Proverbs always have been used to explain something or some behavior using figurative phrases and meanings, usually it can talk about human comportment, moral and ethical actions, Although some proverbs are very similar with portuguese proverbs, there others completely different and the meaning can be different several times.
On the one hand we can compare some of very useful proverb like: "Rome wasn't built in a day", we have the same proverb and it means, to make big works we need to be patient and plan correctly everything because it gonna take a long time to make or to do. We gonna see also a proverbs like: "Write the bad things that are done to you in sand, but write the good things that happen to you on a piece of marble", It means, to not take with you the bad experiences, and try to forget them, but the good actions and experiences you should try to remember and always get with you. the translation in portuguese is the same. In addition we can mention the proverb: "Knowledge is like a garden: if it is not cultivated, it cannot be harvested" and it means: if you have learned something and never use or practice it, probably you gonna lose this skills, you should always been practicing your skills and your mind as well.
On the other hand I'd like to mention the proverb: "Skillful sailors aren't made by smooth seas". It says: to learn something, acquire good skills and knowledge is not easy, probably you should have hard experiences to get it. I've never seen this proverb before, but make much sense for me, and is completely true, nobody became good in something without hard work, focus and determination.
Finally we can see a extensive contrast between figurative proverbs and the real life, because it can help us to understand about our own behavior day-by-day.
