Sauna Proverbs and Quotes
These works are the property of their creators and are not affiliated with Finlandia Foundation National. If you have suggestions for items to be included, please let us know!
Proverbs
Two places are holy: church and sauna.
Anonymous
In the sauna, one must conduct oneself as one would in church.
Anonymous
All people are created equal, but nowhere more so than in a sauna.
Anonymous
Every sauna has its own soul.
Anonymous
A person without sauna is like a body without a soul.
Anonymous
A house without a sauna is not a home.
Anonymous
A sauna without a vihta is like a meal without salt.
Anonymous
Sauna is a poor man’s pharmacy.
Anonymous
If liquor, tar and sauna do not help, the illness is fatal.
Anonymous
Quotes
It is natural for Americans to pronounce it “sawna,” to rhyme with flora and fauna, but the word should really have an “ow” sound, as in “How now brown sauna?”
In a phonetic language such as Finnish, every letter is sounded, including the “u” in “sauna.” The word “sauna” refers both to the Finnish bathhouse and to the bath itself.
If the sauna is just a bath, then Buckingham Palace is just a house.
The thoughts and feelings that emerge from being on the sauna bench could never appear being anywhere else in the world.
Sauna is hygiene. Wellness. Mind-body sensation. Ecstasy. Socialization. Meditation. Totally positive addiction. And, a way of life.
It’s a great way to center yourself, relax, and leave the world behind you.
You’ll come out of there renewed.
If genius is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration, try thinking through your problems in a sauna!
A little pile of wood, and some water, and you’ve got your therapist.
When steam rises from the stones and the sprays of steam and give off their fragrance, the sauna comes into its own.
Our family immigrated from the forests of Finland in the 1880s. And for the past 140 years, we have built saunas on the farm, in the home, and at the cabin.
I suppose the steam is in my blood.
What’s a sauna cocktail: Just water on the rocks!
I’ve long been a sauna enthusiast and recommend it to cleanse the skin, soothe sore muscles or merely relax. In asking you to take up the practice of sweat bathing, I cannot separate its physical and spiritual aspects.
The “sauna ritual,” an unheard-of activity for Anglo-Americans, promoted a sense that Finns were both exotic and separatist.
Babies were born in the sauna and the dead were cleaned in the sauna. So it’s really the cycle of life.
Why do we value sauna this much? It’s the experience of it as a child, and the memories, and the families, and the conversations you had.
Sauna isn’t an outbuilding, it’s part of your life.
Nostalgia for sauna is as great as the actual experience.
Finns certainly do not debate the merits of sauna.
They just do it, again and again, because their parents and grandparents did, it is a perfect antidote to a cold swim, it meets winter on its own terms, and it feels good. But it is also a galvanizing national ritual, and for their role as keepers of this tradition, the world owes them a debt of gratitude.
Perhaps American saunas can never quite attain the authenticity of saunas in Finland. Though we American Finns have the same blood coursing through our veins, our culture is quite different, and we must create our own sauna traditions as well as our own sauna architecture.
But one thing is the same in all places: the physics of water thrown on hot rocks turning to steam to clean the pores, ease the stress of the day, and enhance enjoyment of the open night air.