Człowiek strzela, Pan Bóg kule nosi
Listen
What it means
Man shoots, God carries the bullets — a shorter, comma-only variant of the same proverb about divine providence overriding human effort.
English equivalent
Man proposes, God disposes.
Vocabulary
- strzelać — to shoot
- kula — bullet
- Pan Bóg — the Lord God
- nosić — to carry
Grammar note
Omits the contrastive 'a'; the juxtaposition alone creates the contrast.
Cultural context
Variant without the conjunction 'a'; meaning identical to the fuller form.
Beginner
Noticed a typo, a wrong translation, or anything that doesn't look right? We'd love to fix it — just let us know via the contact page. Thank you!
More Polish proverbs
- "A stepmother, even if made of sugar, is always bitter." No matter how kind a stepmother tries to …
- "For a wise head, two words are enough." A clever person needs only a brief hint to understand; …
- "A Pole is wise after the damage is done." Poles (or people in general) tend to learn from mistakes …
- "The wise will accept advice; the fool will scorn it." Intelligent people are open to counsel, while …