As the famous saying goes, «В Росси́и две пробле́мы: дураки́ и доро́ги» (“Russia has two problems – fools and bad roads”). There is a wealth of proverbs for a variety of occasions talking about fools.
Дурака́м зако́н не пи́сан
This literally means “There’s no law written for fools.” What’s implied is that the person you are criticizing is acting like rules don’t apply to them. What I like about this saying is that there is a continuation:
Е́сли пи́сан, то не чи́тан,
Если чи́тан, то не по́нят,
Если по́нят, то не так.
(If there’s a law written, it hasn’t been read; and if it’s been read, it wasn’t understood; and if it was understood, it was misinterpreted.)
Бы́вший председа́тель ЦБ Ви́ктор Гера́щенко к созда́нию мегарегуля́тора отне́сся скепти́чески: «Е́сли для них о́пыт зарубе́жных стран не приме́р, то пусть де́лают, что хотя́т. Дурака́м зако́н не пи́сан». (Former President of the Central Bank /of Russia/ Viktor Gerashenko was skeptical about creating a top regulatory body. “If they cannot learn from other countries’ experience, let them do as they please. There’s no rule for fools.” [Наталья Старостина. Минфин загоняет рынок в мегарегулятор // РБК Дейли, 2012.09.13]
Заста́вь дурака́ Б́огу моли́ться
The full saying goes Заста́вь дурака́ Бо́гу моли́ться, он лоб расшибе́т (Make a fool pray to God, and he will split his forehead open). This refers to the tradition of repeatedly bowing your head down while praying. The saying is used to describe a person who has newly resolved to do something and has overdone it.
Па́па всегда́ говори́л, что я сли́шком бы́стро увлека́юсь. А ма́ма повторя́ла ру́сскую посло́вицу: заста́вь дурака́ Бо́гу моли́ться, он и лоб расшибе́т. (My dad always said I got carried away too quickly. And my mom repeated the Russian proverb that an overzealous fool will break his forehead praying.) [Герман Садулаев. Шалинский рейд (2009) // «Знамя», 2010]
Дурна́я голова́ нога́м поко́я не дае́т
This proverb, meaning “A silly head gives legs no rest,” describes the situation when a person needs to make a second trip because they failed to complete some task the first time.
В посло́вице «Дурна́я голова́ нога́м поко́я не дае́т» име́ются в виду́ голова́ и но́ги, принадлежа́щие одному́ органи́зму. И э́то не так оби́дно. Но оби́дно о́чень, когда́ но́ги иста́птываешь свои́, а кома́нду «на старт» да́ли соверше́нно посторо́нние лю́ди. (The proverb “A silly head gives your legs no rest” presupposes that the head and legs belong to the same body. That’s not as bad. But it is bad when you are doing the legwork when someone else told you to run.) [Ольга БАКУШИНСКАЯ. Влияние головы на ноги // Комсомольская правда, 2004.12.10]
If you have Russian friends or relatives, have you heard them say any of these? These sayings are quite popular, and people will often resort to proverbs to describe a situation. Any other “foolish” proverbs you can think of?