Famous Proverbs

1] A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds

2] Counsel must be followed, not praised.

3] No garden without its weeds.

4] Send a fool to France and he’ll come back a fool

5] It is easier to raise the devil than to lay him

6] There’s a black sheep in every flock

7] A good conscience is a constant feast

8] Dumb men get no lands

9] When luck comes, who doesn’t; when luck doesn’t come, who does?

10] He that will thrive must rise at five

11] Take the will for the deed

12] He that comes of a hen, must scrape

13] Give him (or knaves) an inch and he (they) will take a yard (or mile)

14] An evil life is a kind of death.

15] Make hay while the sun shines

16] Big fish eat little fish

17] A good name is sooner lost than won

18] Silence gives (or means) consent

19] When a fool is sent to market, the storekeepers rejoice

20] There’s no place like home

21] Dreams are lies

22] He is a good friend that speaks well of us behind our backs

23] The poorer one is, the more devils one meets

24] Fish begins to stink at the head

25] Money gives a bold front: it doesn’t talk – it screams

26] Rats desert (or forsake) a sinking ship

27] In the end, things will mend

28] Words are but wind

29] Rome was not (or cannot be) built in a day

30] Small is the seed of every greatness

31] No pains, no gains

32] A wicked man is his own hell

33] Money is the sinews of war

34] Lookers-on see more than players

35] An old dog barks not in vain

36] A successful man is seldom at ease; a life of ease does not breed success

37] He that has a fellow-ruler, has an over-ruler. ¶ There is no good accord, where every man would be a lord

38] You win some, you lose some

39] Knowledge has bitter roots but sweet fruits

40] When a fool is sent to market, the storekeepers rejoice

41] If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em

42] To the hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet. To a thirsty man any drink is sweet.

43] The greatest talkers are the least doers

44] Men count up the faults of those who keep them waiting

45] Though a man lives for less than a hundred years, he burdens himself with the anxieties of a thousand years

46] Even water has its ebb and flow

47] Give the devil his due

48] Good horses always get ridden; good men get imposed upon.

49] A strong town is not won in an hour

50] Take the tone of the company you are in

51] Red ink gives what it touches a pink glow; black ink gives what it touches a dirty stain.

52] United we stand, divided we fall

53] It is a good tongue that says no ill, and a better heart that thinks none

54] A spear you can see can easily be avoided; a hidden arrows is difficult to guard against.

55] When a man is happy, he does not hear the clock strike

56] Hope keeps man alive

57] If you pay not a servant his wages, he will pay himself

58] All work and no play makes jack a dull boy

59] Help a lame dog over a stile

60] He that is long a-giving knows not how to give

61] A guilty conscience needs no accuser

62] Calamity is the touchstone of a brave mind

63] The highest branch is not the safest roost

64] Adam’s ale is the best brew

65] Learning is like sailing against the tide - if you don’t move forward, you go backward

66] The thing which is rare is dear

67] If Jack’s in love, he’s no judge of Jill’s beauty

68] Nature does nothing in vain

69] Nature is the true law

70] Envy eats nothing but it own heart

71] Excessive politeness is often a cloak for insincerity

72] He that is afraid of the devil does not grow rich

73] What is new cannot be true

74] Use makes mastery

75] A loveless life is a living death

76] Lend your money and lose a friend

77] Haste makes waste

78] Sickness shows us what we are

79] An ape’s an ape, a varlet’s a varlet, though they be clad in silk or scarlet

80] If today will not, tomorrow may

81] A word before is worth two behind

82] Just give me one end of the line and I’ll get to the other

83] Cast not the first stone.

84] What is not even scabies, he makes out to be an ulcer

85] Fine feathers make fine birds.

86] It is easier to get a favour from fortune than to keep it

87] Patience is a flower that grows not in everyone’s garden

88] It is ill waiting for dead men’s shoes

89] Half an egg is better than empty shell

90] If you always say ‘No’, you’ll never get married

91] The dancing girl who could not dance, said that the hall was not big enough.

92] Children and fools cannot lie.

93] An evil life is a kind of death.

94] United we stand, divided we fall

95] He who works before dawn will soon his own master

96] Nature will have her course

97] He who does nothing but sits and eats, will wear away a mountain of wealth

98] The fairest silk is soonest stained

99] Only with a new ruler do you realize the value of the old

100] Comparisons make enemies of our friends.