Every language has a vast number of proverbs, mottos and saws, and native speakers often quote them to express a feeling or to prove a point. The fact is that you can "prove" almost anything with a colorful turn of phrase as practically every proverb has an equal and opposite proverb.
A person might well claim that "He who hesitates is lost," while another could refute this with "Look before you leap." This latter saying has a fine Japanese equivalent in ishibashi o tataite wataru (tap the stones of the bridge before you cross it).
Japanese abounds in wise and wonderful proverbs. Here are a few that I feel express the Japanese sensibility particularly well.