Famous Proverbs

1] Drinking water neither makes a man sick, nor in debt, nor his wife a widow

2] He that dare not venture must not complain of ill luck

3] A good friend is my nearest relation

4] He that fights and runs away may live to fight another day

5] A good marksman may miss

6] Don’t wear out (or outstay) your welcome

7] The great fish eat up the small

8] Better bend than break

9] Hard cases make bad law

10] A man can do no more than he can

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

12] Worry is the interest we pay on trouble before it is due

13] Every light has its shadow

14] Eat at pleasure, drink by measure

15] Needs must when the evil drives

16] Master easy, servant slack

17] They bow to you when borrowing; you bow to them when collecting

18] It is misery enough to have once been happy

19] There is no redemption from hell

20] Great gain makes easy work

21] He cannot speak well that cannot hold his tongue

22] Better be alone than in bad company

23] Mirth is the sugar of life

24] Comparisons make enemies of our friends.

25] He that lives wickedly can hardly die honestly

26] Fingers were made before forks

27] A fool says what he knows, and a wise man knows what he says.

28] Talk of an angel and you’ll hear the fluttering of his wings

29] A man with no hands is given a ring.

30] A man is valued as he makes himself valuable

31] Alms never make poor

32] Every horse thinks its own pack heaviest

33] If you would wed fitly, wed in your station

34] Corruption of the best becomes the worst

35] Shame arises more from fear of men than of God

36] Children and fools cannot lie.

37] The world is full of fools

38] If you don’t have good weapons, it is better for you to submit

39] He that hath a full purse never wanted (or lacked) a friend

40] Silence gives (or means) consent

41] It is a silly fish that is caught twice with the same bait.

42] Industry is fortune’s right hand, and frugality her left

43] It is a good horse that never stumbles, and a good wife that never grumbles

44] Even the weariest river winds somewhere safe to sea

45] Arms bend inwards – not outwards.

46] Beauty is only skin deep

47] That voyage never has luck where each one has a vote.

48] It takes two to make a quarrel

49] Good counsel never comes amiss

50] Every deed is to be judges by the doer’s intention.

51] Where god will help, nothing does harm

52] Experience is not always the kindest of teachers, but it is surely the best

53] Nature is content with little.

54] The gods send nuts to those who have no teeth

55] Weeds need no sowing

56] The cat shuts its eyes while it steals cream

57] When we have gold, we are in fear; when we have none we are in danger

58] He who never was sick dies the first fit

59] Threatened folk live long

60] A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

61] Those who sell dog-meat often display a lamb’s head

62] The rotten apple injures its neighbours.

63] Why play the harp to a buffalo?

64] Good hand, good hire

65] A nod is as good as wink to a blind horse

66] Friendship cannot stand always on one side

67] A single rose does not mean spring

68] Local ginger is never as hot as imported ginger

69] Poverty is the mother of crime

70] A piece of churchyard fits every body

71] What’s in a name?

72] There are more men threatened than stricken

73] Even the compelling beauty of the Diamond Mountain cannot be appreciated when the stomach is empty

74] Desires are nourished by delays

75] Vows made in storms are forgotten in calm

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

77] A fault once denied is twice committed

78] Pardoning the bad is injuring the good

79] As you bake, so shall you eat.

80] Long absent, soon forgotten

81] Hasty climbers have sudden falls

82] The worth of a thing is what it will bring

83] God provides for him that trusts

84] Adversity comes with instruction in its hand

85] Kill two birds with one stone

86] Some have been thought brave because they are afraid to run away

87] New brooms sweep clean

88] Dirty linen should be washed at home

89] Why keep a dog and bark yourself?

90] The courteous one learns his courtesy from the discourteous.

91] The devil’s children have the devil’s luck

92] Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

93] A little is better than none

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

95] Better a good cow than a cow of a good kind

96] The strength of the chain is in the weakest link.

97] Accidents will happen

98] What will not money do?

99] We soon believe what we desire

100] Fool’s haste is no speed