Idioms Flashcards
If you can’t explain it simply ….. (Albert Einstein)
you don’t understand it well enough
…. but the world is not large enough for two kings.
A carpet is large enough to accommodate two sufis,
The people think of wealth and power as the greatest fate,
But in this world a spell of health is the best state.
What men call sovereignty is …..
Worship of God is …..
a worldly strife and constant war;
the highest throne, the happiest of all estates
Nearly all men can stand adversity, …..
but if you want to test a man’s character give him power
I’m still ….. the ropes- (how to do a particular job)
learning
…..
to make yourself rich, especially in a way that is unfair or dishonest)
feather your own
Leave no … unturned
stone
When a man points a finger at someone else, he should remember that ….
four of his fingers are pointing at himself.
When you have done evil, be not secure from ….. For retribution is a … .. ….
calamity
law of nature.
Beware of festering inner wounds, for inner wounds surface in the end. Distress no one insofar as you are able, for one cry of ….
anguish can upset the whole world
Come back, O phoenix, for without the parrot of your down the raven is about to …..
(I’d you don’t use your eloquent tongue, I will be taken away)
carry away my bones
How could someone with greater ambition sit around as a ….?
spectator
If you don’t seize ….
what is at hand you will rue it until old age.
One must act in a timely fashion, for untimely acts are …..
ineffective
Baburnama: Turkish proverb- “Trist not your friend, he will ….
stuff your hide with straws”
The excuse is ….
worse than the crime
who reaches hastily for the sword will ….
bite the back of his hand in regret.
Other than my own soul I …/
other than my own heart I …
never found a confidant.
never found a faithful friend
Conquest tolerates not inaction, the world is his who ….
hastens most
….
(meaning struggle is an absolute necessity) Mao Tse-Tung
Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun
Driven from pillar to …
to have to go from one person or situation to another without achieving much or being able to settle
post
Religion is excellent stuff to ……
sodalist imperialism
keep common people quite
sodalist imperialism
Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. ….
They’re in each other all along
Raise your words, not voice. It is ….
It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.
Real knowledge is to know ….
the extent of one’s ignorance.
Nationalism is a …..
Delusion of grandeur.
Knowing is not like …..
seeing
You can’t polish…-
no matter how much one tries to explain or help, they won’t take heed.
a turd
“Two things are ….: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the …..” - Albert Einstein
infinite
universe
The harder the conflict, the more …..
glorious the triumph
Who controls the past, controls the future, who controls the ….
present controls the past
The greatest prison that people live in is ….
the fear of what other people think.
A skeleton in your ….-
an expression that means you have a secret that could cause you harm in some form or fashion.
closet
You lie down with dogs, …..
If you associate with bad people, you will acquire their faults.
you get up with fleas
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. …..
Teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a life time.
He who does not weigh the consequences ….
of his acts shall never prosper
A secret shared is a ….
secret lost.
Friendship without gold is ….
worth no more than a pip.
What the hand possesses ….
the soul never pines for.
a rolling ….
a person who does not settle in one place will not accumulate wealth or status, or responsibilities or commitments.
stone gathers no moss
Where candour fails, …..
Candour- Being sincere in speech and expression)
cunning thrives-
When a donkey dies it leaves …
when a man dies he leaves …
We will be remembered for this.
behind its saddle,
behind his works.
You never really understand a person until …..
Atticus- To kill a mockingbird
You consider things from his point of view.
Laissez- faire- meaning?
let people do as they choose
Described a system or point of view that opposes interference or regulation from the government in economic affairs beyond the minimum necessary to allow the free enterprise system to operate according to it’s own laws
For what we love ….
determines what we seek, for what we seek determines what we think and do, for what we think and do determines who we are and who will we become
A mind that is stretched ….
Oliver wendall Holmes
by a new experience can never go back to its old dimension.
Nations have ….
Lord Palmerston
no permanent friends or allies, they only have permanent interests-
Education forms the ….
background of every nation
To educate a man is to ….., but to educate a woman is to …
educate an individual
educate a generation
Wind does not brake ….
a rock
The tongue is the ….
interpreter of the heart
A person who never made a mistake ….
never tried anything new. (Albert Einstein)
The only thing worse than being blind ….
is having sight but having no vision.
….
(Hannibal ante portas)- when expressing fear or anxiety or a client comes through the door.
Hannibal is at the gates
Books, Sir, are the ….
repository of wisdom- Von Holstein- ETW
God is the ultimate repository ….
of all knowledge - Ibn Khaldun pg 30
I love you neither with my heart nor with my mind. Just in case the heart might …, the mind can ….. I love them with my soul. Soul never ….. .. …..
stop
forget
stops or forgets
Keep your breath to ….
(Look after your own affairs, and do not put your spoke in another person’s wheel. Husband your strength to keep your own state safe and well, and do not waste it on matters in which you have really no concern. Don’t scold or rail at me, but look at home)
cool your porridge
Laws are silent….
in times of war- Cicero
Leaves will grow in the …. and seaweed on the …. before my feeling for Scylla change. (Glaucus)
sea
mountain tops
Odysseus’s comments referring to Ajax’s dead body:
….
Don’t let force have such control of you that you allow your hate to trample justice down”.
“Do not fling his body out unburied, but treat it so unfeelingly”.
Aeschylus- in a play called the Persians:
“You see how insolence, once opened into …., produces fields ripe with … & reaps a harvest home of ….”
Be careful of hubris- excessive pride of self confidence.
flower
calamity
sorrow
It’s a wise man’s part to ….
practise a smooth-tempered self-control.”
The fault lies solely in the …, not in the idea it …
expression
attempts to convey
Romans always prided themselves by being …
ruled by laws and not men
No one is going to love …
u better than me
Democracy is only ever as effective as the ….
education surrounds it
Don’t do as ….
I do, do as I say
When your bull starts nibbling in your neighbourhood’s garden, do you blame the ….
bull or the neighbour?
Bull being the husband flirting with next door.
Where you stand is dependant on ….
where you sit
To obtain you ….
may have to lose
If you want a wider view, ….
you have to go up a higher floor.
….will have good fortune. God will give prize to ….
Diligent people
diligent person.
A person with good ….
inner tranquility will go far.
Is it not a pleasure to ….
Analects
meet friends from afar? (Analects)
“Good governance makes one’s … happy and attracts people from far way places to come and …..” (Analects)
neighbours
learn from you
“Simply to believe in rationality is to accept the … … … and that is a dominant arrogant posture”
dictatorship of intelligence
Tai T’ung- were I to await perfection, …..
my book would never be finished.
Ptah-hotep- consider, how thou mayest be ….. an expert in council.
It is foolish to speak on every kind of work.
opposed by
Geopolitics, as usual, is apathetic towards ….. Hard interests reign …..
ideology
supreme
Off on a bit of a ….
tangent here
One who gets up in anger, ….
sits backs down in loss.
Hide brightness, nourish …., bide your time and build up your …..
(China)
obscurity
capabilities
This is our motto- ‘Not angling for …., I would be content that my ….. fills the universe’
compliments
integrity
So much information but …..
not enough knowledge
Take care of the pennies and ….
(Be careful what you wish for) Jeffrey Archer
the pounds will take care of themselves.
If you’ve struck gold, …….
(Be careful what you wish for) Jeffrey Archer
why go in search of brass
That I have experienced both ….. and …. and to quote Kilping, have treated those two …. just the same.
triumph
disaster
imposters
When it comes to killing a rival , it must …..
(Mafia dictum- Be careful what you wish for) Jeffrey Archer.
only ever be business, never personal.
Just because a man is physically frail, doesn’t mean ….
his mind isn’t physically sharp.
The pen is …..
Jeffrey Archer.
The pen dictates where the sword strikes.
mightier than the sword
There’s only one excuse to be late for a ….; ….. (Mightier than the sword)
lady
death
Vulgar is what gets you on …
(Mightier than the sword) Jeffrey Archer
the best seller list
Ignorance of the … is not a …. (This was a man)
law
defence
My mythical superiority had …. more quickly than the morning …. once the …. had risen (This was a man)
evaporated
mist
sun
Brandish the sword against corruption, caging … as well as trapping …..
tigers
flies
A sword is made on a … … and a man is forged in …..
grinding stone
hardship
…..
to be so worried, confused or annoyed that you do not know what to do next.
be at one’s wits’ end
Don’t challenge the person, challenge the …
idea
Religion does not prosper under ….; the senses liberate themselves from pious … and formulate philosophies that will justify their …..
prosperity
restraints
liberation
As the Chinese saying goes; even a tree that has grown thousands of inches high ….
should not forget its roots.
Be humble when you are …. and smile when you are at ….
victorious
loss
Every search begins with …. luck. And every search ends with the …. being severely tested.
beginners
victor’s
The darkest hour of the …. came just before the …..
night
dawn
Everything that happens once can never happen …. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a …. time.
again
third
The secret of life, though, is to fall … times and to get up …. times.
seven
eight
How seamless …..
Hafez.
seemed love, and then came trouble,
…..
a skill added
A feather in your cap
Rest on your ….
complacent
laurels
The ocean is … because it rejects no ….
vast
river
The riches go where the ….
road goes
An old horse knows the …..
way
lacking unusual or special aspects; ordinary.
….
run-of-the-mill
to chat about inconsequential manners, to converse casually in order to pass the time or simply entertain each other.
….
Shooting the breeze
Description of a person that is all talk and no substance; full of big talk but lacking action; a person who canot back up his/her words; a fake; a pretender
…
All hat, no cattle
The palest ink is …..
better than the best memory: Chinese saying.
Modern feminism wants the …. of men, the …. of women and the ….. of neither
power
privileges
responsibilities
You make friends through …. but never do business with …..!
business
friends
Elvis has left ….
the building
(balance between confidence in one’s self and reality
….
Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground
“The dogs bark, …..”
but the caravan goes on
Hero worship, is a sure road to …. and to eventual …..”.
John Stuart mill
degradation
dictatorship
Not all heroes ….
wear capes.
….
good and competent at what they do
Worth their salts
“attacking imaginary enemies”
…
Tilting at windmills
