"Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything."
Muhammad Ali
On July 30 the whole world celebrates the
International Day of Friendship. This holiday is rather young.The General
Assembley of the UNO proclaimed this holiday international to strengthen
friendly relations between different nations. "The friendship between
peoples, countries, cultures and individuals can inspire the efforts to ensure
peace and makes it possible to build bridges between societies that honor
cultural diversity", - the document says.
Every nation has always appreciated friendship and
considered it as one of the greatest values in life.
I have collected the Ukrainian and Russian
equivalents(because these are my two native languages) to well-known English
proverbs about friendship and represented them in this table:
English
|
Meaning
|
Ukrainian
|
Russian
|
False friends are worse than open enemies.
|
It's better to know
who your real enemies are rather than trust someone who pretends to be a
friend but is capable of stabbing you in the back.
|
Фальшиві друзі гірші за явних ворогів.
|
Фальшивые друзья хуже явных врагов
|
A friend in need is
a friend indeed./
At need one sees who
his friend is.
|
Someone who helps
you when you are in trouble is a real friend.
|
Друг пізнається в
біді.
|
Друг познаётся в беде.
|
A friend to all is a friend to none.
|
Someone who is a
friend to everyone makes none of them feel special.
|
Всім брат — нікому не брат.
|
Приятелей много, да друга нет
|
All are not friends that
speak us fair.
|
Only real friends
will discuss and not be always agree with you
|
Недруг піддакує, а друг сперечається.
|
Друг спорит, а недруг поддакивает
|
A friend in the court is
better than a penny in the purse
|
It’s good to have
people who will support you
|
Не май сто кіп у полі, май
друзів доволі
|
Не имей сто рублей, а имей сто друзей. Что мне законы, коли судьи
знакомы.
|
It's good to have some
friends both in heaven and hell
|
It’s good to know useful
people
|
Треба і в пеклі приятеля мати.
|
Связи решают все.
|
A man is known by the
company he keeps.
|
You can say what
person is when you meet with his/her friends
|
Яку дружбу заведеш, таке й життя поведеш
|
Скажи мне, кто твой друг, и я скажу, кто ты.
|
Prosperity makes friends,
adversity tries them.
|
When you get in
trouble, people who stay with you and support you are your real friends
|
Дружба родиться в біді, а гартується в труді.
|
Не тот друг, кто на пиру гуляет, а тот, кто в беде помогает./
В радости сыщут, в горе забудут.
|
Old tunes are sweetest,
old friends are surest./
Old friends and old wine
are best./
Make new friends but
keep the old, for one is silver and the other is gold.
|
It’s good to make
new friends, but only your old friends are the best, because you know them better
and longer
|
Старий друг — кращий двох нових.
|
Старый друг – лучше новых двух./
Новых друзей наживай, а старых не теряй.
|
Friendship and importunate
begging feed at the same dish
|
Even the most solid
friendship cannot withstand the test of money
|
Брат мій, а хліб їж свій.
|
Дружба дружбой, а денежки/табачок врозь.
|
Friendship is not to be
bought at a fair.
|
A real friendship
cannot be bought at any price
|
Друзів за гроші не купиш
|
За деньги дружбу не купишь.
|
A friend’s frown is better
than а foe’s smile.
|
Only a real friend can emphasize on your mistakes
|
Не той друг, хто медом
маже, а той, хто правду каже.
|
Лучше горькая правда
друга, чем лесть врага.
|
A broken friendship may be
soldered, but will never be sound.
|
If you quarrel with
your friend, you can’t be close anymore. There will be a coolness in your
relations
|
Тріснутого горщика склеїш,
та води не наллєш.)
|
Замирённый друг ненадежен.
|
Books and friends
should be few but good.
|
You choose what to
read, so you choose your friends.
|
Справжні друзі, як і мудрі книги —
рідкість.
|
Настоящие друзья, как и мудрые книги – редкость.
|
Before you make a
friend eat a bushel of salt with him./
Sudden friendship,
sure repentance.
|
You should get to
know better someone before to call
him/her your friend
|
Не дізнавайся одного в три
дні, дізнавайся в три роки.
|
Друг не испытанный – что орех не колотый.
Сердечный друг не родится вдруг.
|
Happy International Day of Friendship!