Wolves

Wolves are not killed because they are gray, but because they eat sheep. ~ Russian proverb

Wolves (Canis lupus) are quadrupedal carnivorous mammals related to coyotes and jackals. Wolves feature in folklore and mythology of cultures ancient to modern across the northern hemisphere; from the Norse legend of the giant Fenrir to more sympathetic depictions in Central Asia and the suckling of Romulus and Remus in the foundation of Rome. More familiar still are the fairy tales where the wolf appears as a villain such as Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs. Wolf legends have also given rise to the popular horror figure of the werewolf.

Quotes about wolves

All stories are about wolves. All worth repeating, that is. Anything else is sentimental drivel. ~ Margaret Atwood

For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack. ~ Rudyard Kipling

There are some dogs which, when you meet them, remind you that, despite thousands of years of manmade evolution, every dog is still only two meals away from being a wolf. ~ Good Omens

We have doomed the wolf not for what it is, but for what we deliberately and mistakenly perceive it to be... ~ Farley Mowat

The wolf is the arch type of ravin, the beast of waste and desolation. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

The story of Romulus and Remus being suckled by a wolf is not a meaningless fable… ~ Henry David Thoreau

Alphabetized by author

• In touch with the ground
  I'm on the hunt, I'm after you
  Smell like I sound, I'm lost in a crowd
  And I'm hungry like the wolf

  Straddle the line in discord and rhyme
  I'm on the hunt, I'm after you
  Mouth is alive, with juices like wine
  And I'm hungry like the wolf

  • Hungry Like the Wolf by Duran Duran (1982)

• All stories are about wolves. All worth repeating, that is. Anything else is sentimental drivel. …Think about it. There's escaping from the wolves, fighting the wolves, capturing the wolves, taming the wolves. Being thrown to the wolves, or throwing others to the wolves so the wolves will eat them instead of you. Running with the wolf pack. Turning into a wolf. Best of all, turning into the head wolf. No other decent stories exist.
  • Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin (2000).

• The wolf is an intelligent and cultural animal. Its behaviour is not just imprinted in its genes, but is also taught from mothers to pups according to circumstance. It knows that a man with a pitchfork is dangerous, and that a man with a gun is even more so. The wolf was different once, and was more active during the day. Its [modern] nocturnal activities are an adaptation against danger. If people completely left wolves alone, in just one lupine generation (that is, five years), the wolf could once again try and attack people, at least in areas where it can allow itself to do so. We have signs of this in Canada, where three cases have been brought to our attention. In Europe, there have been no similar incidents, for now.
  • Luigi Boitani, as quoted in Michele Corti, "Non sempre un bugia, ripetuta cento, mille, un milione di volte diventa verità: neppure sui lupi", Targatocn.it (Dec. 30, 2012).

• The mischief [the wolf] causes by his hunting might be borne, though it is considerable, if he were not impelled by his wild hunting zeal and indomitable thirst for blood to slay more than he needs for his sustenance. This renders him a curse to the flock-owner and sportsman, and makes him everybody's cordially hated enemy.
  • Alfred Brehm, Brehm's Life of Animals (1895).

• There’s no doubt that a pack of wolves gallivanting around the Highlands would keep deer numbers down, and this would save the trees and crops. But I can’t help wondering what else Mr Wolf might eat. Obviously Johnny Fox would be a tasty target, which is fine now that man isn’t allowed to hunt him any more. But what about the sheep? In the Alpine region of France a pack of just 30 wolves does its level best to keep lamb off the menu in most local restaurants, and we see a similar problem in Sweden, where wolves, tired of eating deer, are helping themselves to pretty well anything that moves.
  This brings me neatly to the wolf’s favourite amuse-bouche — us. [It's been said that] humans have nothing to worry about because in the last hundred years there hasn’t been a single recorded case of a person, or even a part of a person, anywhere in Europe, being eaten by a wolf. [It's also been argued] that in Alaska and Canada humans and wolves live happily together. True, but that’s because in Alaska and Canada most people pack some kind of heat in the parka. Here, however, we’re not allowed to walk around with a blue-steel .44, so I suspect the reintroduction of wolves would mean the odd rambler would go west.
  • Jeremy Clarkson, "Who's afraid of the nice wolf?", The Sunday Times (2 January 2005).

• They are an effective, widespread, and basic predator. They are not very good adapting to change. Wolves are often referred to as an indicator species, which means that any little deterioration of their habitat causes immediate drop in their numbers in that habitat. They don’t seem to be able to adjust to expanding civilization the way coyotes do. The coyote’s range is increasing in the face of human expansion, while the wolf’s is decreasing.
  • Raymond and Lorna Coppinger, Dogs (2001).

• There are, of course, several things in Ontario that are more dangerous than wolves. For instance, the step-ladder.
  • J. W. Curran, The Canadian Wildlife Almanac (1981).

• Wolves don't suffer things like guilt or remorse. They don't have any problems with the amount of discipline that they give to a fellow pack member, because in their world, the family is what matters, not the individual. So when you go in with a pack of wolves, you have to leave your emotions at the gate. When you come back out, it's very difficult to pick those emotions back up again.
  • Interview with A Man Among Wolves: Shaun Ellis, Inside NGS, (2007).

• There are some dogs which, when you meet them, remind you that, despite thousands of years of manmade evolution, every dog is still only two meals away from being a wolf. These dogs advance deliberately, purposefully, the wilderness made flesh, their teeth yellow, their breath astink, while in the distance their owners witter, "He's an old soppy really, just poke him if he's a nuisance," and in the green of their eyes the red campfires of the Pleistocene gleam and flicker…
  • Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (1990).

• Wolves are harmful to humans in many respects: they attack livestock and dogs, wild ungulates and other useful animals, spread diseases and attack people directly. The little use which may be derived from captured wolves (skin, tasty meat which is fully suitable for food) as well as sporting pleasure of the hunting of wolves, are not to be compared with the damage to human health and economic interests caused by these undoubtedly injurous predators.
  • Vladimir Heptner, Mammals of the Soviet Union, Vol. II, Part 1a (1998).

• The Romans did not see [the tale of Romulus, Remus and the she-wolf] as a charming story; they meant to show that they had imbibed wolfish appetites and ferocity with their mother's milk.
  • Terry Jones, Terry Jones' Barbarians: An Alternative Roman History (2007).

• The connection between Mongols and the wolf is... interwoven with religion and folklore. In the Shamanic culture, the wolf is connected with mountain spirits. Children's fairy tales are often filled with references to the clever and mysterious wolf. With all these connections, I assumed it would make sense if Mongols had a bit of wolf blood in them. And perhaps they do. A legend is told about a blue wolf that mated with a red deer. It was their offspring that spawned the tribe of Chingis Khan. Since Chingis is considered the father of the nation, it's no wonder why the wolf is held in such awe.
  • Michael Kohn, Dateline Mongolia: An American Journalist in Nomad's Land, (2006).

• The misinformation promulgated by wolf advocacy groups ranges from minor technical errors to major deception and fraud. Technical biological misinformation, though bothersome to professionals working with wolves, is not as serious as deception about such issues as the status and trends in wolf populations. This latter type of misinformation tends to motivate well-meaning wolf advocates to press their causes through letter-writing campaigns, public meetings, lobbying, and lawsuits. For example, animal welfare and wolf advocacy groups have been advertising for funds in major national newspapers for years, claiming that wolves were threatened in Denali National Park and other parts of Alaska, despite documentation to the contrary. These misrepresentations have even made it into conference proceedings. In the non-peer-reviewed proceedings of a nonprofit citizen organization, "Defenders of Wildlife's Restoring the Wolf Conference," undocumented claims were made the the wolf has been eliminated from "95% of its former range" and "95% of its historic range in Noth America". The actual figures are closer to 30% of its global range and 40% of its North American range.
  • David L. Mech, Wolf Restoration to the Adirondacks: The Advantages and Disadvantages of Public Participation in the Decision, (2001).

• Physiologically, we know a great deal about the wolf, although we still have much to learn. But why should we continue to study the wolf? Some people curse the animal; others deify it. As scientists study it, we may be able to blunt these extremes and place the wolf in proper perspective. Viewed from the inside, the wolf is a large, intelligent canid predator with a variety of interesting biochemical, neural, and hormonal adaptations. It is neither good nor evil.
  • David L. Mech, Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation, (2005).

• Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.
  • Oxford King James Bible, Genesis 49:27 (1769).

• Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
  • Oxford King James Bible, Matthew 7:15 (1769).

• The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
  • Oxford King James Bible, Isaiah 11:6 (1769).

• Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, [and] a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, [and] their backslidings are increased.
  • Oxford King James Bible, Jeremiah 5:6 (1769).

• But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
  • Oxford King James Bible, John 10:12 (1769).

• What fellowship hath the wolf with the lamb? so the sinner with the godly.
  • Oxford King James Bible, Ecclesiasticus 13:17 (1769).

• For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.
  • Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book (1894).

• Wolves housed in cages which are far too small, are still among the most pitiful of all caged animals.
  • Conrad Lorenz, King Solomon's Ring (1952).

• Inescapably, the realization was being borne in upon my preconditioned mind that the centuries-old and universally accepted human concept of wolf character was a palpable lie. On three separate occasions in less than a week I had been completely at the mercy of these 'savage killers'; but far from attempting to tear me limb from limb, they had displayed a restraint verging on contempt, even when I invaded their home and appeared to be posing a direct threat to the young pups.
  • Farley Mowat, Never Cry Wolf (1963).

• We have doomed the wolf not for what it is, but for what we deliberately and mistakenly perceive it to be — the mythological epitome of a savage, ruthless killer — which is, in reality, no more than the reflected image of ourself.
  • Farley Mowat, Never Cry Wolf (1963).

• Si fermano anche i lupi quando hanno afferrato la preda.
  • Translation: Even the wolves cease their depredations, when they have secured all the prey.
  • Alessandro Pepoli, La Scommessa, Act I., Sc. I. — (Il Marchese.). Translation reported in Harbottle's Dictionary of quotations French and Italian (1904), p. 417.

• Pay attention to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the holy spirit has appointed you overseers, to shepherd the congregation of God, which he purchased with the blood of his own Son. I know that after my going away oppressive wolves will enter in among you and will not treat the flock with tenderness, and from among you yourselves men will rise and speak twisted things to draw away the disciples after themselves.
  • Peter the Apostle, Acts 20:28-30, NWT

• Lupus est homo homini, non homo, quom qualis sit non novit.
  • Plautus, Asinaria, 495
  • Often quoted as [[w:Homo homini lupus|Homo homini lupus [est]]].—"A man is a wolf to another man."

• The wolf is the arch type of ravin, the beast of waste and desolation.
  • Theodore Roosevelt, Hunting the Grisly and other Sketches (1908).

• On the ragged edge of the world I'll roam, and the home of the wolf shall be my home.
  • Robert Service, The Nostomaniac (1912).

• Now the hungry lion roars,
  And the wolf behowls the moon.
  • William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, v.1.379, (1590-1596).

• now witchcraft celebrates
  Pale Hecate's offerings; and wither'd murder,
  Alarum'd by his sentinel, the wolf,
  Whose howl's his watch, thus with his stealthy pace,
  With Tarquin's ravishing strides, towards his design
  Moves like a ghost.
  • William Shakespeare, Macbeth Act 1 Scene 3 lines 51-56.

• If you are afraid of wolves, keep out of the woods.
  • Joseph Stalin, On the Draft Constitution of the U.S.S.R., 25 November 1936.

• Listen to them—the children of the night. What music they make!
  • Bram Stoker, Dracula (1897), Ch. 2; spoken by Bela Lugosi in Dracula (1931 English-language film)

• Adrianus , discussing with Rabbi Joshua..."Great is the sheep that can withstand seventy wolves." Rabbi Joshua replied, "Greatest is the shepherd who enables the sheep to outlive the constant attacks of the wolves."
  • Midrash Tanhuma

• Auribus teneo lupum.
  • I’ve got a wolf by the ears.
  • Terence, Phormio, 506; compare Thomas Jefferson, on the paradox of slavery, in a letter to John Holmes (22 April 1820): "We have the wolf by the ears, and we can neither hold him nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, self-preservation in the other."

• The story of Romulus and Remus being suckled by a wolf is not a meaningless fable. The founders of every State which has risen to eminence have drawn their nourishment and vigor from a similar wild source. It was because the children of the Empire were not suckled by the wolf that they were conquered and displaced by the children of the Northern forests who were.
  • Henry David Thoreau, Walking (1862).

• Woman to a man is either a god or a wolf.
  • John Webster, in The White Devil (1612), ? (Flamineo)

Quotes by wolves

• Awoo

Proverbs

Arabic proverbs

• What does the wolf care if the sheep-fold be destroyed?
  • As quoted in John Lewis Burckhardt and William Ouseley, Arabic Proverbs: Or, The Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians, (1830).

• The food of the lion (causes) indigestion to the wolf.
  • As quoted in John Lewis Burckhardt and William Ouseley, Arabic Proverbs: Or, The Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians, (1830).

• Do not beat the wolf, and do not cause hunger to the sheep.
  • As quoted in John Lewis Burckhardt and William Ouseley, Arabic Proverbs: Or, The Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians, (1830).

Chinese proverbs

Many people together won't fear a tiger, and many dogs together won't fear a wolf.

• Many people together won't fear a tiger, and many dogs together won't fear a wolf.
  • As quoted in John S. Rohsenow, ABC Dictionary of Chinese Proverbs, (2003).

• A dog is king within a radius of one hundred paces, but is only a wolf in front of his master's door.
  • As quoted in John S. Rohsenow, ABC Dictionary of Chinese Proverbs, (2003).

• Even if a wolf travels a thousand miles, it will still eat people and even if a dog gets as far as the horizon, it will still eat excrement.
  • As quoted in John S. Rohsenow, ABC Dictionary of Chinese Proverbs, (2003).

• Even the eighty-year-old mother didn't let the wolf catch up with her.
  • As quoted in John S. Rohsenow, ABC Dictionary of Chinese Proverbs, (2003).

• If one is unable to draw a strong bow, one will not be able to shoot the evil wolf to death.
  • As quoted in John S. Rohsenow, ABC Dictionary of Chinese Proverbs, (2003).

• One who is not willing to risk his child will not catch the wolf.
  • As quoted in John S. Rohsenow, ABC Dictionary of Chinese Proverbs, (2003).

• It is better to save a hundred sheep than save one wolf.
  • As quoted in John S. Rohsenow, ABC Dictionary of Chinese Proverbs, (2003).

• When the rams lock horns, the wolf gets fed.
  • As quoted in John S. Rohsenow, ABC Dictionary of Chinese Proverbs, (2003).

• A sheep separated from the flock will feed a wolf sooner or later.
  • As quoted in John S. Rohsenow, ABC Dictionary of Chinese Proverbs, (2003).

Danish proverbs

• The owl does not praise the light, nor the wolf the dog.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• The wolf preys not in his own field.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• It needs but slight provocation to make the wolf devour the lamb.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• It must be a hard winter when one wolf devours another.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• Lambs don't rush into the mouth of the sleeping wolf.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• Though you teach a wolf the paternoster, he will say: "Lamb! lamb!"
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

Dutch proverbs

• Talk of the wolf and his tail appears.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• In a small pretence the wolf devours the sheep.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• Hunger drives the wolf out of the wood.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• When the wolf grows old, the crows ride him.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

French proverbs

Bad watch often feeds the wolf.

• An easy shepherd makes the wolf void wool.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• There's no showing the wolf to a bad dog.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• What the she-wolf does (brings forth) pleases the he-wolf.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• Whilst the dogs are growling at each other, the wolf devours the sheep.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• The wolf will die in his skin.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• Bad watch often feeds the wolf.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• 'Tis a silly sheep that makes the wolf her confessor.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• Were it a wolf, it would spring at your throat.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• To hold the wolf by the ears.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• For wolf's flesh dog sauce.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• Once, long ago, there was one good mother-in-law, but a wolf ate her.
  • As quoted in Mineke Schipper, Never Marry a Woman with Big Feet: Women in Proverbs from around the World, (2003).

German proverbs

If the wolf had stayed in the wood there would have been no hue and cry after him.

• If the wolf had stayed in the wood there would have been no hue and cry after him.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• For love the wolf eats the sheep.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• "I will not bite any dog," says the shepherd's dog, "for I must save my teeth for the wolf."
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• When the shepherd's quarrel, the wolf has a winning game.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• If the wolf would cease his running, the people would cease their shouting.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

Italian proverbs

The wolf is always said to be bigger than he is.

• There is never the cry of "Wolf!" but the wolf is in the distance.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• The wolf is not always a wolf.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• The wolf bemoans the sheep, and then eats it.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• The wolf is always said to be bigger than he is.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• Who makes the wolf his companion should carry a dog under his cloak.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• On a very small pretext the wolf seizes the sheep.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• Even counted sheep are eaten by the wolf.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• Who does not wish to be like the wolf let him not wear its skin.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• When you see the wolf, do not look for his track.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• He sets the wolf to guard the sheep.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• The wolf is always left out of the reckoning.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• All the sheep are not for the wolf.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• Patience! said the wolf to the ass.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

Kazak proverbs

A wolf pup will never take the place of a dog no matter how much you feed it.

• A wolf cannot be satisfied with sheep, a man is never satisfied with thoughts.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Even a wolf will not harm his pal.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A wolf makes a living by using his legs, a shepherd by his stick.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A sheep cannot make friends with a wolf [nor] a poor man with a rich landowner.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A donkey left with nobody to keep an eye on it is prey for the wolf.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A wolf pup will never take the place of a dog no matter how much you feed it.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A wolf worries about its belly and a sheep about its life.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• To put the blame on elders is the nature of the wolf.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A male match maker plays with a female match maker, and a wolf plays with a lamb.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• From the entire flock, the wolf selects the poor man's only lamb.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• When wolves kill sheep, the dogs grow fat.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A clumsy wolf will frighten the sheep away, a clumsy thief will be caught.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A wolf pays for its debts with its own skin.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Mountains hide the wolf as the night hides the thief.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A wolf's mouth is always covered with blood even if it did not steal its prey.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• You will not be able to trap an old wolf.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A wolf pays no attention to a dog's barking.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• It is impossible to teach a captured wolf, and impossible to teach a pig to walk along a road.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• An animal straying away from its herd is prey for the wolf.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A decrepit wolf calls a billy-goat his dear son-in-law, and a nanny-goat his dear sister.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

Portuguese proverbs

• Talk of the wolf and behold his skin.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• A hungry wolf is not at rest.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

Russian proverbs

Never permit a wolf to guard a sheep.

A wolf sheds its coat every year, but his nature never changes.

However hard you try to make friends with a wolf, it will dream of escape to the forest.

One wolf can drive off a regiment of sheep.

A hungry wolf is stronger than a full dog.

Hunger will drive even the wolf from the forest.

Speak of the wolf and you will run into one.

He who keeps company with wolves, will learn to howl as a wolf.

• A horse measured its strength against a wolf - only a horse tail and a mane remained.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A wolf had pity on a mare, but only a horse tail and a mane remained.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Once upon a time there lived boyers (nobles, land owners) who had to howl like wolves. There were periods when even the boyers had bad times.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Never permit a wolf to guard a sheep.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• It is better to be torn to pieces than to become a wolf's prey.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A peasant may have modest clothes but a sharp mind. He still has his brain safe from wolves.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A wolf sheds its coat every year, but his nature never changes.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Wolves will pay dearly for the tears of the sheep.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A herd standing together need not be afraid of a wolf.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• I cannot speak because a wolf is quite near.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Do not presume your enemy is a sheep, it may be a wolf.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• He looks like a fox, but smells like a wolf.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A tail is like that of a fox, but a mouth is like that of a wolf.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Do not act as a sheep, a wolf will eat you.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• If you are afraid of wolves, don't go into the forest.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A wolf will not eat a wolf.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• An old wolf has good senses. An old wolf has tricks.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Not everything that is gray is a wolf.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• It would be easier to teach a wolf how to read and write.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• However hard you try to make friends with a wolf, it will dream of escape to the forest.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Wolves are not killed because they are gray, but because they eat sheep.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• An old dog never tried to make friends with a wolf.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Slack on a State Farm - and a wolf will come during the winter.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Having caught sight of a goat, the wolf forgets danger.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• One wolf can drive off a regiment of sheep.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• If you look like a sheep, the wolves will be ready.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• The sheep feel sad when a wolf is the shepherd.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• It is only one wolf, but it is howling with hunger in the bush.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Even if it is a gray wolf or an old wolf, it has the pride of a wolf.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Put the blame on the gray wolf; he will be responsible for all misdeeds done by you or someone else.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• The wolf killed many victims, but for this he will be punished.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Two male wolves will not live in the same den and will not eat the same bone.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A hungry wolf can tear anything. A hungry wolf can break spells.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A hungry wolf is stronger than a full dog.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Hunger will drive even the wolf from the forest.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A dog must not follow in the tracks of a wolf, if the wolf turns back, it will eat the dog.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Calves could lick the boots of a meek wolf.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A stubborn sheep is a profit for a wolf.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A dog was praising a wolf for the rapid wagging of its tail.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Even a sheepskin cannot hide a wolf.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• It's a wolf's repentance and a fox's ignorance.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Although a kind lamb, it howls like a wolf.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• To slink very carefully as a wolf.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• One who receives a rank with cunning will act in the position like a wolf.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A fox can fool seven wolves.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A fox always finds more to eat than a wolf.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Do not pretend to be a sheep, a wolf will eat you.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Caught in a trap like a wolf in a net.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• In extreme need, a wolf can act as a fox.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Luck is like a wolf: so evasive it can slip away.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• It is a wolf and it tears like a wolf.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• He who was born a wolf, cannot become a fox.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Two wolves will seldom agree over one bone.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Wolf, gnaw at your own sides. This is what is said at the same time when you place a stone under a pot, and it will save your cow from being eaten by wolves.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• People travel on straight paths, but wolves travel on devious paths.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Ivan gave the wolf food for his mouth and teeth.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A wolf is used to winter. This is not the first winter a wolf has lived through.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A wolf is happier when it does not hear the hounds tracking it.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Speak of the wolf and you will run into one.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• You will make your count, but a wolf will come and make its own count.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Who could believe that a wolf will pasture sheep.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Why let a wolf into a cattle shed?
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A wolf hunts, but is also being hunted.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A wolf can kill prey but it can also be caught.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• If you cannot catch a wolf in a trap, catch it in a net.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• He has a wolfish look, and he can curse like a wolf.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• He who keeps company with wolves, will learn to howl as a wolf.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• The wolf felt pity for the lamb, and so he left the skin and bones.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• He is looking as a wolf looks at a calf.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A piglet cannot frighten a wolf.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Legs help a rabbit to survive, teeth are responsible for the wolf's [survival], and cunning takes care of the fox.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• He pried in as a wolf but with a dog's tail.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• We wish our calf could butt wolves.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• If you are going to hunt a wolf, you should have a good dog to help.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• Do not put your finger into the mouth of a wolf.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A timid sheep is easy prey for a wolf.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A mare went to make peace with a wolf, but the mare did not return home.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A bear is not subservient to a dog, a pig in an orchard is not a garden, a wolf is not a shepherd of sheep; a person who is stupid and deaf is a poor judge.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• You won't kill a wolf in a chase, but by cunning.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

• A wolf lies in wait for sheep, but a shepherd guards the sheep.
  • As quoted in Will Graves, Wolves in Russia: Anxiety throughout the Ages, (2007).

Spanish proverbs

• Where the wolf gets one lamb it looks for another.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• The wolf commits no mischief at home.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• The wolf does that in the course of the week which hinders him from going to mass on Sunday.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• The wolf loses his teeth, but not his inclinations.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• The wolf and the fox are both in one story.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• One wolf does not bite/kill another.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• When one wolf eats another, there is nothing to eat in the wood.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• The wolf eats of what is counted.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• The wolf picks the ass's fleas by moonlight.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• The wolf is well pleased with the kick of a sheep.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• To wolf's flesh, dog's tooth.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• Do you want to see a wolf with young (i.e. an insatiable plunderer)? Marry your daughter.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• All in the way of joke the wolf goes to the ass.
  • As quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

Other

A wolf is handsome in the eyes of a lovesick girl.

• Even a wolf is allowed to marry two.
  • Awar proverb, as quoted in Mineke Schipper, Never Marry a Woman with Big Feet: Women in Proverbs from around the World, (2003).

• Who marries a she-wolf often looks at the forest.
  • Basque proverb, as quoted in Mineke Schipper, Never Marry a Woman with Big Feet: Women in Proverbs from around the World, (2003).

• For the love of the ox, the wolf licks the yoke.
  • Catalonian proverb, as quoted in Henry G. Bohn, A polyglot of foreign proverbs, (1857).

• A wolf is handsome in the eyes of a lovesick girl.
  • English proverb, as quoted in Mineke Schipper, Never Marry a Woman with Big Feet: Women in Proverbs from around the World, (2003).

• Woman to man is either a God or a wolf.
  • English proverb, as quoted in Mineke Schipper, Never Marry a Woman with Big Feet: Women in Proverbs from around the World, (2003).

See also

• Werewolves

External links

Wikipedia

Wikipedia has an article about:

Gray Wolf

Commons

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Canis lupus