Proverbs carry wisdom transferred orally from generation to generation. Based on the place they were recorded, this study introduces a publicly-available and machine-actionable dataset of more than one hundred thousand Greek proverbs. Using linguistic distance as our lens, we quantified the spatial distribution of widespread proverbs. By focusing on the least widespread proverbs, we benchmarked geographical attribution, using text classification and regression (text geocoding). Our results show that this is a challenging task for which specific locations can be attributed more successfully compared to others. The potential of our resource and benchmark is showcased by two novel applications. First, we extracted terms moving the regression prediction toward the four cardinal directions. Second, we leveraged conformal prediction to attribute 3,676 unregistered proverbs with statistically rigorous predictions of areas each such proverb was possibly registered in.