
6. The eyes are the Windows to the soul.
7. Argument is the worst kind of communication.
8. Words may show a man’s wit, but action his meaning.
9. Attitudes are the real figures of speech

Semester 3

Proverbs on Empathy skills

Chapter: Action Will be Taken by Heinrich Boll

1. You can only understand people if you feel them in yourself.
2. I do not ask the wounded person how he feels, I myself become the wounded person.
3. Whenever you feel like criticising anyone…Just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantageous that you’ve had.
4. I think we all have empathy. We may not have enough courage to display..
5. Yet, taught by time, my heart has learnt to glow for others’ good, and melt at others.
6. When a good man is hurt all who would be called good must suffer with him. (Euripides)
7. Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize? (Marcus Aurelius)
8. Empathy is about finding echoes of another person in yourself. (Mohsin Hamid)
9. A prerequisite to empathy is simply paying attention to the person in pain.(Daniel Goleman)
10. Empathy needs no genius. (Toba Beta)

Proverbs on Positivity skills

Chapter: The Dispenser of Holy Water by Guy de Maupassant

a. He who has health has hope; and he who has hope, has everything. (Arabian)

b. It is never winter in the land of hope. (Russian)

c. To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive. (R. L. Stevenson)

d. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst. (English)

e. If you can walk, you can dance. (Zimbabwean)

f. While there is life, there is hope. (Cicero)

g. A drowning man will clutch at a straw. (Thomas More)

h. If it were not for hope, the heart would break. (Thomas Fuller)

i. Hope lights up our darkness. (Celia Fremlin)

j. Every cloud has a silver lining. (John Milton)

Proverbs on Professional skills

Chapter: After Twenty Years by O. Henry

 

1.      Duty knows no family. (Japanese)
2.    He is not to blame who does his duty. (Mexican)
3.    The most beautiful things in the universe are the starry heavens above us and the feeling of duty within us. (Native American)
4.    Duty before devotion. (Mexican)
5.     Higher duties means greater responsibilities. (Albanian)
6.    A great position entails great responsibility. (Spanish)
7.     Never step over one duty to perform another. (English)
8.    Duty is the most sublime word in our language (Nordic)
9.    Duty done is the soul’s fireside. (American)
10.   It is a man’s duty to go as far as he can on the right road. (American)

Proverbs on Leadership skills

Chapter: The Power of a Plate of Rice by Ifeoma Okoye

1. If you can’t serve, you, can’t rule.
2. A ruler must sometimes humour as well as command.
3.  Even the largest army is nothing without a good general.
4. Great chief, prove their worthiness.
5. A leader who understands proverbs reconciles conflicts.
6.  One can make a difference.
7. The master of their people is their servant.
8.  If the townspeople are happy, look to the chief.
9.  He who dictate separates himself from others.
10.  A great one must have a long heart.

Semester 3 Idioms/Synonyms

 

IDIOMS 

Unit 2 Empathy Skills

Idioms	Meaning
1.     At the drop of a hat	without any hesitation; instantly
2.     Barking up the wrong tree	looking in the wrong place
3.     Cloud nine	feeling extremely happy
4.     Devil’s advocate	to present a counter argument
5.     Far cry from	very different from
6.     It takes two to tango	actions or communications that need more than one person
7.     Keep something at bay	keep something away
8.     The last straw	the final obstacle in a series of obstacles that defeats you
9.     Cut a long story short	come to the point; leave out details
10.  Miss the boat	to miss a chance

Unit 6 Positivity Skills

Idioms	Meaning
11. Best thing since sliced bread	a great object, idea or plan
12. Burn the midnight oil	to work late into the night
13. Cross that bridge when you come to it	deal with a problem if and when it becomes necessary, not before
14. Cry over spilt milk	complain incessantly about a loss from the past
15. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket	not put all your resources in one possibility
16. Give the benefit of the doubt	believe someone’s statement, without proof, even if you don’t agree
17. Jump on the bandwagon	join a popular trend or activity
18. Steal someone’s thunder	take the credit for something someone else did
19. Horse trading	clever bargaining
20. Pull yourself together	calm down and behave normally

 

Unit 8 Professional skill

Idioms	Meaning
21. All ears	eager to listen with attention
22. Beck and call	willing to do anything a person asks
23. Carrot and stick approach	system of reward and punishment used to motivate people
24. Dog days	hottest days of summer
25. Fall on stony ground	a piece of advice that is ignored
26. Go fly a kite	tell someone to get lost
27. Hit below the belt	extremely cruel and unfair
28. In the doldrums	feeling depressed
29. Left-handed compliment	seeming praise which is actually an insult
30. Nook and cranny	every corner or part of a place

Unit 9 Leadership skill

Idioms	Meaning
Ask for the moon	ask for something impossible
Beyond one’s ken	no within the reach of one’s understanding
Cheek by jowl	very close together, side by side
Find one’s feet	finally establish oneself in a new place
Get one’s act together	do things effectively
Hats off to someone	admire someone
Kangaroo court	a court of law where justice is not served
Last but not least	finally
Nose in the air	proud; conceited
Paper tiger	a weak person appearing to be strong

 SYNONYMS

Vocabulary                                               SYNONYMS
1	Interlude	A Short period of time between two events
2	Pensiveness	A state of being engaged in serious thinking
3	Prolonged	Continuing for a long time
4	Aversion	A strong dislike
5	Reverently	Respectfully
6	Questionnaire	A printed list of questions to be answered by a number of people
7	Summon	Call
8	Hirsute	Having a lot of hair on the face or body
9	Decapitate	Behead
10	Penchant	A special enjoyment or tendency towards something
11	Mountebank	A dishonest person
12	Incessantly	Continually
13	Inconsolable	Someone who cannot be comforted
14	Accost	Address and speak to someone who doesn't want to be spoken to
15	Bewildered	Confused
16	Providential	Lucky because it occurs just at the right time
17	Haphazard	Random, Unplanned
18	Vestibule	An entrance hall
19	Ransack	To search a place thoroughly, burgle
20	Chateau	A castle or large country house in France
21	Twirling	Turning round and round
22	Intricate	Complex
23	Proposition	Problem or proposal
24	Hustling	Acting quickly without time to consider things
25	Plodder	A person who works slowly with determination, but who lacks imagination
26	Razor edge	A high stake, uncertain, or dangerous situation
27	Dismally	Sadly
28	Absurdity	A State of being ridiculously, unreasonable, illogical, or completely devoid of common sense.
29	Egotism	Exaggerated state of self importance
30	Submerged	Covered in water
31	Fury	Anger
32	Protracted	Extended
33	Deference	Respect
34	Mottled	Marked with spots of different colour
35	Smouldering	Suppressed not expressed
36	Intimidating	Threatening
37	Lethal	Deadly
38	Futile	Useless
39	Ingratiated	Gaining favour by saying pleasing words to people in power
40	Animosity	Hatred