Great Dark Horde, GDH, Society for Creative Anachronism, SCA, Mongols, Horde, Dark Horde, Mongolia, mediaeval, households, horde cords, red and black, gers, yurts, Khan, Yasa, Noyat

Proverbs and Sayings of the Great Dark Horde

"Beye bagator bolbasu nigen uye-in bagator,
Bilig bagator bolbasu tumen uye-in bagator."
------- Injanashi

(One who has a strong body will be a warrior for a generation,
One who has a great wisdom will be a hero for thousands of generations.)

Tomorrow belongs to me.
Once sold, always buyable.
Never count a Hordesman dead until you have seen the body, and even then, do not be sure.
When faced with two choices, always take the third.
The wolf does not regard the barking dog.
A snake sheds an old skin but still he does not go skinless.
Friends help you move. Real friends help you move bodies.
If a Mongol smiles, look to your lives.
It is the weak who are cruel; gentleness is to be expected only from the strong.
The King should be servant to the State.
If you beat a dog, beware of his master.
Choose your friends carefully; your enemies will choose you.
Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.
It's an ill wind that blows no minds.
That which does not kill me gets dead early.
The only difference between a hero and a coward, is the direction in which he runs
Dealing with conflict is sometimes painful and not much fun. Not dealing with conflict is always painful and not much fun.
Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings. Rome did it by killing all those who opposed them.
One can never repay one's debts to one's mother.
Do not roll up your trousers before you get to the stream.
The sharper the thorn, the sweeter the rose.
A halo need drop only 8 inches to become a noose.
Do not speak to a man's girlchild lest you come bearing a wedding ring.
Before you make a friend, eat dirt with him.
Tell the truth to a lord you trust, more truth to a lord you hate.
Nothing vast ever enters the lives of mortals without a curse.
Better a dead enemy than a live one.
When you are an anvil, you must suffer like an anvil; when you are a hammer: strike!
Dogs bark, but the caravan goes on.
A man who would speak the truth should have one foot in the stirrup.
Help first, chat later.
Trust in Tengri, but tie up your yak.
If you cannot swim, do not go near the water.
We put a face on God .... not the other way around.
Every argument is like unto a dagger: two sharp and cutting sides
Beware not your enemies but your friends
Never trust a cat to do a dog's job.
Know where your clothing and weapons are, even in the dark.
Never trust a dancer, a Mongol or a King.
Many stones can form an arch, singly none.
Sorry puts no coins in the purse.
What you give away with love, you keep.
Better a calf of one's own than a cow owned by another.
If you've a knife you've no need for a crown.
What one man call his natural rights, another man calls treason.
Honor is it's own reward.
Two can keep a secret if both wear cords. Three can keep a secret if two wear cords and the third is dead.
If your mouth turns into a knife, it will cut off your lips.
Let a new wind blow through an old place.
To speak is to sow and to listen is to reap.
A life without honor is no life at all.
If you wear a smile, they think you really know.
The knife is quiet, the bowstring is quieter.
Storm in East, sun in Middle.
Be sure it is your yak first. Then clean the corral.
Say it loud enough, and often enough, and the marketplace will believe anything.
There always are more liberties to take.
Dead cha'gua aren't much fun.
Do not measure a shroud before there is a corpse.
When all you have is a hammer, all your problems tend to resemble nails.
Kill once, mourn forever.
Stretch your feet according to your blanket.
All that pays for blood, is blood.
Beware the quiet man.
Even the highest tree has an axe at its foot.
The anvil must be patient. Only the hammer can be strong.
Easier to love a dead hero than a live king.
Two sisters, two sides.
The iron suffers, and becomes a sword.
The skate and the eel do not swim the same, but they both live in the sea.
Draw close to the Cha'gua around you; you never know when a human shield will come in handy.
Art is inborn, craft outborn.
Blood is blood no matter who sucks it.
Fall seven times, stand up eight.
The vilest creature in the world is a liar.
The less ability, the greater noise.
Three steps forward, two steps back.
An hour makes a difference between the wise man and the fool.
Drink with Mongols, use a long straw.
Better a handful of dates, and content with them, than to own the Gate of Peacocks and be kicked in the eye by a broody camel.
Many mothers are best.
The Hordesman swims in the Kingdoms like a fish in the sea.
Steel is strong. Flesh is stronger. Will is strongest.
Many will show you the way once your cart is turned over.
A good shepherd tells his sheep of green grass, not grey wolves.
A white ewe may have a black lamb.
You can call a rock a fish but it still cannot swim.
A rabbit cannot put its paws on the deer's horns.
Beware of the Mongol you cannot see.
Better late in the pan than never in the pot.
Water weights wood.
A knife wound heals, a tongue's wound festers.
To take is not to keep.
Small keys open big doors.
A hard head hides a soft tongue.
Both the hunter and the hunted pray to a god.
The spider sits in the center of its web and entices the fly to come to it.
All history begins between a woman's legs.
Man is wood, woman water.
To feed an enemy a lie, is just if Justice gains thereby.
A cat will lie. It is his nature.